UPP’s First Language Exchange!
By QIANG YANG, Intern
EDITED BY CAROLINE CORNISH
On the 9th of September, New Mind Education held the first language exchange of this semester at North Carolina State University. 20 UPP students in NCSU and several Americans students gathered together in the new New Mind Education office to discuss the Olympic traditions in their respective countries. This monthly event is an opportunity for FLC students and Chinese international students to practice their second language, receive extra help on their language assignments, and consult each other about cultural differences. Students are paired off by language (one Chinese student per one American student), and they must use each language for half of the allotted time. This way, everyone can get the practice they need in their respective learning language.
One American student wrote in Chinese on the ‘message board,’ “Chinese is hard but I love this event. Great culture and amazing people, I learned a lot!”
For this particular event, the main topic was the Olympic games and Olympic traditions. Students watched videos about the beneficial and detracting effects the Olympics have on the hosting countries, fueling plenty of insightful conversations about the global tradition.
“I learned a lot about how the Olympics originated during the lecture, which I never heard about before” student Ma said, “I enjoyed talking to America people and I had a great time.”
The discussion after the videos was quite interactive, providing statistics and posing questions to inspire conversation amongst the students. Each language exchange will stick to a theme to facilitate initial conversation, though it is expected that student pairs will deviate to their own individual topics as time goes on, sparking friendships as they learn more about each other.
“I made a good American friend at this event and I am looking forward to hanging out with him after class,” said student Ming.
Aside from the conversation, New Mind provided tea and BaoZi for this conversation exchange so the Americans could taste Chinese culture. The socialization in the beginning relaxes students and allows them to discuss a favorite topic: food! Language exchange participants are highly encouraged to exchange contact information and hang out outside of these events. Often many of them do.
We are pleased to announce that the reception of the event was high; many people enjoyed it! It was a great opportunity to provide genuine cultural exchange, where parties on both sides could benefit from the language assistance and indulge in the friendliness of those interested in their language and culture. The theme for the next event will be slang, where students can teach each other common expressions used by the youth in their respective language and culture.