Lesson 3: Nice to Meet You

Where do I come from
Hello! My name is He Yancong, but you can call me Teacher Frank. I grew up in a small town in China in a place where there are 6 languages that are spoken and 7 distinct ethnic cultures that are practiced in the area. I grew up speaking two of the languages at home including Mandarin Chinese and my ethnic language--The Bai minority language. This is a special language because it can only be learned and used verbally as there is no written form, alphabet, or characters used. 

Why I’m here
As a result of my unique hometown experience, I developed a passion and a set of skills for learning, teaching and sharing Chinese language and culture. Growing up with a language that doesn’t have a written form and living in an environment where there are so many different languages spoken has helped me develop a set of skills for picking up a new language very quickly. With the experience I had, I know how to give my students an in depth understanding of Chinese language and Chinese culture within the shortest time. 
Language is more of a tool for our day to day communications rather than something we study academically as a theory. For that reason, we have to practice it as a skill just like we practice how to ride a bike or how to play a musical instrument. For more than ten years, I have dedicated my life to teaching Chinese language and culture. I am excited to have the opportunity to work with you as we begin to discover China together! You will learn something eventually regardless of the methods you use and the people you study with as long as you work hard. However, in my class we will not only quickly pick up new language, but also accurately pick up new vocabulary, pronunciation, and sentence structures. Through classes focused on student output and verbal practice, I will show you how easy Chinese can really be. If you’re ready to learn without wasting your time, I’m here for you. All you need to do now is to book the lesson and get started! Please feel free to send me messages or questions. I look forward to seeing you in the classroom! 

More about me:
1. I studied Business English in college and spent two years in the Philippines as a corporate interpreter and translator after I graduated. I started teaching Chinese in the Philippines when I was still there back in 2007.
2. After I left the Philippines, I went back to my home town and started to work in an international Chinese culture exchange center. Ever since then, I have done countless Chinese language and Chinese culture programs, forums, field trips, talks, shows, training sessions, and Chinese culture related interviews through TV, radio stations and newspapers in both China and the U.S.A.
3. I was also the Chinese language and culture advisor to two different American school group for their China field trips from 2010 to 2015.
4. In 2014, I was recommended by a former US Ambassador in China to be one of the 3 Chinese regional folk culture experts in a U.S State Department program called the International Visitor leadership programs (IVLP) for a U.S Chinese Cultural Exchange Program in the U.S. Through the trip, I was able to have meetings and exchange ideas with the top U.S-China cultural experts in Washington DC, NYC and 3 other states. This gave me an exclusive understanding in terms of what Chinese language and Chinese culture looks to American people. This helped me to learn a lot regarding teaching and sharing Chinese language and Chinese culture with U.S students.
5. In 2017, I was blessed to marry the love of my life! She is a teacher from Ohio in the USA and is a Chinese language and culture enthusiast. She holds two degrees for Chinese language and East Asia Studies. My wife and I started to work as managers in a Wisconsin based Chinese Art Gallery the same year we got married. The work in the gallery was all about teaching and sharing Chinese language, culture and art with both adults and children. This gave us a great opportunity to connect with citizens of many different countries in sharing how beautiful Chinese culture can be!