“It’s Never Too Late”: How a 70-Year-Old Beginner Learned Chinese and Traveled to China

A retired French teacher from the Netherlands began learning Mandarin as a total beginner in 2023. Two years later, she’s conversational, around HSK 3, and has traveled to China twice—proving that language learning can be about courage, curiosity, and joy.

On an ordinary morning in the Netherlands, Lili Postmes opens her notebook and begins writing Chinese characters—slowly, carefully, and with the kind of patience that only comes from experience.

There is no exam deadline on her calendar, no urgent career requirement pushing her forward. Instead, there is a simple decision she made after retirement: to start something completely new.

Lili is a retired French teacher, nearly 70 years old, and she began learning Chinese from zero with GoEast Mandarin on July 26, 2023.

Why Chinese? “Because It Was the Most Challenging”

At first, her motivation was practical—and delivered with her signature humor. She worried about getting older and wanted a challenge that could keep her mind active. “Chinese felt like the most challenging language,” she likes to say, “so I chose that.”

It’s the kind of answer that makes you smile, but there’s real wisdom in it. Learning a tonal language, with its thousands of characters and completely different grammar, isn’t just hard—it’s the kind of hard that keeps your brain engaged in ways that feel alive.

But what started as “brain exercise” didn’t stay that way for long.

From Discipline to Love

Over time, Lili’s reason for learning shifted from discipline to genuine fascination. She fell in love with Chinese language and culture, started collecting words and expressions from C-dramas, and even insisted that her teacher text her only in Chinese—characters included—so she could build real literacy, not just recognition.

“At first, I just wanted to keep my mind sharp,” she explains. “But then I started watching Chinese dramas, and I wanted to understand what people were really saying. Not just the subtitles—the actual words they use, the way they express things.”

And then came the part she never expected: the connections.

Two Years of Twice-Weekly Classes—and Two Trips to China

Lili has studied consistently in online one-on-one classes twice a week for more than two years. By 2025, she reached around HSK 3—high beginner to lower intermediate—and became comfortably conversational.

But for her, progress has never been about perfect pronunciation or passing exams. “It’s about courage, curiosity, and joy,” her learning team says—and Lili’s story proves it.

In 2024, when GoEast language consultant Maria traveled through Europe, she made a special stop in the Netherlands to meet Lili in person—turning a long-running online learning relationship into a real-world friendship. They had coffee, spoke Chinese, and laughed about the characters Lili still finds tricky.

Then, in the summer of 2025, Lili did something even braver: she traveled to China. Not alone, though. She joined a small group trip with two other online GoEast learners—women she’d connected with through classes—and visited Shanghai together.

They met teachers and Maria at the GoEast headquarters, participated in group classes and activities, and experienced the city as learners who could truly engage. Lili even recorded a conversation with a Chinese blogger—one of those small, brave moments that marks a real turning point for language learners.

She has now been to China twice since starting Chinese, and each time, she understood more, connected more, and felt more at home.

The Girlfriends She Found Through Learning Chinese

Perhaps the most touching part of Lili’s story is the one that has nothing to do with textbooks.

Her husband doesn’t enjoy traveling, but through GoEast, Lili found two close “girlfriends” to explore China with—travel partners who share her curiosity and energy. For many adult learners, language classes are just a skill-building routine. For Lili, they became a gateway to new friendships, new countries, and a new confidence when speaking with Chinese people.

“I never expected to make such close friends at this stage of life,” she says. “But there we were, three women in Shanghai, ordering food in Chinese, getting lost together, laughing at our mistakes. It felt like being young again—but with better judgment.”

“You Don’t Have to Be Perfect. You Just Have to Be Curious.”

As the New Year approaches, Lili hopes her story reaches anyone who believes they have missed their moment.

“If you are my age and thinking it’s too late to start… it’s not,” she says. “You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to be curious.”

She’s right, of course. At nearly 70, Lili didn’t just learn a language. She learned that beginnings don’t have expiration dates. That friendships can form across continents. That travel feels different when you can actually talk to people. And that sometimes, the most challenging thing you can do is exactly what you need.

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Can You Start Learning Chinese After 70?

If you’re wondering whether it’s realistic to learn Chinese as an older adult, Lili’s story offers some answers:

Time to conversational: About 2 years with twice-weekly one-on-one classes
Challenges: Tones and characters require patience, but consistent practice works
Rewards: Travel confidence, new friendships, cognitive engagement, cultural connection
Best approach: Find a patient teacher, study consistently (not intensively), and use the language in real situations

The key isn’t age—it’s curiosity and consistency.

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About GoEast Mandarin

GoEast Mandarin is a Shanghai-based Chinese language school offering online and in-person programs for adult and young learners. Established in 2012, GoEast has taught over 20,000 students worldwide.

Lili studies through online one-on-one classes, where consistency and real-life confidence are valued as much as measurable progress. If you’re thinking about starting your own Chinese learning journey—regardless of age— GoEast’s team can help create a personalized plan.