Jing Yin
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Steve Grace
Sep 6, 2009, 7:27:52 PM9/6/09
to CU-CSSA
I met Jing Yin shortly after she moved to Boulder to begin her studies
at the University of Colorado. When I started learning Chinese, I
posted a message on the CSSA listserve looking for language partners.
Jing responded to my message, and fortunately for me, she agreed to
help me with my Chinese—no small task, given my atrocious
pronunciation and mangled tones. Thanks to Jing’s skillful instruction
and seemingly infinite patience, I made progress improving my spoken
Chinese. But more importantly, Jing helped instill in me a lifelong
interest in trying to understand Chinese language and culture.
Learning a foreign language is an interesting intellectual exercise,
but what creates a passion for studying another language is the desire
to connect with people from another place, another way of life. I will
continue my Chinese studies far into the future in large part because
of the influence Jing had on me.
Jing was deeply inquisitive about American culture and immensely proud
of her Chinese heritage. She reached out to every person she met who
showed any interest in learning about China; she taught them
diligently and she shared with them selflessly. She simply wanted to
help people understand where she came from, and she wanted to be
friends with as many people as possible. Every time I spoke with Jing
she renewed my motivation to study Chinese for one simple reason:
Jing made learning Chinese fun. It was fun to talk with her, it was
fun to hear her stories, it was fun to hear her laugh.
The first time we met, Jing taught me two characters: 交 and 流. She
taught me that 交流 means to share, to exchange, to communicate. She
explained the definition of 交流 to me, but more importantly, during our
language lessons that followed, Jing taught me what it means to bridge
the gap between two languages, two worlds, by exploring the
differences that separate us, and by celebrating the things we have in
common.
I am grateful I had the opportunity to learn so much from Jing. She
was a terrific teacher and a wonderful friend.
at the University of Colorado. When I started learning Chinese, I
posted a message on the CSSA listserve looking for language partners.
Jing responded to my message, and fortunately for me, she agreed to
help me with my Chinese—no small task, given my atrocious
pronunciation and mangled tones. Thanks to Jing’s skillful instruction
and seemingly infinite patience, I made progress improving my spoken
Chinese. But more importantly, Jing helped instill in me a lifelong
interest in trying to understand Chinese language and culture.
Learning a foreign language is an interesting intellectual exercise,
but what creates a passion for studying another language is the desire
to connect with people from another place, another way of life. I will
continue my Chinese studies far into the future in large part because
of the influence Jing had on me.
Jing was deeply inquisitive about American culture and immensely proud
of her Chinese heritage. She reached out to every person she met who
showed any interest in learning about China; she taught them
diligently and she shared with them selflessly. She simply wanted to
help people understand where she came from, and she wanted to be
friends with as many people as possible. Every time I spoke with Jing
she renewed my motivation to study Chinese for one simple reason:
Jing made learning Chinese fun. It was fun to talk with her, it was
fun to hear her stories, it was fun to hear her laugh.
The first time we met, Jing taught me two characters: 交 and 流. She
taught me that 交流 means to share, to exchange, to communicate. She
explained the definition of 交流 to me, but more importantly, during our
language lessons that followed, Jing taught me what it means to bridge
the gap between two languages, two worlds, by exploring the
differences that separate us, and by celebrating the things we have in
common.
I am grateful I had the opportunity to learn so much from Jing. She
was a terrific teacher and a wonderful friend.
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