Hi, Dashan,
Please allow me to tell you something about the "foreign group" here in which people speak English as their native tongue. David is Mary's younger brother and
is of course a Canadian, too. He's been teaching English in China for over four
years now and still cannot speak a word of Chinese. :P Being the founder of this forum, David has contributed a lot to the blossom of this forum, and has helped enormously and far-reachingly with most members' English as has Mary and other foreign friends. As you may have found out, Mary has been one of the major backbones of this forum since the very inception; her influence on the forum is indeed immeasurable. Also we are glad to have the pleasure of having Mary's sweetheart husband Uncle Ben's company now and then. The fact that their marriage has lasted more than fourty-either years and is still getting sweeter alone is a
good thing for us to learn. :) Ben is a Canadian (citizen?) of German lineage.
It remains a puzzle for me, too, that how and when Tim found his way to this forum. It's a great honor for the forum to have him around, though, due to his personal integrity and honest. Seeming to have learned a lot about our motherland
China not only historically but currently, Tim is really something of a sinologist. It's refreshing to learn that the way our country has been progressing in all aspects, especially in economics, has somehow drawn the attention of Tim, and
of the whole world. :) I hope our government will soon continue to amaze the
rest of the world by effectively eliminating the gap between the classes of the
poor and the rich. That way we'll be able to attract more Tim's to this forum to help us with our English study.
Neil's another Canadian here. What makes him a little bit different, however, from native Canadians is that he has Chinese descent in his family, and that he can not only read Chinese but speak as well, despite the fact that he has not yet
had the opportunity to put any part of his body onto the soil of China. I hope
he'll soon be able to make his dream materialized. I like him not only because
of his excellently pure English but of the fact that he's also a fan of digital
products, no less than I. :D
There might be some more other foreign friends coming and leaving here from time
to time; these who I mentioned, however, are in no doubt among the movers and shakers of this online community. You are right about having the opportunity to
communicate with native speakers directly being the most effective way of improving our English, including your students', Dashan. The communications with them
will certainly offer us learners of English immeasurable benefits, not only linguistically but a lot more.
Enjoy!
Panpanpan.
