My name is Ashley. I live in England, but like most Brits, have mixed heritage. Unfortunately, my family languages were lost in the previous generation, so I only have English as a native language.

I decided in my early twenties to learn Chinese, to open up a world of culture and social opportunity that was lost to my family. I want to be able to teach my children to have a love of language and a respect for the world and the people in it. Mandarin is my second language.

I am also (re-)learning Spanish, as it is the language with the second highest number of native speakers, after Mandarin. I began to study Spanish in school, but definitely took the opportunity for granted at the time.

There are well over 2.5 BILLION speakers of these 3 languages, so not a bad place to start for an avid world traveller.

Here’s a little more about this blog to start off:

• Why are you starting this blog?
  • I’ve been studying Mandarin for a few years now, so it seems like a good time to start documenting my learning (what has helped and what was a complete waste of time…). I’ve also started my TEFL qualification during the 2020 lockdown, and want this as a record of my learning.
• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
  • I want to be able to help others in a similar situation – trying to study a language and not knowing where to being or how to improve beyond the basics.
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
  • Specifically, each language has a resources section with useful study materials I’ve found while researching. I’ll also write up “lesson style” blog posts on individual topics of interest. Finally, there is a general language/culture/travel area too, to tie it all together.
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
  • Anyone who also shares my love of learning and language and travel. I’ve already met some awesome people through this journey, whether they are tutors, study buddies, or just interesting people to chat to!
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?
  • I hope to be able to say that I’ve started to build up a great resource in this blog, for language learners across the globe!

Bye! 再见！¡Adiós!