Ever since I was born, English was my native language. Living in Indonesia, I went to a school where Chinese was taught, therefore I could read the characters with minimum difficulty. However, without... any knowledge of Japanese, I started self-study in early 2019 using Duolingo and other resources mainly from Youtube. Although I started learning for fun, I became engaged and mastered the language in a year. After traveling to Japan several times, I am able to communicate with native speakers. In my community college, I converse daily with my Japanese peers, understanding the foundation of the language up to the slang and being able to read and write. It has been almost 4 years of my self-study, and I hope to continue learning while also sharing my knowledge with other people. My passion for languages has extended over the years, as I volunteered to teach kids in Indonesia who couldn't speak English, and I lead the International Students Club at my college, helping international students with their language barrier, to connect with one another despite our differences.read more

Hello, my name is Matthew. I am ethnically Chinese born in Los Angeles and raised in Indonesia ever since. I was born speaking English and Indonesian, and am currently fluent in Japanese. I am current... ly studying abroad in the United States and I love interconnecting with students from all cultures from all around the world. I love diversity, and I am passionate about many things, including STEM, languages, music, cooking, teaching, and much more. My perspective upon teaching changed during my math class in high school. Until then, I was not the best at academics, but I challenged myself in an advanced class and I failed my first exam. With my grit, I did not give up and I worked hard and I gained straight A's afterward. Ever since I began to teach people who I once asked for help, I found great interest in teaching. Although I received nothing in return, I really enjoyed helping peers in my classroom and occasionally helping them outside of school hours. Although I had a bad image of studying and becoming a teacher myself, I discovered that it became one of my passion after trying. Being able to teach is a blessing, as I share the talents and skills I have, and also learn in the process. As an ambitious student in my community, I always hope to make an impact. I believe education is one of the keys to success, and I believe that by sharing my knowledge with others, I can create an impact, starting with students, one by one. Living in a third-world country, Indonesia, I see that education is one of the greatest necessities lacking within the country, and I strongly believe that education will make a country like Indonesia better.read more