Maarten

Certified Tutor

I have just returned after living in China for eleven years, where I pursued my dream to learn Chinese martial arts, the Chinese language and explore the country! If your goal is to learn how to speak Mandarin like a pro, I'm your man.

Between lengthy stays in China I managed to earn an Associates Degree from the Lansing Community College, where I graduated with honours. I tested out of Mandarin 1 & 2 to finish it ASAP and get myself back to China!

Chinese isn't as difficult as they tell you, but there will be some challenges along the way. As a self-taught foreigner I know all of the tips and tricks to overcome those challenges that native Chinese may not.

I taught English for ten years and was an adventure tour leader for another year. I have also taught martial arts and Chinese (to foreign staff of schools). More importantly, I have been speaking Chinese with Chinese every single day since 2005, as even after I left China earlier this year I am still married to one!

A lot of people spend more time on reading and writing and neglect the spoken language. When they arrive in China they struggle to understand what is going on around them. As a student of mine I'll make sure that you hit the ground running.

I'll also teach you all about Chinese culture, as I have a lot of stories and photos to share and recently graduated as a martial arts master. If you are new to this we can start you off slow or you can jump head on into the fire and we can speak only Mandarin.

I have some textbooks from the New Practical Chinese Reader series which I have found to be a great start. We can also follow HSK materials if that appeals more to you. Up until about HSK level 4 there isn't a huge difference in vocabulary.

Let me know your preferences and we'll develop a custom curriculum together!