About “Mandarin Weekly”

Hi there! I’m Reuven Lerner, a programmer, author, and trainer. I was born and raised in the United States, and moved to Israel in 1995. In 2013, I took my first trip to Beijing, to teach programming classes (in English), and had a wonderful time.

Before that first trip, several friends told me that I should try to learn some Chinese. I listened to podcasts and read whatever I could online, and was so excited by this new and different language that I kept going. With each trip to China, I learned and used a bit more — and became increasingly fascinated by the Chinese language.

In the summer of 2014, when I finished my PhD, I decided to start learning Chinese more formally, and started to study, one hour per day, with a teacher in Xian. I have been making steady (if slow) progress ever since, and have been pleasantly surprised by my growing ability to express myself when traveling to China.

I have continued to read, listen, and watch whatever I can to improve my Chinese knowledge and understanding outside of formal classes. “Mandarin Weekly” is my attempt to share the results of my obsession with others who, like me, are learning Chinese.

I’m still a beginner, and am still learning a great deal. Which means that every issue of Mandarin Weekly will likely contain many mistakes. However, I’m hoping that as time goes on, my mistakes will be more interesting, and reflect my growth and learning in the language.

If you are learning Chinese, and then I invite you to join the growing number of people reading “Mandarin Weekly,” who (along with me) are fascinated by China and Chinese, and want to improve our ability to communicate in this language.

8 thoughts on “About “Mandarin Weekly””

  1. Hello,

    Do you do any advertizing, advertorials or editorials? My company, The Dragon Trip, does educational travel to China and you seem like a good newsletter to advertize with. If you would like to keep this free of ads, I can understand that too.

    Cheers,
    Nick Noever
    The Dragon Trip, Educational Travel

  2. Hey Reuven, thanks for sending out these valuable resources! And thank you for including Yoyo Chinese links on occasion, we really appreciate it. As a fellow learning, I’ve started to rely on your emails more and more to see what’s going on in the online Mandarin learning community. 加油 (jiā yóu) – Keep it up!

    1. Thanks so much for letting me know! I love Yoyo Chinese (especially the “on the street” segments), and look forward to highlighting more of your stuff in the future!

  3. Hi Reuven,

    Thank you for posting a link to my “Learn Chinese Weekly” blog. I’m sure my readers will appreciate the helpful learning resources that you link to in your weekly blogs. I wish you enjoyment and good progress with your endeavors in learning and mastering the language. 學如逆水行舟﹐ 不進則退。

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