What language do I speak

Today, a little friend at my tutoring center looked up at me and asked, “What language do you speak?”

I laughed and thought for a second. “Well… my first language is Korean—my parents are Korean Chinese. I grew up in China, so Chinese became my second language. At school, I picked up Japanese, and later I lived and worked in Japan for 10 years. Now I’m here in America, speaking English every day. So technically… I read, write, and speak four languages.”

Then I couldn’t help but joke: “Want more? I also write in computer coding languages—I used to be a programmer!”

As an Asian American, people usually expect me to be good at math, quiet, and obedient. Well, they got the math part right—I do love math. I’ve been tutoring in NYC for over 10 years. I started out with mostly Asian students, but word got around, and now I teach students from all kinds of backgrounds.

These days I teach math, coding, physics, SAT/ACT, even competitive math. Funny thing is, I always thought of myself as a “logical person,” not a “language person.” Yet here I am, speaking four languages (five, if you count coding) and writing a blog in English I taught myself.

Maybe I’m not just a math nerd after all—maybe I’m a language nerd too.