Tim Stout is in his 11th year at Waterford, and is our Chinese teacher and Foreign Language Department Chair. We learned that he recently published another popular language learning book, so we took this chance to ask him a few questions.
Tim’s family moved to Tokyo when he was 3 years old. He says that from a young age he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and be a teacher. He earned a B.A. in Japanese Teaching from Brigham Young University, a M.A. in Japanese Pedagogy from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in education from Utah State University. He and his wife live in Lehi with their two youngest children, and have three older sons as well (two are recent Waterford alumni).
At this time I also signed a contract to write a book for Tuttle Publishing. In 2007, Japanese Hiragana for Beginners was published. The following year, Japanese Katakana for Beginners was published. These two books have since been republished into one book, Japanese Hiragana and Katakana for Beginners, and it is currently a bestseller among language books on Amazon.
Being fluent in Japanese was no doubt very helpful in bridging the gap to Chinese. The school was supportive as I worked many hours, with many tutors, and then spent several summers studying in China, working many more hours, with many more tutors, bringing my Chinese proficiency up to speed. Finally in the fall of 2014 we launched the new Chinese program at Waterford.
The reception has been wonderful, and our enrollment is steadily growing. Our students have shown a remarkable ability to learn Chinese, both the written and spoken language, and they have been a joy to teach. We currently have over 50 students in Chinese 1 through AP Chinese.
It is a privilege to be a part of this exciting movement in the US education system, and it is a special honor to work with the wonderful faculty, students, and parents at the Waterford School.
November 20, 2020
May 11, 2021
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