Background

David Su was born in Chongqing, China in 1945.

Education

David Su entered the Central Academy of Drama in 1963.

Career

David Su Liqun was resident playwright at the National Union Theatre in Beijing until emigrating to England in 1984, where he taught at the University of London. A recognized innovator in the field of Chinese language teaching, he also finds time to write plays, novels, biographies, textbooks and television programs. His counsel extends to training actors to speak proper Chinese, with Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones being two of his more notable alumni.

David Su is currently the chair of Meridian Chinese Studies, a group he founded to teach Chinese language and culture to students and teachers. David spent twenty years as the most senior Mandarin tutor in the Culture & Language Department of SOAS, the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. While there, he taught language and culture classes to individuals, businesses, financial institutions, and government organizations including the MOD, Foreign Office, and British Council. He also developed the textbook still in use at SOAS, Chinese for Everyone.

David has lectured extensively in both the UK and China on TDR, as well as on Chinese classics and culture at universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and the London School of Economics, and at the British Museum. He has worked with the BBC to produce programs on Chinese literature and was the main writer for Real Chinese, a ten-episode program on linguistics broadcast throughout Europe in 2004. David’s plays have been performed across China, including at The National Theatre in Beijing.

David created the TDR (Tian – time, Di – location, Ren – activities), a new methodology for learning Mandarin lessons. TDR employs the concepts of Yin and Yang to make it much easier to grasp the simplicity of Chinese grammar.

Achievements

• Davis is a recognised innovator in the field of Chinese language teaching. His most important contribution to Chinese linguistics has been the development of TDR, a new methodology for learning Mandarin lessons.

Works

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• book

  • The Vintage Book of Contemporary Chinese Fiction

    (An anthology of short fiction introduces the work of cont...)

    2001
  • Vermilion Ink

    (David Su Li-Qun and Diana Gore have penned a moving histo...)

    2011
  • The Picador Book of Contemporary Chinese Fiction

    (David Su Li-qun is editor, with Carolyn Choa, of The Pica...)

    2006
  • Chinese for Everyone 2004
  • Mastering Chinese Characters: A Modern Approach 2014