On my Chinese language learning journey, I have encountered several invaluable teachers. When I first started learning Mandarin in my native United States, I took classes at an international language center near my home.

My first teacher was Fiona, an immigrant from China's Taiwan. Fiona made it her mission to fine-tune our ears to the phonetic pitfalls of Chinese. She had a beautiful soprano voice and taught us the Chinese phonetic alphabet song. The sheet music to the song had a cartoon of a little horse clutching a microphone and singing karaoke.

At one point Fiona asked us to play jian dao, shi tou, bu (scissors, rock, paper). It was quite a spectacle: eight adults playing children's games and singing. I felt as if I were one of the Von Trapp family singers in the Broadway hit The Sound of Music; instead of "do re mi" it was "bo po mo fo de te ne le." Another one of Fiona's teaching methods was having us read aloud vowels and diphthongs she had written on flash cards and stashed in plastic bags. We were then asked to swap the bags to practice different vowels.

When we practiced writing characters, Fiona circled only the beautiful characters in red ink to give face and boost our confidence. Perhaps the creative, playful American teaching style had rubbed off on her after many years in the United States. She was a wonderful teacher for those of us who were just starting out on our Chinese learning journey.

After that semester was over and my classmates and I had graduated to the next level at the same institute, I met Julie, who was originally from Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province. Julie was a strict, no-nonsense teacher who adhered to the textbook and learning by rote, and I dare say I did well under her tutelage because next to a carrot, I appreciate an occasional stick. As opposed to Fiona's teaching us traditional characters, Julie taught us the simplified ones and would conduct frequent tests to monitor our progress. Everything was always under control, and our learning goals were fully met by semester-end.

When I moved to China, I first engaged the services of Jelly, from north China's Tianjin. Jelly was quite fashionable: She had highlights in her hair, and wore contact lenses, which made her eyes more luminous, and high heels. Her method of transportation was a scooter. Jelly did not believe in textbooks, but in her so-called unique "storytelling" method. The way it worked was she made very stylized sketches with a black marker, and I had to use the sketches as cues to tell a story. Her sketches led me to spin wild tales around a shuaige (handsome guy) and meinü (pretty woman), pirates and a parrot, while increasing my Chinese vocabulary. Jelly had a keen business sense and the ambition to open her own Chinese school in Beijing, which she eventually ended up doing.

But hands down my favorite teacher is Helen, from east China's Shandong Province, who was my second Chinese teacher in China. She is an intellectual beauty with glasses, glittering black eyes, long, glossy hair, and a mole on the right side of her chin.

Helen introduced a textbook series to me that suited my needs—my goal now is to learn how to read newspapers. I have known her for several years, and we have shared quite a bit of "weal and woe" and kept each other updated on what's happening in our lives. Helen always gives me hope, be it for improving my language level or overcoming life's challenges.

I am happy to say that our relationship has evolved from that of teacher-student to also that of friends. We are both the bookish type and share similar values. She gave me a copy of the Chinese classic Fortress Besieged (Weicheng) by renowned Chinese writer Qian Zhongshu (1910-98) and I gifted her with an English copy of Anne of Green Gables by Canadian writer Lucy Maud Montgomery. I dare say she read the book, while Fortress Besieged is still beckoning me to improve my Chinese.

It is not easy for Helen to struggle by herself in Beijing, but she is always optimistic and stands up to the challenges in life with a level head. I admire her for her perseverance and independence. She encourages her students while insisting that the language of communication always be Chinese, and tailors her teaching methods to her students' individual needs so as to bring out the best in them.

Thanks to these very different Chinese teachers, my eyes have been opened to the myriad ways you can study Chinese and to the immense possibilities of that challenging language.

The author is an American living in Beijing

Copyedited by Rebeca Toledo

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