Meet Mandarin House’s Teachers, Duan Qing Qing

Name: Duan Qing Qing (段青青)
Hometown: Shanghai (上海)
Started Teaching: 2005

What’s your name?

Hi guys! My name is Duan Qing Qing.

What is the meaning of your Chinese name?

The Chinese meaning of my name is clear weather.

How long have you been working in Mandarin House?

I’ve been in Mandarin House now for one year and four months.

Why did you join Mandarin House?

I’ve been teaching Mandarin to foreign students for 8 years. It’s really good fun and I love having opportunities to know different countries culture and people.

What do love about teaching Mandarin?

I guess there are three big things that I really enjoy about teaching students Mandarin:

1.The opportunity to exchange languages and find out words from my students mother languages, whether that’s English, Portuguese or Arabic.
2.Cultural exchanges. Finding out a little bit about my students’ countries and the things that happen there as well as teaching them about some of China’s customs.
3.Watching my students improve their mandarin skills and begin to communicate with Chinese people in Mandarin, gives me a great feeling of accomplishment.

What study tip(s) would you give to learners of Mandarin?

To help you learn Mandarin more quickly I suggest:

1.Study hard.
2.Try to practice every day (even if only for a little bit of time).
3.Make sentences with the new words that you have learned.

What tip would you give to future Mandarin teachers?

Passion and patience are very important but also think about bringing real objects into the classroom. This often gets a good response from students.