Rita’s Mandarin Voice Training Plan

Growing up in Beijing with parents who speak Jin dialect(晋语) in Beijing, and living in Sichuan for 4 years during college, my curiosity towards languages secretly outgrew my childhood friends, who were mostly Beijing locals.

When I started getting my master’s degree to teach Chinese as a foreign language in Beijing Language and Culture University in 2010, I finally got to study and understand languages, modern Mandarin Chinese in particular, from a scientific perspective. I also got to meet Mandarin learners from all over the world.

Now I’ve taught in universities both in China and the U.S., Ivy League college intensive Mandarin programs, and private language schools. I’ve been running my own company, doing long-term training programs with companies and embassies as well as helping hundreds of Chinese learners ranging from complete beginners to foreign actors who perform in Chinese!

The biggest problem in Chinese language education that I’ve found over the past 10 years, no matter what kind of Mandarin program it was, is how little emphasis people place on learning proper tones and pronunciation, which is crucial for mastering the language.

Unfortunately, it also is the main reason why so many people give up learning Mandarin Chinese – only a few teachers realize its importance, constantly emphasize it throughout their teaching, and are able to tell students how to do it properly.

I’d love to be one of the people helping you fix all your unsolved problems.