Each member of our staff is dynamic, knowledgeable and totally focused on your success with Mandarin.
Ann Zhu | Teacher
Ann taught English and was the director of an English school in Shanghai. After moving to Portland she taught Mandarin to fourth graders at the International School for several years. She is popular with our intermediate students. She is good at using words that students have learned and encourages them to converse.
Lin liu | Teacher
Lin Liu has been teaching with us more than 6 years. Before moving to the US, she operated her own English school in Beijing. She likes to bring fun practice activities into the class, and blends Chinese history and culture into her explanations of language points to help students gain a more comprehensive understanding.
Jinyi Qi | Teacher
Jinyi, from Tianjin near Beijing, is taking classes at PSU, teaching first graders, and some of our evening classes. She brings a lot of fun to the class, and challenges students at the same time.
Jingjing Song | Teacher
Jingjing has been teaching at our school longer than her mother, Ann. She also teaches at the International School with first graders. Jinging enjoys teaching adults and kids. She make every class fun, interesting and rewarding.
Sally Zhao | Teacher
Sally recently moved here from Beijing, where she taught English and was the president of the Beijing Toastmasters. She is currently working on her masters degree in Teaching Chinese Language. And we are excited to have her teaching our Reading and Conversation class this term.
Eric Grimm | Founder/Director
Eric started learning Mandarin in 2004 at the age of 48. As a software developer and project manager for manufacturing test systems he took many trips to China. At the urging of a co-worker he took a Mandarin class after returning from his first trip. During many subsequent trips, he took advantage of the opportunity to use the language as much as possible. Frustrated with standard teaching methods, he founded the school in 2007 with Tien Whyte, who shared the vision of reinvigorating the adult language classroom with more engaging activities and better use of technology.
