Little did anyone expect that this child would take it so seriously, and after beginning middle school he asked his father to allow him to study Chinese. His father, who doted on his son, then visited the ROC Embassy in Brazil. There he asked Ms. Chang Tseng-li to teach Joppert. Chang, who would later become a Brazilian citizen, gave Joppert his first formal introduction to Chinese.
老闆姓陸，是一位老先生，跟他很投緣，零零星星地教了他一些中文字，沒想到這個孩子卻認了真，上了中學後要求父親讓他學中文，疼他的父親找到中華民國駐巴西大使館，請了一位後來也移民定居巴西的張增麗女士作家教，算是他中文真正的啟蒙者。