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Instructor Information


NameBio
Joanne Thong

From Joanne Thong:

I have a lifelong passion for languages and have spent a lifetime learning languages. My family spoke Cantonese in our house while growing up and then while in school in Malaysia I learned English, Mandarin, and Malay. When I was a kid, I watched an American Sesame Street show that showcased Japanese Culture and became fascinated with the Japanese culture during my early schooling. After graduating high school, I started to learn the Japanese language and visited Japan many times to experience Japanese culture first hand. After college my first position in a global company was thanks to my experience with the Japanese language. While working for this Japanese company I traveled around the world and developed a real passion for seeing the world.

After falling in love with Europe I ended up taking a career break and moved to Milan, Italy to learn Italian and taught Mandarin. To live the sweet life in Italy! After learning Italian and living in Italy for a year and a half I decided to move to Singapore to pursue career opportunities and put my language skills to work. While in Singapore I taught languages and provided interpreting services in Italian and Mandarin. After spending 6 years in Singapore, I ended up meeting an American and falling in love and got married. This ended up bringing me to the great state of Idaho where I now have a wonderful family.