Elderly Woman Learns Foreign Languages for Travelling Abroad

Qin Qinghua (R) travels in Italy. [Xinhua]

Qin Qinghua, a 65-year-old retired English teacher in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, who is now a grandmother, has recently become well known for her extraordinary language skills.

Since retiring, Qin has taken part in many activities held in the community, such as fashion shows and painting. Furthermore, she is very interested in travelling. Since 2007, she had travelled to 17 countries including France, the UK and Germany. In order to communicate with locals on her trips, she has learned German, French and Spanish by herself.

When Qin was young, she had worked in the countryside for 10 years during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). At that time, she liked singing and dancing very much, and always delivered performances for her colleagues. "Many young men wanted to make friends with me," Qin recalled.

When Qin retired, she thought that it was time for her to travel around the world.

"This is the Grand Canyon. It is so beautiful. That is the Eiffel Tower. It is very beautiful during the nights when the lights are on," Qin told the reporter while looking through the photos she had taken during her trips.

"French people are very proud of their language. It is rare for you to hear them speak English," said Qin. Qin was very proud of her German. Because she could not only speak simple sentences, but can communicate with shop assistants while going shopping in Germany. "I want to bargain in German," Qin Joked.

Qin told the reporter that she had travelled with her friends to many places of interest across China, including Taiwan, Zhejiang and Anhui. Qin added that travelling brought happiness to her life after retirement.

(Source: Xinhua/Translated by Women of China)