I was born and raised on the border between Khazahstan and China. I went to Khazah 1-11 school, learned mainly Khazah and Mandarin as my second language, but we always spoke and read in Chinese at home those years. At the age of 16, I took a 72 hour train from my hometown to College in Beijing where I passed the highest level of HSK (The Hànyu Shuipíng Kaoshì, translated as Chinese Proficiency Test or Chinese Standard Exam) and received my bachelor degree in Russian language and literature.

While I was in College, I spent many hours tutoring international students from all over the world in Mandarin for almost 3 years. I started learning English after I came to the states from the end of 2001, from different ESL programs and listening to radio while I could. Then I become an ESL teacher volunteering once a week (2hours) for 2 years, helping people from other cultures to be able to live a normal life here in the US with better English. I've been through pretty much what you're going through now, which makes me different from other native Chinese speakers.

I am a native speaker who went through HSK preparation myself and I'm married to a native Chinese man.

I've studied 4 different languages in my life, some of them are really difficult such as Russian, Khazah and Chinese, of course. No matter which level are you in, we will together reach the point where you want to be. It's not you, it's the language and culture behind it, and how much that can be attractive to you. I'm the one who'll make you to love and want it as much as I do.