Kevin Rudd was Australia’s 26th Prime Minister and, notably, he’s fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
Here’s an interview done with him in Mandarin on the Mandarin News Australia.
Wow! Many people may have these questions in mind: How did Kevin Rudd learn Mandarin? How can I speak Mandarin as fluent as Kevin Rudd?
Take Kevin Rudd as an typical example, I would say the ingredients to learning Chinese well are personal interest, goal, and opportunity to learn and use the language.
Rudd was born in Nambour, Queensland. He studied at the Australian National University in Canberra, where he resided at Burgmann College and graduated with Bachelor of Arts (Asian Studies) with First-Class Honours. He majored in Chinese language and Chinese history, became proficient in Mandarin. His Chinese name is Lù Kèwén (simplified Chinese: 陆克文; traditional Chinese: 陸克文) – a very nice creation according to the similar pronunciation of his English name: LU 陆 for RUDD as the family name, and KEWEN 克文 for Kevin as the given name.
Here’s Kevin Rudd’s weipo
陆克文先生的微博_微博 : https://www.weibo.com/u/2726223703?is_hot=1
Personally, Rudd showed great interest in Chinese history and culture when he was quite young. His interest was first kindled when he was about seven years old after his mother gave him a book on archaeology that included Chinese artefacts.
He studied Chinese language at the Australian National University in Canberra, starting in 1976 and graduating in 1981. During this course he learnt not only Mandarin but also Chinese calligraphy and the history, literature, poetry, philosophy and aesthetics of Chinese civilisation.
He pursued further learning at Mandarin Training Centre in Taiwan in 1980. With a solid theoretical foundation, his skills quickly increased during this time. He would study in the mornings and then wander around in the afternoons.
He also worked as a political counsellor at the embassy in Beijing around 1984, but not before being sent to the Chinese University of Hong Kong to brush up on his Mandarin.
Do you have a goal for your Mandarin learning? How would you use Mandarin in your role?
Contact us and to see how we can help you to build a solid foundation of your Mandarin Chinese and see how far you can go!
Source:
http://www.quora.com, Wikipedia, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bro4mkb_VKc