The Brown & White

Kari Sexton, '09, began learning to read and write Mandarin her freshman year at Lehigh because she was interested in Chinese culture.

But for Sexton, learning a different language had an unanticipated benefit: getting the correct medical treatment while studying abroad in Nanjing, China.

"When I studied abroad in Nanjing, I got sick and had to be taken to the hospital," Sexton said. "The doctor spoke English, but the people dispensing the medicine didn't. None of the labels were in English at all. I didn't know what I was taking or what it was for."

While Sexton was able to rely on her Chinese peers to help her figure out what medicine she needed, the experience showed her the importance of knowing other languages.

Sexton is one of many students at Lehigh enrolling in classes to learn Mandarin.

This fall, Chinese students increased their enrollment at Lehigh by 300 percent and their application rate by 72 percent, according to the department of admissions. The integration of these international students has increased awareness of both the language and culture. While some students join classes because they're interested in learning a new language, others join because they want to be part of a country that has experienced a population growth of over 100 million people in the past decade alone.

"People are realizing when they get out of here they'll have to travel and know something about Asian culture," said Professor Constance Cook, director of the Asian studies department. "Companies lose money by sending people overseas who have no cultural or linguistic training."

Cook credits the rapidly expanding business opportunities in Asia as one of the reasons why enrollment in Chinese language courses at Lehigh have almost doubled in the last three years.

"Due to economic pressures, it behooves us to educate ourselves," Cook said.

Business is not the only area of study that benefits from an understanding of the Chinese language.

"There are all kinds of different people in my Chinese language classes," said Nicole Most, '09, an Asian studies major. The benefits of studying the Chinese language have drawn a variety of majors to Lehigh's Asian studies department.

Lehigh's connection with Asian culture dates back to 1879, when the first international students arrived from China. Yet for a relationship that has existed for 129 years, the initiative to appreciate our different languages had fallen short on both sides until recently.

Students at Lehigh are now teaming up to learn something from students with different backgrounds than their own.

"Part of the major program requires you to meet with a Chinese language partner, usually an international student who is actually from China," Most said. "You help them with their English and they help you with their Chinese. I think it's the most valuable part of language study here."

Sexton, who was able to get the right medical treatment in China, is interested in China because she thinks the country's rising pollution will become a big issue. Sexton is an Earth and Environmental Science Major.

"Pollution is a huge issue there," Sexton said. "If I'm going to end up working there, I'm going to need to know the language well.

"The environment there is very diverse," Sexton said. "Just as diverse as the United States, if not more so. I really want to travel there more in the future."

While Lehigh students struggle to learn Mandarin, students coming from China also struggle to become immersed in a culture of native English-speakers.

"We try to speak, but the language is Chin-glish," said Aishuang Xiang, graduate student and president of Lehigh's Chinese Students and Scholars Association. "Sometimes it is better if we just don't speak. English is not our language, it is our weakness. It does not represent us, our own culture does that."

Some Lehigh students feel that their international counterparts have a better grasp on the English language than they give themselves credit for.

"Many foreign students are concerned that their English isn't good enough, which deters them from trying to hold a conversation with other students," Kate Gano, '08, said. "Personally, I have never met a foreign student who does not speak at least adequate and often excellent English, but so many of them have expressed to me that concern."

Gano, who majored in Asian Studies at Lehigh due to her own fascination with Asian culture, believes that there are practical reasons why every student should be interested in learning the Chinese language.

"Having worked in a Chinese company, in all the conversations I had with my boss regarding his business partnerships he was always impressed by men and women who had some knowledge of Chinese language," Gano said. "It makes corporate associations much more comfortable when both sides have an understanding of one another."

For international students who are not confident in their abilities to communicate, fear of getting mocked draws them into silence.

"When you are friends with someone, you don't make them feel ashamed of their flaws in public," Xiang said.

American students have fewer qualms about fumbling with their spoken Chinese.

"When you mess up or struggle to speak in other countries, it is viewed as butchering their language and people get mad at you," Sexton said. "In China, the people view it as a positive thing that the Americans are trying to understand. They won't speak English to you at all. They'll keep trying to help you with your Chinese.

"I've never found someone with a Chinese background that had a negative reaction to me trying to learn Chinese," Sexton said.

"I actually hear a lot of people on campus speaking Chinese, granted it's usually international students but I can make out what they're saying, it's pretty cool," Most said.

"We don't have to make country borders the barriers of communication between people," Huaijing Wen, a graduate student and member of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, said.

Cook said studying abroad doesn't just benefit students studying Chinese language.

"Studying in another country forces you to rethink who you are by trying to understand someone else," Cook said.

Lehigh runs a program in Shanghai that shows students exactly what it will be like to do business in Asia.

"Placing more emphasis on the study abroad programs that are available through Lehigh and other universities would be really helpful," Gano said.

More Lehigh students are studying Chinese due to the career benefits that knowing the language will have.

"Living and working there, you get a completely different view than from when you are just a student," Sexton said.

Lehigh students have found a way to utilize their differences and embrace international students and the struggle that everyone who learns a second language faces. Students are taking steps toward communicating new languages at Lehigh.