WP3: Learning Chinese as a Means to Explore my Intellectual Identity

I’ve found that during my eight months of college so far, one of the most common conversation starters among students is “What are you studying?”. Now this question can get super boring and repetitive after saying it 100 times, but one thing that I never get tired of is the look on people’s faces when I mention that I am minoring in Chinese. For some reason, people view learning Chinese as “the coolest thing ever,” and that “it must be like, super hard!”. It’s definitely a less common language to minor in, as most people don’t give any sort of reaction to a Spanish or a French minor. But the reaction of everyone to me learning Chinese never gets old, and to some extent, I relate to that. The feeling of learning Chinese never gets old to me, and it always excites me. Although I originally signed up for a Chinese class in eighth grade with all of my friends on a whim, it has turned out to be one of the most beneficial experiences of my life, allowing me to grow as a person for the past six years. The opportunity to discover my intellectual identity would never have been made possible if it weren’t for Chinese, which is why it is so important to have a passion in life, whether it is a second language or any other activity. Taking Chinese gave me confidence in myself and revealed to me my love of knowledge, interpersonal connections, organization, and challenge.

The decision to take Chinese started in middle school, when we were offered the opportunity as eighth graders to go to the local high school to take a Chinese class every morning as a zero period. At first, I did not have much interest in learning another language. I had already been taking Spanish since third grade, and did not want to start over with a whole new language. However, when I learned that all of my best friends were going to do it for fun, I decided it was an opportunity I couldn’t skip out on. One of my first standout moments of Chinese was during the first week in September 2015, when we were learning numbers. We quickly learned in the span of a few days how to count to 100, and although this doesn’t seem like a big accomplishment, to me it was huge. After asking my mom about this, she remembered this achievement too. “You came home, so excited, and counted to 100 for me, your dad, and your brother, all at separate times. It’s funny because none of us knew what you were saying, but your excitement alone just made us all laugh!” (Forster, Colette). These 100 words I had just learned unlocked something in my brain. A desire to learn more, a craving to understand every part, or even just a curiosity about the language itself. In a study done by Noels, Pelletier, Clément, Vallerand, they claim that there are “two general types of motivation, one based on intrinsic interest in the activity per se and the other based on rewards extrinsic to the activity itself.” In these intrinsic interests, people who are free to “to choose to perform an activity,” “will seek interesting situations where they can rise to the challenges that the activity presents” (Noels, Pelletier, Clément, Vallerand). Through Chinese, I found intrinsic motivation to study and explore the language, as well as rise to the challenges that it procured.

I’ve always had a curious side, and a large part of my identity is my intellectual curiosity. I address this point in my second archive of WP2 by saying “I was probably pretty annoying to deal with when I was younger, but this curiosity about life garnered me the nickname “Why Girl” by my family, after always asking “Why?” when learning or hearing about anything. I craved knowledge and just wanted to learn about anything and everything,” (Forster, Logan). This intellectual curiosity has been inside of me for so long, starting from when I was too young to even understand the basic mechanics of the world around me. It has continued throughout my life, and started to manifest itself in eighth grade, with a passion for learning Chinese. After just being exposed to 100 numbers, I knew that I was going to continue with this language for a long time. I craved the knowledge of Chinese in eighth grade and even today as a freshman in college with much to learn, I still crave the knowledge that I do not already have about this language and culture. However, being immersed into the language with no familial or ancestral relationship to it, I needed to understand the nuances of Chinese culture and the intricate societal rules this culture upheld.

Luckily, as I continued taking Chinese courses throughout high school, it became less focused on just the Chinese language, grammar, and vocabulary, but opened up and highlighted Chinese culture as a whole, and I became able to interact with people more through this language I was studying, opening up the social setting for this language. We learned about Chinese holidays, cities, historical landmarks, traditions, and customs that I had never been exposed to previously, coming from an Irish family in a predominantly white town. According to research done by the Curtain and Dahlberg, authors of Languages and Children: Making the Match, “positive impact of cultural information is significantly enhanced when that information is experienced through foreign language and accompanied by experiences in culturally authentic situations.” In order to replicate these culturally authentic situations, every year we had a Chinese New Year Festival at my high school to educate our peers about and celebrate Chinese culture. We displayed posters about different parts of Chinese culture related to the new year, whether that was the 12 Chinese zodiacs, handwriting characters, or even just homemade Chinese food for the new year like Nian Gao. Getting to interact with my peers and experience the culture I was passionate about made me feel closer to them because I could engage with them in another medium and teach them about ideas that they previously had no knowledge about.

However, connecting with people through Chinese culture at my high school fair was not enough for me, and I wanted more authenticity. As an article published by Penn State claims, “learning a foreign language allows us to better understand a culture by providing a way to interact with locals.” One way I was able to achieve a connection with locals was through our sister school in China. The students attended a strict English/Chinese hybrid boarding school in Shanghai and their English was ten times better than our measly Chinese vocabulary. Nevertheless, talking with them was such an interesting experience because of their different lives than us, shared through our monthly powerpoint presentations about different topics ranging from favorite movies to dream colleges. When we went to one-on-one calls via WeChat, a messaging app that is very popular in China, I was able to connect even more with students all the way across the world.

One conversation specifically impacted me when I was talking to another student about favorite TV shows. I mentioned that I’ve watched “The Office” probably eight times, and absolutely loved it. All of a sudden, his face lit up and he called his friends over, all freaking out that I had watched this show. As it turns out, they had all watched “The Office” too, and we bonded over this similarity! This connection was so impactful for me, because even through my terrible Chinese with a strong American accent, I was able to bond with someone across the globe over Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute. As the University of the Potomac says, “Nothing beats the confidence you feel when talking to a native speaker in their language.” Being able to communicate my love for a show with someone else meant that I was able to “break the initial language barrier that holds two people back from fully engaging with each other,” (Penn State University). This moment gave me extreme confidence, not only in just my Chinese, but in myself as a student and a learner. It made Chinese worth it to me, and proved to myself that this language was opening up doors to interact with people I had never dreamed of before.

Learning Chinese has made me realize how much I love communicating and connecting with other people, and given me confidence to do so. I am a people person, and I get lots of my energy and happiness from social interactions and being extroverted. Previously, talking to someone in a whole different language would make me incredibly nervous, but as the University of the Potomac states about using a second language, “It breaks you out of your shell again and again that eventually, you’ll feel comfortable in every situation regardless of whether you’re making mistakes or not.” This comfortability in the unknown has helped me reach many goals outside of Chinese as well. When I have to perform in front of an audience, whether in a dance studio or a packed classroom, I am ready for the challenge and confident in myself to rise to the challenge. Even in a regular classroom setting, it has helped me to become less afraid to raise my hand and voice my thoughts, even if I’m not sure they are totally correct. The confidence and comfortability learned in Chinese is contagious, and has spread to all aspects of my life, helping me to become even more self-assured and extroverted.

Continuing my Chinese education in college was a decision I struggled to make, and a point at which I questioned my purpose for learning and my passion for Chinese. After scoring a 4 on the AP Chinese Exam, I technically did not need to continue with my language track in my higher education. I could have easily have called it quits after learning this language in middle school and throughout high school. In fact, I didn’t even have a Chinese class in my schedule for the first semester of college. I took mostly GE’s to get them out of the way, and for the most part, enjoyed it. As great as an opportunity learning Chinese was, like any language, it is hard work. For the first time in five years, I wasn’t stressed about an upcoming Chinese assignment or quiz. I was relaxed . . . maybe too relaxed.

I am a very organized and structured person, which the Chinese language exposed and catered to. I like to label myself as somewhat of a “planner perfectionist,” where I write down everything that is going to happen in my life for the upcoming weeks in a neat, tidy, color coded planner. Naturally, the repetitive and focused structure of Chinese class was something that blended well with my personality. Similarly, the University of the Potomac reports that “learning a new language helps the brain maintain focus and block distractions” as a “result of regularly switching between languages.” After going without this somewhat psychotic to-a-t planning and extreme concentration for even just a month, I realized how much I needed Chinese back in my life. Not only was it something I was passionate about learning or a way for me to connect with others, but sometimes it was the only thing that kept me sane in hectic or overwhelming times. Quickly, I met with my advisor and scheduled a Chinese class at USC for my second semester.

Maybe it’s the nature of the language, or maybe it’s just the Chinese culture, because the second I joined the Zoom call for my first college Chinese class, I felt like I was right back in high school. I immediately felt at ease with my professor’s intensity, and the rigorous schedule given to us within the first five minutes of class. We were informed that we would have a quiz in two days on the first unit of vocabulary. While this statement was met with looks of irritation and shock by my fellow classmates, I felt at home. I found, and continue to find, comfort in the rigor of Chinese teachers.

Snapshot of weeks 2–5 schedule for high school level AP Chinese (Wang-McKenna).

Snapshot of the first 4 weeks schedule for college level Chinese 3 (Tseng).

As you can see in this schedule, there is little room for error. Although it might seem daunting to some, this is my version of comfort. Chinese teachers consistently expect the best from their students and sometimes push us to our limits. However, after years of this, I am able to identify these high expectations as encouragement, and their faith in us to rise to the challenge. This structure is so important to me because I feel like I am able to take charge of my own learning, and make sure I am on the right track. In all of my college courses, especially Chinese, I feel empowered to be the best student I can be when I receive tough love by my professors, and it drives me to push myself further and aim for higher and better grades. Critiques and criticism doesn’t knock me down, but instead propels me further.

This same work ethic towards Chinese studies has followed me in all aspects of my education, especially seen now in my college studies. Learning a second language changes your brain physically, as the University of the Potomac reports “Scientists have established that we use the left side of the brain when speaking our native language. Whereas, the second language usage isn’t limited to a specific hemisphere. It uses both of them, increasing the size of the white and grey matter of the brain.” After being wired this way for so long mentally, I am able to use this extreme focus in other classes and concentrate on what is important. Learning a language is exercise for your brain, and it has been proven that “people who know more than one language are more likely to retain information” (UOTP Marketing). I can memorize information easier for classes, and study more efficiently. I always study in groups, because I have realized that interpersonal connections make learning so much more engaging and exciting for me. Even in group projects, I take leadership roles because I enjoy establishing relationships with fellow students. And in every moment, I have my planner next to me because organization and structure helps me to compartmentalize information and enhance my learning experiences. These lessons learned in Chinese do not just stay in that classroom, but spread to all situations in which I am a learner of information.

After being in this college level Chinese for almost a full semester, I am so grateful that I decided to continue learning Chinese. It has been such an integral part of my intellectual development, continuing in my life since I was thirteen to now, almost nineteen. It has allowed me to discover so many parts of my personality and grow as a person. Being an intrinsically motivated person, I have “develop[ed] a sense of competence” in my abilities by “striving to meet the challenges” that learning Chinese has presented me with (Noels). Through Chinese I expanded upon my intellectual curiosity and knowledge-seeking, realized the importance I place on interpersonal connections, my need for structure and organization, and love of challenges. Through this language I have discovered that learning does not just mean to memorize information, sit still during lectures, and regurgitate information back up onto a test weeks later. Learning means to be fully invested in something, beyond the classroom. Learning is finding purpose in lessons, letting curiosity lead you out of your comfort zone, and letting passion guide you in the right direction. Learning to me is not what is just taught in middle school, high school, or even college. Learning is what you do with the information received through educational institutes, and how you let that information impact you and mold you as a person.

Works Cited

Curtain, Helena & Carol Ann Dahlberg. (2004). Languages and Children: Making the Match:

New Languages for Young Learners, Grades K-8. Third Edition. New York: Longman.

Forster, Colette. Personal interview. 26 March 2021.

Forster, Logan. “”Why Girl”.” Medium. WP2: Becoming My Own American Girl, 06

Mar. 2021. Web. 06 Apr. 2021.

Noels, K.A., Pelletier, L.G., Clément, R. and Vallerand, R.J. (2000), Why Are You Learning a

Second Language? Motivational Orientations and Self‐Determination Theory. Language

Learning, 50: 57–85.

Penn State University. “Benefits of Learning a Second Language.” Benefits of Learning a Second

Language RSS. 11 Apr. 2013. Web. 28 Apr. 2021.

Tseng, Tin-Yu. “week 1–4 weekly schedule.” 2021. PNG file.

UOTP Marketing. “9 Benefits of Learning a Second Language.” University of the Potomac. 09

June 2020. Web. 28 Apr. 2021.

Wang-McKenna, Rebecca. “AP Chin syllabus Q1-Q4.” 2020. PNG file.