Iris L   

New tutor

Bridging cultures through language, story, and authentic communication.

Nei Ho! I’m Iris- a multilingual educator and writer with nearly a decade of teaching experience across Cantonese, Mandarin Chinese, and English. I’m TCSOL and TEFL certified, and hold a degree in Bilingual Studies from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Since 2017, I started teaching Chinese to ethnic minorities at H.K.S.K.H. Lady MacLehose Centre and worked as a voluntary translator for ethnic minorities women through TheM: Translate for Her. Later, I taught non-Chinese speaking adults from all over the world and different industries. My clients include Bill Davidson (Managing Director, Ching Mo Center), Professor Quentin Parker (Department of Physics, HKU), Thomas Martin (Barrister, Pegasus Chambers), Anthony Stephens (Director, Bank of America), Peter (Chemistry Teacher, Australian International School Hong Kong), Tommy (Manager, PCCW), Fred (Software engineer), Milan (Construction worker) and more.

As a teacher, I’m known for her clear explanations, culturally rich lessons, and her ability to support learners of all levels—from complete beginners to advanced speakers refining fluency. My approach blends linguistic precision with creativity, making language learning both structured and enjoyable.

In my language teaching career, the remarkable achievement was that I discovered the only one family originated from Papua New Guinea in Hong Kong. When I was teaching a primary school student called LeiLei from this family, she discovered that the family spoke “a unique language” and wondered if it was “an endangered language”. Later, I wrote a letter to Linguistic Society of America and also asked about how children from PNG can learn Chinese well. Professor Laurence R. Horn, the former president of LSA replied Iris that it was Tok Pisin which was not an endangered language in Papua New Guinea. However, he encouraged me to teach Chinese to non-Chinese speaking people in Hong Kong because Chinese language teaching is meaningful and such kind of language discovery is a great experience like a linguist does.

Beyond the classroom, I am an active writer. I am currently working on my own book and was awarded an Honorable Mention in the 2025 Fall Writing Contest, which was organized by The Write Practice and my work was featured on Short Fiction Break. This is a global recognition that reflects my strong storytelling voice and dedication to cross‑cultural communication. Besides, I also want to promote Hong Kong literature.

Whether guiding students through the tones of Cantonese, the structure of Mandarin, or the rhythm of English, I bring patience, passion, and a deep understanding of how languages connect people. I look forward to helping learners grow confidently and authentically in their target language.

When I am not teaching, I work as a tour guide at Withlocals. I hope to promote her home language and home culture.