Sumbella
When you forget which character it is...
Chinese text reads: Ahh... I've forgotten which character it is! The phone shows multiple characters that are pronounced similarly to...
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I log what I'm learning through my writing - themes include productivity, wellbeing, teaching, facilitation & more.
Some of these posts are originally published on LinkedIn.
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Sumbella
- Oct 17, 2020
- 1 min
Just when you thought you learned all the ways to say 'I can' in Chinese...
I have had a few requests for comic style sketches from students, along with some discussions on what's fun and helpful when getting...
Sumbella
- Oct 10, 2020
- 3 min
A new belief, and 3 important tools for learning Chinese
Unless you managed to escape the global pandemic this year, you can't have missed how strained tensions between China and the rest of the...
Sumbella
- Oct 3, 2020
- 2 min
Teacher = Motivator
“There are no unique messages in this world: only unique messengers” When you’re learning something, you somehow need someone to be...
Sumbella
- Sep 26, 2020
- 2 min
Yes, you can. 你可以！
Caption reads: '我的天啊！' - meaning 'Oh my goodness!' I've written before about how motivating, inspiring, and encouraging is such a...
Sumbella
- Sep 19, 2020
- 3 min
加油 | Add oil, keep building your skills
Doodle reads: "加油！加油！Jiayou, jiayou - Keep going, come on! Go go!" In Chinese there is a word for encouraging others, called 加油 jiayou....
Sumbella
- Aug 22, 2020
- 2 min
"Learn more languages, eat more nan bread"
"孩子，多学语言，多吃囊！" - “My child, learn more languages, eat more Nan bread!" Many years ago, when I first heard my friend's father say this...
Sumbella
- Aug 7, 2020
- 2 min
The art of Chinese (and of life) is in the details
My student and I are in a Chinese lesson. We are in the middle of doing a Tingxie (a dictation) and they have written the same characters...
Sumbella
- Aug 1, 2020
- 2 min
Time: the greatest sacrifice
Did you know in Chinese, and in English, both languages can talk about time by using the word ’spend’? For example, in Chinese - the...
Sumbella
- Jul 31, 2020
- 3 min
How I use speed to teach Chinese characters
“Laoshi I’m FINISHED!” - one of the students shouts out as he throws his pen on the table in victory. I laugh as the other students catch...
Sumbella
- Jul 31, 2020
- 2 min
The speed that comes from slowing down
There is a lot of speed that comes from slowing things down. Imagine: I am teaching a lesson in Chinese - it is near the end of a...
Sumbella
- Jul 31, 2020
- 2 min
And why you need to meet (Ha)moody's friend: 'Tingxie'.
There is a moment in the early stages of learning Chinese where I will tell my students something along these lines: “Next week, come to...
Sumbella
- Jul 31, 2020
- 2 min
Why you need to meet (Ha)moody, a lot.
(Note: the word 'mudi' in this piece is pronounced like the word ‘moody’ in English). I look at my students, all ready and waiting for...
Sumbella
- Jul 15, 2020
- 2 min
When my student becomes my teacher
It is early in the morning. The sky is still dark outside, but the screen in front of my face seems far too bright suddenly. I am...
Sumbella
- Jul 15, 2020
- 2 min
First impressions, last impressions?
Many fancy quotes often have a nemesis quote to counter it. Life is full of paradoxes. I come across so many powerful quotes that seem so...
Sumbella
- Jul 15, 2020
- 1 min
Forever a teacher, forever a student
On teaching/learning Chinese I love teaching Chinese a lot. One thing I love most is when my students make me remember details from the...
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