M: Excuse me. Do you study Chinese at the university here?
W: Yes, I do. But my characters are very bad.
M: It takes a long time to learn Chinese writing.
W: Are you Chinese?
M: Yes, I am. I am from Taiwan. I came here to study political science.
W: I want to study Mandarin and international relations.
M: Does the Chinese Department here teach regular characters or simplified characters?
W: They teach regular characters.
M: I see. I'm from Taiwan, so I know regular characters better than simplified.
W: You just said your English needs work, yes?
M: Yes, that's true. Especially my writing. I think my papers aren't good enough. I make too many grammatical mistakes.
W: Well, I am very serious about learning Chinese. But for me the hard part now is pronunciation. You have the four tones in Chinese.
M: Let's make a deal...

M: Congratulations on your success in the marathon!
W: Thank you.
M: Are you pleased with your performance?
W: Yes, very much. It's a new record for me.
M: Could you tell me about your early days in Kenya?
W: I lived about 10 miles from the nearest primary school and as it took too long to walk, I used to run to school and back. When I went to high school, I entered many competitions, mainly middle and long distance races. I won every race I took part in.
M: What are your future plans?
W: Well, I want to run in the next Olympic Games.
M: Is it hard to be a long-distance runner?
W: Where we live, we have some of the most beautiful countryside in the world. It's a pleasure just to run over those hills. It may sound hard to you, but for me, running is as natural as breathing. I mean it's very easy.