Crane House Interview - TA position

As my life in Hong Kong comes to an end, I am beginning to plan for my summer back in Kentucky. I'm excited, but I have mixed feelings. It's been a wonderful year with amazing experiences and lessons learned. My eyes have been opened to the world and my global perspective has skyrocketed. Although Hong Kong is pre-dominantly Asian in population and cultural heritage, it is also a special economic zone that attracts people from all cultural backgrounds.

But I definitely am in love with the Asian culture. I appreciate the history and how they try their best to uphold traditions of old. The Chinese are very thrifty people and I enjoy letting them share with me about their history and philosophy on life. Not only have I studied Chinese geography, politics, and philosophy, but I have fallen in love with the language. It has been difficult learning Chinese, especially when you are having to learn two dialects - including the most tonal dialect of Cantonese. My Mandarin proficiency has improved significantly, but I am still not as proficient as I would have liked due to the predominance of Cantonese.

When I compare with my classmates though, I can see how far I've really come. I've really worked hard and put a ton of independent study in these past two semesters. Doing this has rewarded me with the highest grade in my Mandarin class both semesters. Having taken Elementary Chinese twice now, I really feel like I have a solid foundation of the Chinese language and although it has been boring at times going at such a slow pace, I know now exactly how foreigners should approach Chinese. If I had gone at a faster pace, I probably would not have been able to see so clearly how best to approach Chinese.


I posted this video of my interview for a summer job position with Crane House Asian Institute as their teacher's assistant. With all of the time and effort I've had to put in learning Chinese, I've become very passionate about helping others better approach Chinese and I hope to be of help for Americans interested in learning. So, if you are an American considering studying the world's most useful and interesting language, then send me an e-mail or contact me through this blog and I will try to give you my advice.

I really would recommend you to come to Hong Kong if you are interested in living in Asia because it is the perfect jump start or "gateway to Asia". Although you don't here Mandarin that often, you can still get a more welcoming experience for the beginning stage of your potential lengthy stay in Asia. Anyways, I don't regret being in Hong Kong one bit. It's been the perfect city for me to start my career in Asia and I can't wait to come back because I know I can forever call it home.