Sedgehead

I am a botanist and ecologist born in April 1952. I started teaching myself Chinese on Feb. 26, 2004, so I have been at it for more than 20 years. I've been to China four times. I live with my wife in Mountain Home, Arkansas, USA. If a spammer calls my phone, I simply answer in Chinese and start asking them why they are calling me if they can't speak Chinese! It confuses them and they hang up!

Since 2010, I have edited more than 3000 scientific research papers. Most come from mainland China, but I have edited papers from all continents, a few oceans, and have edited a few books. As a result, I have a good feel for two things: (1) the types of ecological research being conducted in China and (2) the typical errors Chinese scientists and others make when writing in English as non-native English speakers.

In the past, my wife and I have hosted Chinese visitors to our home for day visits or for as much as nearly two years. I have been writing blogs about those adventures on Nyan-8. My English autobiography has 300,000 words in English and I'd like to write a Chinese version!

I studied German in college, but have only found myself speaking German a few times in real life. In 1982, I decided "I speak Spanish" and often try to read or speak the language. I'm no expert in Spanish! I would like to learn a little Japanese and Korean, but at my age, I'm starting to run out of time!