My name is Nick Poole. I am from the United States of America. I was born and raised in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada.

I hold dual bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science and Asian Studies (with a focus on Chinese culture), as well as a minor in Chinese language.

After graduating from UNLV, I worked for six years as a software engineer in the casino gaming industry, developing slot machines, ATMs, and casino management software deployed at famous casinos from Las Vegas to Macau.

For high school, I attended the Las Vegas Academy of Performing Arts, a Grammy Award-winning magnet school where I received classical performance training on the violin and contrabass. My teachers were world-class musicians who regularly performed alongside artists such as Frank Sinatra and Wayne Newton in the showrooms on the Las Vegas Strip.

I have had a lifelong fascination with modes of communication and expression. I have completed at least one year of college-level study in Russian, Spanish, Japanese, German, and Chinese, including two years at Yunnan University in Kunming, where I passed HSK Level 4.

Through my musical training and computer science studies, I have reached beyond spoken human languages to the evocative expression of music, the abstract reasoning of advanced mathematics, and the precise computer languages used to instruct machines.

Teaching language feels to me a natural progression toward a deeper understanding of communication and expression. It gives me a chance to learn more about how languages are acquired, as well as an opportunity to contribute to the world’s future by supporting language learners in their study and practice. And there is no better place to teach than in China, where I can continue improving my skills in my favorite natural language — Chinese.