This is an interview with Douglas Machado, who’s an exchange student from Brazil. We met at the orientation in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

What’s your hobby?

Learning languages.

How many languages can you speak now?

Portuguese as a native, English, Spanish, and a little Chinese. I have studied other languages but still working on lol.

Why you’ll want to learn Chinese?

I want to be a diplomat, and since China is Brazil’s biggest commercial partner, I thought it would be interesting to know how to speak their language. Also, I have always been fascinated by Chinese culture and I love the way the language sounds!

How long have you learned Chinese?

I have studied Chinese for one year and a half.

What’s the hardest thing you met during learning Chinese?

Probably speaking with the right tones in a natural way, I could say with the right tone but sounds artificial.

How to solve it?

I listened to a lot of Chinese music, and also watched many movies and TV shows in Chinese. Then I got more used to the way they sound and I could repeat it.

The first country you want to go visit and why?

That’s such a hard question! I have a long list of countries that I want to visit but I’d say I want to go to Iceland to see the Northern lights the most.

Your future/ dream?

I want to become a diplomat and help my country with its international relations.

Conclusion

It was pretty fun and lucky to meet him during my Tulsa orientation, I was just really surprised when he came and spoke Chinese to me after knowing I’m Taiwanese, although we have a little different accent because his Chinese teacher is from China, he tries very hard to make us understand himself, it’s awesome. After this, I not only know more about him but also make a good friend from a different country, such a cool experience I ever have had!