English-Chinese Bilingual Chinese Tutor: Fun, Practical & Tailored Just for YOU! Read Full Intro

Learn more about Carrie

• Do you speak this language fluently because of your origins or because a teacher inspired you to learn?

  Born and raised in China, so Chinese/Mandarin is my mother tongue.

• Can you name a living, historical or fictional character that you think is the emblematic representative of the language's culture?

  Confucius is the most iconic representative of Chinese culture. His thoughts shape core values of courtesy, benevolence and modesty embedded deeply in daily Chinese expressions, idioms and communication customs.

• Is there a typical word, phrase, tradition or behaviour in the language that you particularly like?

  I love the Chinese greeting phrase 辛苦了 (xīn kǔ le). It literally means “you’ve worked hard”. People use it to show care for others after work, chores or errands; this warm, thoughtful way of expressing concern is a unique charming custom of Chinese.

• Why does speaking this language matter to you?

  It matters to me because it opens access to thousands of years of Chinese literature and culture

• What is the main difficulty in learning this language and what can help the process of learning?

  The biggest difficulty is tones and character memorization.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your language learning or your days at school.

  Once when I was a kid, I mistakenly said “睡觉 (sleep)” instead of “水饺 (dumpling)” and other kids laughed. This mistake made me realize the importance of tones, and I began to focus on distinguishing similar-sounding words.

• How has travel or a specific trip helped you to increase your skill and knowledge of the language?

  No need for that as I am a native speaker.

• What makes you a Superprof in language?

  I’m a qualified language tutor because I summarize targeted simplified learning rules for beginners, collect real-life daily dialogues instead of rigid textbook content, tailor practice plans for learners of different ages and patiently fix students’ common pronunciation and grammar mistakes.