Mandarin teacher interview!

For this semester, the school is offering a new subject for its students: Mandarin! Here is an interview with the new Mandarin teacher conducted by the school blog.

Who are you?

My Chinese name is Wei Ming-Yueh, and my friends and family call me Ming-Yueh. Ming-Yueh means bright moon in Chinese and my family name Wei is one of the Dynasties in Chinese history, so it’s a really poetic Chinese name.

Where do you come from?

I come from Taiwan. The official name of Taiwan is Republic of China. But people are confused by mainland China (People’s Republic of China) and Taiwan (Republic of China), so we use Taiwan.

How would you describe Taiwan?

I think Taiwan is a really hot island because it’s in the subtropical zone. We have a really hot summer – today it’s almost thirty degrees. We also do a lot of water activities because Taiwan is an island and you can see the beach everywhere. Here, people like to sunbathe, but the Taiwanese don’t because they are on an island, so with the heat and humidity – sunbathing is really uncomfortable … summer is like a living hell for Taiwanese, it’s really really hot (laughs).

Why did you come to Luxembourg?

It’s an opportunity provided by the Taiwanese government and Luxembourgish government, I’ve always wanted to experience different cultures, every time I see an opportunity, I just go for it.

What were you studying at university?

My major was teaching Chinese as a second language, which is now my job (laughs).

Why did you choose Luxembourg?

I think I really like to be travelling around so I always apply for different opportunities, and some would take me and others wouldn’t. So, it was basically Luxembourg that chose me – rather than the other way around (laughs).

What do you think of Luxembourg?

I think it’s a really tiny but clean country. I can see the forest everywhere, the cows, the wind turbines, it’s a really natural place. It’s totally different from Taiwan because most taiwanese people live in cities and we don’t see the nature every day.

Do you speak Luxembourgish already?

No, I think few people can speak Luxembourgish. All I have is Moien and Äddi (laughs).

Have you visited some places since you arrived?

I went to Cologne and Düsseldorf in Germany, and I also stopped in Liège, the city in Belgium, but I just changed train there.

Are the people nice to you?

Yeah, mostly. The culture shock to me was that if you meet someone you don’t know, you always say hello to them. In our culture we never say hello to strangers, so it’s really weird to me and I have to remind myself every day to say hello to people otherwise they think I’m rude. In Taiwan, or maybe China, Japan or Korea, the most friendly way to greet is to smile, then you can just ignore them and walk on. So, if you are really friendly, you may give them a smile but we don’t say moien, hello, bonjour in our culture.

What’s your job in this school?

My job is to be the Mandarin teacher teaching Mandarin this semester, but I also help some students with their English. But mostly I’m here to teach Mandarin.

How are the students?

The students are motivated and they really like to ask and answer questions. They talk all the time, really all the time, you have to stop them in their conversations. I think it’s quite funny to have such motivated students in the classroom (laughs).

Do they learn quickly?

For the younger pupils in secondary school, they learn really fast but for my adult class we are a little bit slower, I think because they are adults. They are used to the pronunciation of their own language, so it takes more time for them to speak.

Why is Chinese hard to learn in your opinion?

I think the main reason is that in most European languages you have the alphabet. For example in English there are 26 letters. I don’t know about other languages, but you can learn the alphabet, it’s a system to help you read. But in Chinese you cannot tell from the character. The Chinese characters don’t give you any clue how to spell or pronounce them, so it’s totally different writing them and saying them. It’s really hard because if you are a beginner, you have to learn the pinyin system, the spelling system, we call it pinyin, and you also have to learn how to write it and how to type it and how to read it, so it’s totally different from how to say the word and what it looks like. The character doesn’t give you any clue in that regard.

How does it feel to be a teacher?

I’ve wanted to be a teacher since I was little. Whenever I had a chance to talk in front of people it made me feel “whoa I’m so happy and excited to talk to everyone”. Also, in Taiwan the teacher or the person who gives a speech has a microphone, but here, no (laughs). That’s another thing in Luxembourg – we don’t have a microphone. In most East Asian countries they will provide a microphone for the teachers so… it’s a little bit different.

Then the next questions are more about yourself. What’s your favourite colour?

My favourite colour is blue. Light blue (laughs).

What is your favorite animal?

Definitely cats.

What is your favorite food?

Taiwanese pancakes (laughs).

What is the last series you have watched?

A Taiwanese TV series called “Light the night”. It’s new on Netflix and I’ve been watching it.

What is the best movie of all time?

The Shawshank Redemption.

What is your favorite book?

Tuesdays with Morrie. It’s an American author who wrote the book and it’s an autobiography. He was a really excellent student when he was in college and he really liked his teacher, Morrie, but after he graduated from the school, he never contacted him again. After about sixteen years he saw his teacher on TV and found out that he was going to die because of some really weird disease. So, he decided to visit his teacher because he really likes him. Everyone will cry reading this book (laughs).

What is your favourite sport?

I don’t have a favourite sport (laughs), I don’t like to exercise.

Do you travel a lot?

In Taiwan, yes. With my friends we like to go to different cities because in Taiwan we don’t actually have a village. Here, you live in a village, but most Taiwanese have never been to a village before because we are a small island with a lot of people, so it’s always city, city, city, city. So, I’ve never really been to a village before. The scenery in Luxembourg is really nice. Like, when you finish your whole day, you take the bus, and you just enjoy the view. So yeah, it’s very beautiful.

Last question, how long was the flight?

Total would be sixteen hours. Thirteen hours from Taiwan to Istanbul, and another three from Istanbul to Luxembourg.