We’re asking students, recent grads, teachers, and counselors five questions on how languages play a role in shaping personal and professional success…
Meet Sophia—a recent graduate of New York University Shanghai who speaks six languages (so far!).
I have different personalities depending on the language I'm speaking. When I speak Chinese, my voice is literally a higher pitch, and according to everyone I sound a bit gentler. When I speak English, my voice is deeper. When I speak French, I have a very French attitude and sense of humor.
1.
Please tell us a little about your earliest experiences with languages. Your family speaks many languages, how did they influence your love of learning languages?
Languages have been a part of my life since before I was even born. My grandfather, Dr. Hailu Fulas, was a linguist and a professor who taught various languages. My grandmother was also an avid language learner—which actually led to her meeting my grandfather. Everyone in my family comes from a different country and they all speak different languages, so I grew up in a very international house, and I've lived in different countries too. Growing up I would sit in my grandfather’s lectures as he taught in universities, and I would watch my family members interact in multiple languages throughout the day. These experiences made me view languages as almost the same, just another form of communication and I wanted to be able to communicate to everyone!
2. As a student, you participated in programming by Global Co Lab: What would you say was the best part about collaborating with peers from around the world?
I loved the Global Co Lab Network because I worked with teens my age that lived all around the world that were interested in the same issues that I was. We all wanted to make a change in the world. The most interesting part of it for me was during the yearly celebration, when the winners of the Teens Dream contest flew to DC and we all shared how us teens in different countries are trying to build a sustainable future.
3. You’ve lived in many countries. Tell us about living in China as a college student at NYU Shanghai. What have you learned about yourself from these different experiences and different languages?
NYU Shanghai is a very unique school in China because it has students from all over the world and students from all over China. You can hear many different languages spoken by people from different countries and even speakers of many different dialects within China. Most students spoke at LEAST two languages with a lot of them speaking three or more languages. I also co-founded the language and linguistics club at the school and got to meet so many people passionate about language learning. From living in Shanghai, I also was exposed to other languages outside of Mandarin Chinese. I got to learn Shanghainese from speaking with the elderly, I learned Chinese Sign Language from connecting with the deaf community, and I learned about other Chinese dialects from school excursions.
4. Could you tell us a more about your immersive experience in South Korea? What made this trip unique and what was it like living day-to-day in a place where you didn’t speak the language? How did you approach the challenge?
Recently I went to South Korea for the first time. It was the first time I lived in a place where I did not understand the language. I didn't love that feeling. So I challenged myself to not speak any language except for Korean while I was there. At first it was difficult because I didn’t understand anything—including the menus—but as time went by, I started to learn more and more. I picked up on specific phrases, etc. At home I only watched Korean language shows, (specifically kid shows) so I could learn better.
5. Why is it important for students of language and culture to seek out immersive experiences where they can use their skills outside of the traditional classroom environment?
The traditional classroom environment might not teach you how to naturally interact with a language. They can teach you the textbook items and grammar structures giving you the tools to understand the way a language works, but by going outside the classroom you get to learn how the language works on a human and cultural level. You get to experience the nuances of a language or learn less outdated phrases. For example, in classrooms, most people learn that the Chinese phrase for “How are you” is “你好吗” whereas in reality, there are so many other phrases that are actually used in real life to mean the same thing based on the situation. Also, by immersing yourself in a language you get to learn the language faster because you are surrounded by it. It also helps with your accent and pronunciation if you are surrounded by that language.
BONUS QUESTION
Complete this thought: "Learning another language means..."
Learning another language means opening the doors to another world and culture that you didn’t even know existed before.
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