5 Questions for a Writer Learning Mandarin, French & Korean

We’re asking students, recent grads, teachers, and counselors five questions on how languages play a role in shaping personal and professional success…

Meet Sydnee—now working in the language service industry, this Texas Tech University graduate completed a BA in Languages & Cultures (Chinese), a French minor, and an undergraduate certificate in Translation & Interpretation.

1. Tell us about your earliest experiences learning languages in high school: What first inspired you to study French and German, and what motivated you to keep going?

In Texas, high school students are required by state law to complete two credits in a Language Other Than English (LOTE) to graduate, generally implying two levels of the same language. In my class, 7th and 8th grade students were given the opportunity to begin Spanish—the second most spoken language after English in Texas—to obtain one language credit upon entering high school; however, that usually meant continuing in Spanish in 9th grade, even when additional languages were offered at the high school level. That is when I discovered the true depth of how many students were doing the exact same thing as I: We were only considering Spanish because it was all we had been introduced to.

It became clear how critical it was to study something different if I wanted to stand out and gain a different perspective of the world, especially since these resources were made available to students but were not well-known by the general student body.

I filled my class schedule with French and German for the next three years and was inspired to keep learning by the fact that I was given the keys to explore the world around us through a rare lens—something that up until that point had never been encouraged or offered for many West Texas students like me.

2. You were the first student at your university to graduate with a BA in Mandarin Chinese—brava! How did you choose this pathway, and what would you say was your biggest lesson learned?

I took a field trip with my French class to my local university’s language department during my senior year of high school, as they hold an annual “Passport Party” for incoming freshmen to tour language academics and encourage academic study.

At the time, I was very indecisive about the one language I was going to focus on for my degree, because I wanted to study them all. However, the director of the Chinese program with whom I met encouraged me to undertake Mandarin Chinese with full academic support, resources, and a promise to uncover a part of the world that was so foreign to most in the region: Many local students don't grow up viewing this as an attainable avenue of study within reach, or one that even exists to begin with.

I chose this academic pathway because it felt like I was being given a once in a lifetime opportunity to engage with an unexplored world one only hears about.

My biggest lesson learned is that a great way to positively initiate conversations (sometimes tough ones) or change within your community is to confidently partake in unique subjects or hobbies off the beaten path. This can ultimately pique the interest of others and make them ask questions.

Choosing Mandarin Chinese as my primary focus of study in a very traditional and conservative area of Texas has given me the opportunity to build community awareness about the endless possibilities of academic study within higher education, no matter how niche the topic or how challenging political environments can be on educational choices.