Hi Janie

I hope all is well. It is your Canadian student Mike, finally sending you feedback. Sorry, I have been busy since returning home.

Janie, as a quick summary, your classes were EXCELLENT! I really truly enjoyed it. I enjoyed it so much that I am now committed to continuing my learning of Chinese here in Canada.

You have a very professional and thorough approach that is ideally suited to complete beginners such as myself. Chinese speakers here are surprised at the progress I made in just 9 lessons.

Keep up the good work. I look forward to returning to Yangshuo to the Yangshuo Tai Chi school so I can continue my Chinese study with you.

I wish you good luck! I really enjoyed the lessons with you. Please send me your revised course notes.

Thanks!

Letter of recommendation. Nijeveen, 荷兰，2011年 7月 22 日

To whom it may concern. This is to certify that Janie Chen (陈婧) taught Chinese in the Netherlands at different levels and to students of different age over a period of three months in 2008 and 2011.

She taught children in the age of 7 to 11 years at primary school "De Wel" in Nijeveen. She did plays and studied Chinese songs as well and showed a gift in handling these foreign kids, who did not speak anything but Dutch. Her way of teaching these young kids was full of enthusiasm, which was awarded with abundant pleasure and remarkable results.

Secondly she taught a group of teenagers at " Scholengemeenschap Stad en Esch" in Meppel. These older kids were also very happy with her. Apart from the Chinese language they studied calligraphy, and the making of dumplings.

Thirdly she taught adults at "Hànyǔ" , a language Collegein Nijeveen. All students there were happy with her teaching, especially with her emphasis on correct pronunciation. They all regretted that she had to go back to China.

It was a pity that we did not succeed to get an official working permit for her. The Dutch government is very strict in this respect. We hope that she will return in not too far future.

Joeri v.d.B.

To whom it may concern:

During our recent stay in Yangshuo, China, I completed approximately 130 hours of one-to-one Chinese lessons with CHEN Janie (陈婧) as my teacher.

Prior to my arrival in China, Janie Chen had communicated with me in English via email. I knew very little Chinese and Janie Chen organised my course according to my needs and wishes. She chose a very useful textbook with various everyday themes to structure my lessons. Janie Chen arrived punctually each morning and was always neatly presented and well-prepared. She has good English and was able to explain even complicated grammatical points in a way that made them easy to understand.

At my request Janie Chen concentrated on developing my listening and speaking skills and within a few weeks I found my vocabulary and comprehension improving. Janie Chen speaks standard Mandarin in a very clear voice and at a pace neither too slow nor too fast but carefully calculated to facilitate understanding. As time went on and I became more familiar with simple Chinese, Janie Chen increased the pace to a level closer to normal conversation. Because she provided me with so much practice using key words and phrases, I found that my vocabulary increased naturally, almost without effort. She also provided me with typewritten notes after each lesson.

Janie Chen is an extremely warm, friendly person and clearly a very enthusiastic teacher. I found my enjoyment and appreciation of this very difficult language and of the Chinese culture rapidly increasing under her tutelage. I thoroughly enjoyed her lessons and found time passing so quickly each day that I was surprised when the lesson was over. Since my departure from China several weeks ago, I have already used my Chinese on several unexpected occasions and have been surprised and delighted with the results. I attribute this to Janie Chen's excellent teaching.

I have no hesitation in commending her services to anyone seeking a patient, competent and experienced teacher of Chinese.

Sincerely,

Rhonda N.

I want to let people know of my fantastic experience learning Mandarin in Yangshuo. In fact, next year I will visit again and stay one month. This village in China is a popular tourist destination for Asians and others world-wide. The karnst mountains are incredible.

I took classes with Janie Qingyu Chen at a school called New Start where she rents a room. She accommodated my disabilty (broken neck complications). My classes were four hours in the morning and the last thirty minutes we walked through the fresh vegetable and fruit markets to buy produce using the phrases I had just learned. It was amazing!

The people in Yangshuo are very friendly and kind. Janie is a very talented teacher who has her certification from Beijing University teaching Mandarin as a second language. She made my stay in Yangshuo very special. Her teaching methods provide modes of retaining the language via immediate use with the locals. I was understood in shops, restaurants, street vendors, and my hotel. Of course, many in Yangshuo speak English, but they enjoyed talking with me in Mandarin. Janie brings Mandarin language to life and you learn the emotions behind the words.

I requested to learn Hanyu Pinyin and not the Chinese characters. I wanted to learn to converse quickly. Janie accomplished that for me!

Beautiful village, talented teacher, kind locals, delicious foods, and many tours and activities to take part in, make Yangshuo, China an ideal vacation or study location!

I had Janie as a private teacher for 1 month in Yangshuo. I have always found languages hard to learn, and Chinese is no exception for me.

I was very surprised how much I actually learnt during Janie's classes. She was very good at explaining difficult topics, she pushed me to use the Chinese I had learnt, and she also included a good amount of repetition so it was easier to remember. She was very patient and attentive, and she always made an extra teaching effort when I found something difficult to learn. As a bonus, I also learnt about Chinese culture and society.

I have to say that Janie is the best language teacher I've had so far and I hope I'll get the chance to attend her classes again.

Best wishes,
Jens