Fun Facts

What people first are surprised by is that I am not Asian. However they learn very quickly that i am very passionate about all things Chinese. And I have lived in greater China for 20 years. I’ve traveled to many Asian countries but have not even been to half the states in the U.S. and have never been to Canada.

About Me

I am a single mother of two and I grew up in the Chicago area. I Earned my B.A in Asian Studies and earned an M.A. in Asian Languages and Literatures.
I spent many years in Asia solidifying my language learning, teaching, and also working in other corporate roles where language fluency in Chinese was required.

Experience

After spending a year in Taiwan after graduating college, I returned to the U.S. to enroll in a Masters degree program to continue my studies. During this time I taught both English and Chinese as well as worked as a librarian.
I moved to Mainland China in 1994 to complete a visiting scholarship and then elected to remain in China to work. I continued to teach Mandarin Chinese to students young and old..

Approach

I always enjoyed the academics of school very much but had intense fear of speaking in front of a class room of students. Though I managed to get over my fear in order to teach, I very much prefer to connect with a student one on one to understand what might be holding them back from absorbing information through a relaxed and casual two way conversation format.