She Loves Chinese because of Noodles

A little girl’s interest in wanting to talk about Chinese food put her on a path to studying Chinese. Isabelle Szczerbinski first became interested in Chinese when she was 5. At a Chinese restaurant, she was watching a man making noodles. She was so excited that she wanted to talk with him. Unfortunately, he didn’t speak English. On her way home, she said to her father that she wanted to learn Chinese. “I totally fell in love with the language. It’s so beautiful and unlike anything I have ever heard before,” said Isabelle. Isabelle is now 12. She watches movies and TV from China without subtitles. Some of her favorite Chinese cartoons are Pleasant Goat and Big Wolf and Big Head Son and Small Head Dad, which are very popular in China. “I want to thank the Confucius Institute for spreading the wonderful language and culture of China to the world,” said Isabelle, who studies at the Confucius Institute, and is now fluent in Chinese. Isabelle says what stands out for her about Chinese culture is its extraordinary longevity. “I like how it’s still the same, or very similar after 5,000 years,” she said. “We still have stories about people who lived more than 5,000 years ago through folk stories, and I find that very cool.”