A Q&A with Darren Liu

My favorite food is Cantonese chang fen noodles. 

What language do you speak at school? How do you say "Hello" in your language?:

All of our classes are taught in Mandarin with the exception of English, which we have one class dedicated to learning. In Mandarin, we say 你好 (nihao) to greet someone. 

What are some common kids' names at your school?:

All my classmates have unique names. In China, we call each other by both our last names and first names so even if we happen to have the same first name, our names are still different. The chances of having the exact same name as someone else is very rare, especially since one character can be written in various ways.

What subjects do you study in school, and which one is your favorite?:

I study a variety of subjects at school, including math, history, English, Chinese literature, geography, biology and chemistry. My favorite class is biology!

What is your homework like?:

I have so much homework. After school ends at 5pm, I head to a tutoring session that lasts for about two hours. I eat dinner afterwards and jump straight into working on homework. I work on it all the way until 12am. That's pretty much my everyday routine. 

What do you like to do after school? Do you have a favorite sport or game?:

I wish I could play sports or just chill with my friends after school, but I don't dare to. There are a lot of people in China, so not everyone can go to high school. Getting into high school is really competitive, so I have to study in order to secure a spot for my future.  

Pages