农村老太会说11门外语，学习外语是日积月累的结果

农村老太会说11门外语，学习外语是日积月累的结果  

With 11 foreign languages under her belt
68-year-old villager-turned tour guide Xiu Xiuzhen has bee a celebrity in the town of Yangshuo
a backpacker mecca in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Xu lives at the foot of Moon Mountain
a must-see tourist attraction in Yangshuo
where she has guided countless tourists. Her sincerity has won her the name "Mama Moon."
Yangshuo
known for its other-worldly karst landscape and the Lijiang River
has been drawing millions of foreign tourists since China opened its door to international travelers in the early 1980s.
阳朔超凡脱俗的喀斯特地貌景观和漓江使其声名远扬，自从中国在80年代早期向国际游客开放后，它吸引了数以百万计的外国游客。
The scenic town is home to many people who make a living by both farming and working as tour guides.
Over the past 16 years
Xu has taught herself 11 foreign languages
including English
Spanish
Japanese and Korean. In addition to making her incredibly popular
her linguistic prowess has made it easier for her to municate with foreign tourists.
"My peers are trying to pick up new languages to boost their business
but no one can catch up with me
" she said.
But the polyglot farmer's success has been hard-won. She started learning simple English phrases 16 years ago
when Yangshuo's tourism industry started to boom.
Illiterate
she was unable to read grammar books
so she had to memorize each word by its sound. But Xu seized every opportunity to talk to foreign tourists and tried to utter out her English.
Constant munication and a sense of perseverance proved effective
and she was gradually able to express herself in English. The determined woman has since learned other foreign languages in succession.
With her mand of 11 foreign languages
Xu is one of the busiest tour guides in Yangshuo. Her reputation draws a large crowd of tourists every day
especially foreign visitors
who e to meet the multilingual guide out of admiration.
"More and more foreign tourists are ing to Yangshuo
and I hope they will feel at home here with my help
" she said.
Not content to simply serve as a tour guide
she now owns a popular restaurant and operates a reputable hotel.
Huang Yongzhong
director of Yangshuo's tourism bureau
said Xu's success has encouraged many farmers to follow suit.
Official statistics show that 1.5 million foreign tourists visited Yangshuo in 2012
a number that has inspired local tour guides to jump on the foreign language bandwagon with hopes of achieving success on par with that of "Mama Moon."
"What 'Mama Moon' does is a good interpretation of the Yangshuo farmers' shared Chinese dream -- to make life better by learning new skills
" Huang said.
He added that the government supports local tour guides by providing frequent training on the laws and regulations of the tourism industry.
Farmers in Yangshuo are passionate
sincere and hard-working
and this spirit will lead to more success stories like that of "Mama Moon
" he said.