I have been studying Chinese for 6 years. My family has always found it fascinating, although they cannot understand a single word of it. My grandma is very close to my family, and whenever she commented on me studying Chinese, I would teach her a word or two. I taught her 土豆(potato) when we went out to eat, and 祝你生日快乐 （happy birthday) on her birthday. Now she is 77 years old, and two weeks ago she commented on how pretty she thought calligraphy was and how she would love to practice it. So I told her "why not", and offered to teach her some Chinese. She was eager to accept, though I thought it may have been out of courtesy.

I created a short, basic lesson. I tried to explain the differences between Chinese and English to her, giving a rough overview of the characters system, stroke order, tones, and the 3000 year history going back to oracle bone script. I prepared a sheet for her to practice writing some simple characters, including 一， 人， 口， and others. I also showed her how to practice saying “妈妈骂马吗" to try to work on her tones.

I wasn't sure what to expect next, half thinking she would put on a smile, thank me, and never give any more effort to learning Chinese. I mean she is pretty old, and studying can be tiring work. But she pleasantly surprised me.

Now every day that I see her, she recites “妈妈骂马吗”, and although she is making little progress, she is persistent. She has completed the writing practice sheets I made her, and keeps asking me about when our next lesson will be. I look forward to the day when we can converse in Chinese in front of my family who can’t understand a word, even though we may only be talking about moms scolding horses.

The point is, even at her age, when you would think she has seen and done everything she wanted in her life, when many people may become stubborn and only reminisce with stories of their good ol' days, she is still seeking new experiences, keeping an open mind about the world. I think learning about foreign languages and cultures gives you an invaluable understanding about the world we live in. People ask me why I study Chinese, and I reply “Why wouldn’t I want to communicate with people who live on the other side of the planet? It’s really not that far.” (Plus, it gives me an excuse to travel and enjoy delicious dumplings).

So to all those who feel intimidated by Asia because of how difficult the languages are to learn, I say “Yes it’s not a piece of cake, but even a 77 year old woman is not afraid to try, so why should you be?”