Bernhard Lorscheter

09/21/2005

Dear Jodi and my level 4 classmates,

My name is Bernhard Lorscheter. I am from Gelsenkirchen , a nice little town in west Germany .

For the last two years, my family and I have been living in White Plains in Westchester County . We like living in White Plains much more than Manhatten because a German school for our children is nearby.

I am working as an Administration Assistant in the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations. I have worked for the Mission for the last two years, and I will continue to work there for two more years. English is important for my job because I have to talk to people from the United Nations and from the Office of Foreign Missions. It is good to be able to understand other people.

I would like to be a good student in this class and to pass level 4 after my second try.

I am looking forward to the next twelve weeks.

Sincerely,

Bernhard

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LanPing Fu

Dear Jodi Nooyen,

I am very glad to again be your student.

First of all, I would like to congratulate you on the upcoming birth of your first baby in October. As you prepare for this, I should tell you that there is a lot of things you will need to do as a mother.

I am so happy that you can teach me English in this class, and that I will be able to learn by reading, listening, speaking, and writing. I know that I must study hard because level 4 is different from level 2, but I will do my best.

As you know, I come from Beijing , a very big city in China. Beijing, the capital of the country, is a city in the north of China. It is a very beautiful and clean city, and, since.I grew up there, it is my hometown.

Now I live in a apartment in Queens New York, with my husband. We got married more than 20 years ago. We have a son who now goes to University. He usually comes back home for long weekends and holidays.

My hobbies are doing exercise. For example, I do Tai chi in a nearby garden. Every weekend, I go to the garden to do this relaxing exercise. I also like playing table tennis. My other interests include reading, traveling and many other activities.

As for English, I know that I will be able to make more progress under your instruction.

Sincerely,

Lanping Fu

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Dear Jodi and my level 4 classmates,

I have the honor to present a brief introduction of myself to you in compliance with the requirement of the letter from you.

My name is Jiahu Zong. I come from China . In class, you can call me ‘Jiahu'. Sometimes, some of my colleagues call me ‘Yahoo'. I think this nickname sounds more friendly and is less difficult to pronounce than ‘Jiahu' for many foreign people.

I was born in Zhenjiang , a small city located on the southern bank of the Yangzhi River in Jiangsu, a province in southeastren China . Zhenjiang is a very nice place with many historic sites. In China, it is called “a land flowing with milk and honey”. After finishing my elementary and high school education in my hometown, I went on to college in Beijing, which is the capital of China and one of the biggest cities in world. There, I got a master's degree. After my graduation, I became a weapons specialist and started to work for China's National Defense. While working in this position, I lived in Beijing for more than 20 years.

I have a happy family. My wife also works for the Department of the National Defense. We have a son, who is now 17 years old. He is a senior in high school in Beijing . He is clever and curious, and interested in all kinds of sports. He also loves the NBA.

In January 2005, I started working as a weapons specialist for United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), a subsidiary body of the Security Council that deals with relevant issues related to weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq .

Now I alone live in a apartment in Flushing , New York . My wife and my son still work and study in Beijing because they have a lot of things to do there. Nevertheless, in Flushing , life is very convenient for me. There are lots of Chinese restaurants and shops. Transportation to Manhattan is easy and fast.

As for my interests, I love reading and traveling. I am fond of reading some books about history, biographies and detective stories. I have visited many countries. In my opinion, each country has its own excellent culture and ethical characteristics. We can learn a lot of things from other countries.

More than 20 years ago, I started to learn English. Although I have studied for a long time, I have only focused on reading skills, especially technical documents, because I must deal with these for professional resons. However, my practical communication capabilities are very poor. Since I am now working at the UN, I have to work in English and I have got to improve my writing, listening, and speaking. Thus, I think this is a good chance to take part in an English training course. Since studying in the UN language programme, I have had the best studying conditions and environment that I ever had. I will treasure this experience, and I believe I can get good results.

Jodi, congratulations on being mother! I hope your baby will be healthy, beautiful and lovely!

Sincerely,

Jiahu Zong

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