Not because you are expected to major in this ancient language,

Not because you are expected to talk like Confucius or Laozi,

But,

So you will be like a child again when you train your mouth muscles to

pronounce Bopomofo.

So you will reconnect with nature when you find out Chinese characters

root in Mother Earth.

So you will rediscover human relationships when we study the connections

between words.

So you will engage your creativity with discipline when you learn how

to translate from Chinese to English.

So you will unlearn and relearn yourself on this learning journey,

So you will recognize beauty,

So you will be more sensitive,

So you will be more patient,

So you will be closer to an infinite beyond this world.

So you will have more loving kindness,

More compassion,

In short,

More humanness—the essence of traditional Chinese culture.

By DRBU Instructor Yi-Huan Shih