About Jenny LIN
CERTIFICATED - TCSOL
–Teaching Chinese for speakers of other languages
–Teaching Chinese to young learners
–Teaching Chinese for business
LANGUAGES
-Native Mandarin speaker
-Conversational English and French
BACKGROUND
-Education and Work Experience
Born and raised in Taiwan, I majored in French language. Studying French opened many opportunities for me, as it allowed me to spend an entire year in France as an exchange student. Upon graduating from University, I immediately found work in a French company based in Taiwan. As a direct assistant to the CEO, I gained experience in the local and international business worlds of Taiwan.
In my next job, I was once again an assistant to the CEO of a Chinese fine arts company. I dealt, once more, with the international market, acting as a liaison between Chinese and Taiwanese art dealers, and international auction houses such as Sotheby’s Paris and Christie’s Paris.
My final job before the career switch was once again as an assistant to a CEO, this time, of a cosmetics company based in Taiwan, but with partners and factories in China. This job allowed me to gain tremendous experience in understanding the Taiwanese and Chinese business world. It was there that I learned the main differences in business lingo between Taiwan and China.
-PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Eventually, I felt the need to take advantage of my knowledge of Mandarin, French, and English. My career switch came as a stroke of luck (or perhaps fate?) when a friend approached me for help in learning Mandarin in 2013. I informally helped him learn the language and found tremendous joy in seeing his immense progress within 2 years. At that point, I decided to take the plunge, and enrolled in many Mandarin language teaching classes, where I completed many certifications (International Association TCSOL – Teaching Chinese for speakers of other langues / Teaching Chinese to young learners / Teaching Chinese for business; Pearson EDI Certificate – Teaching Chinese as a foreign language; Quality Assurance Commission – Teaching Chinese to young learners; Cambridge Academy of Management – Teaching Chinese for business).
For the past 4 years (2013-2017), I have also been heavily involved in the rapidly growing Taiwanese Swing Dance scene. Through this very eclectic community, I found many of my first formal students since the career switch. I have since taught a wide variety of students including CEOs of companies, expats living in Taiwan, exchange students, and many others. In some instances, I have given intensive daily lessons for day to day life in Taiwan, as well as business purposes.
In parallel, I have also written over 200 lessons for TutorMing, one of Taiwan’s biggest schools for learning Mandarin.
I feel that teaching Mandarin is my vocation, and it has become a passion of mine. I take great pride in teaching and it is something that I take very seriously. My goal as a teacher is to help you in the best way possible. No two students are alike. Although I have already written many lessons and lesson programs, my teaching approach is always adapted to the student’s learning preferences. I spend a lot of my downtime researching different ways to teach. For me, it goes without saying that lessons should both be fun, while still being challenging and engaging.
This is the reason why my site focuses a lot on the Taiwanese way of speaking Mandarin. People who come to me already have a common goal: to adapt to life in Taiwan, and to expand their social networks there. Learning a language is easiest when there is a concrete goal; living in a country, where said language is used, is a good example of this. Nonetheless, if you are just curious about Mandarin in general, I can also help you.
If this sounds like fun to you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me!
