I first became interested in Chinese language, history, and culture when I watched Once Upon a Time in China starring Jet Li in high school. Although now I realize that the movie was in Cantonese, back then I was fascinated by the country and decided to start learning Mandarin in college.

I have been studying Mandarin for 6 years. I received my BA in Asian Studies from the University at Buffalo in 2015. One year later, I obtained my graduate certificate from the Hopkins-Nanjing Center in China. In this program, I attended 7 classes on various academic subjects in which the language of instruction was Mandarin.

While still a student of advanced Mandarin myself, I can tutor elementary and intermediate Mandarin, particularly with simplified characters. In my spare time, I write articles on developments in Chinese and Nepali relations on LinkedIn in both Chinese and English.

Because Mandarin is one of the most difficult languages in the world, I take an engaging yet relevant approach to teaching. For example, I try to use equivalent sounds in the English language to practice pronunciation. I also describe images to help others remember the Chinese characters.

I also enjoy playing the violin, video games, and different Chinese and Western card games.