What position do you hold at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University? What has been your career path so far?
Currently I am a Chinese language tutor in XJTLU. I studied Chinese language and literature when I was doing my undergraduate degree, then I continued and completed an education related postgraduate degree.
I have great passion and interest of teaching Mandarin to foreigners so what I am doing now is basically what I have always been wanted to do.
At present, most of my job duty is teaching practice, though I do wish to engage more in involving academic research in the future, particularly in second language acquisition field.
What country have you always wanted to visit?
Absolutely Japan. I probably am not able to list all the reasons of visiting Japan----too many! I love Japanese food, sushi, sashimi and ramen! I love Japanese architecture.
The wooden structure, the awesome function of surviving from huge earthquakes, the simple but elegant appearance, they all are just simply amazing. I am also a huge fan of Japanese tea ceremony.
Japanese scholars have contributed tremendously to the research of classical Chinese literature and language. It would be a great pleasure to have a visit to Japan and probably visit some of the best leading universities in this field.
What language have you always wanted to learn and why?
I would say Spanish. To me personally, Spanish is a very musical language. I reckon it is beautiful and romantic. Also, Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world.
Apart from Spain, lots of south American countries also use Spanish as their first and official language. With regard to career, being able to speak Spanish might contribute to and widen your job opportunities.
How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?
Definitely. I first started in XJTLU with an internship, then I did part time teaching and now I am a full time academic staff here. In this four years journey (I started in 2011), I have definitely grown a lot professionally.
My time management skills have improved a lot and I have become more and more organized. I also developed interest of teaching Chinese during these years here, it confirms my career goal.