"Through my work, I had the privilege of being trained by the Chinese Language Academy. I can't say enough about the instructors from the academy that came to my workplace for two months. What they conveyed to us was not just the training of a language but, equally as important, they opened a window into a culture, showing us how we really do have so much in common. It can be daunting at first when approaching a language such as Mandarin, but what the instructors from the academy were able to do was to break it down with simplicity making it fun to learn. They gave us many tools to work with such as worksheets, sound charts, a manual, and videos that we could easily access from home for further study. As a result, I have been successful in my verbal exchanges with our Chinese visitors enriching their time here in the United States."