2015 Summer Intern: Amani

Amani Core from Middlebury College started an internship at AllSet Learning under unusual circumstances. Already in Shanghai at an internship at an art museum, he was nevertheless looking for opportunities for more practice so he could do better on his upcoming OPI telephone test. It was quite a coincidence, because we were also helping a client prepare for the OPI, and bringing Amani on and giving him extra exam prep helped deepen our own knowledge of the OPI. In return for all the extra practice, Amani did some great work for us on the Chinese Grammar Wiki (he had quite an eye for detail), and even as a book reading model!Amani's account:

I was an avid user of the Sinosplice and Chinese Grammar Wiki websites during my gap year at Beijing Normal University the previous year. It really focused on topics that were prominent in my study abroad time, both in terms of life in China as a foreigner and grammatical points. Therefore, I wanted to meet with John while I was here in Shanghai with a separate company for a summer internship. The main goal was to understand his company and receive tips on how to improve my Chinese studies.The first meeting was very helpful, but I ended up coming back for a second time a few weeks later. I explained the need for more preparation for a proficiency exam I wanted to take, and my Chinese environment at my other internship wasn’t sufficient enough to help me feel as if I was progressing. I ended up joining the AllSet Learning team that day and received much more practice in and out of the office, boosting my Chinese skills in many ways. Additionally, I was able to edit the lower levels grammar points on the Chinese Grammar Wiki website, which helped me not only refresh my memory of the grammar patterns I completely forgot, but also re-experience what its like to learn Chinese for the first time.Overall, it was a great experience, much more than I could have hoped for! I learned a lot about the work and effort that goes into a growing company dedicated to help us Chinese learners improve. Additionally, through preparation for the proficiency test, I was finally able to expand my Chinese knowledge that goes past tones, grammar, big words. I’m glad to have been part of the team!

We've been really impressed by Amani's hard work, and how far his Chinese has come in such a short amount of time. We know we'll be meeting him again in China, and he'll probably be totally fluent the next time we see him.