Six months ago, I departed Beijing after a summer language and cultural immersion adventure. Studying Chinese, surrounded by the richness of the past and the strikingly modern art and architecture of the city, was a transformative experience. I was most grateful for the friendships forged and relationships made during the experience. Benjamin Sherman, a junior at St. Albans Day School in Washington DC, was a close friend and colleague during the program. I am grateful to have him share his experiences and reflections in a piece for TDC.
今年夏天，我很高兴会去中国。 在中国，我跟别的同学学中文和体验北京。我们上午三个小时 学中文，以后吃午饭。下午的时候，我们进入了北京。在北京，我们看了很多北京的名胜古迹。北京是中国文化和政治中心。我们参观北京的胡同， 长城，天安门广场，紫禁城和彼得地方。 为了餐我们，没有大人，去附近的餐馆儿跟朋友。我们点菜根中文，因为不可以说英文。在晚上，除了玩儿纸牌游戏，以外打篮球和打橄榄球。在北京，我的中文真的改进了。我真的喜欢我的旅程在北京。 我交朋友和学到了很多中文。
This past summer, I had the privilege to spend a month in China in an immersion program, with very strict restrictions on speaking English (to read more: search ‘Middlebury Language Pledge’). I am no stranger to this type of immersion, since the summer before last, I did a very similar program in Vermont, not Beijing. While strange, and at first nerve-racking, the strict no-English is incredibly efficient at improving your Chinese.
Chinese has always been a very special language to me. I have no direct familial relationship to China, but back in 6th grade, when choosing a language, my parents and I together chose Chinese. The idea of being able to communicate with another 2.1 billion people was mind-boggling, and very enticing.
I set off on my Chinese journey. After middle school, I took my Chinese placement exam for high school, and was placed into Chinese 1. It was a blow to my ego, and a reality check to how much I studied for the test. That year, I committed myself taking the placement test and skipping a class over the summer. I did an immersion program in Vermont, as stated, and was able to advance classes.
I always much more enjoyed the spoken aspect of Chinese as opposed to written. The human to human interaction of speaking in an entirely different way, that people around me would not understand, was more exciting than any other part about Chinese. When I learned of the same program, but in Beijing, I knew exactly what I was going to do over the summer.
Summer in Beijing was an extraordinary experience. The residential advisors wasted no time, and all 60 of us were in class 3 hours a day, eating lunch, and then spending from midday to late afternoon partaking in cultural activities around the city. While you may think the last thing a program would do is to give teenagers freedom in a foreign city, we had it in spades. Almost every dinner and many lunches were at our discretion, venturing out into the local neighborhood with friends and ordering in Chinese with the “服务员”(waiter). Speaking with friendly neighborhood residents about what you were doing as an American teen was both engaging and funny.
There were two highlights of the trip for me. The first was possibly the most sublime place I have ever visited. While many tourists who visit Beijing go directly to the tourist area of 长城(The Great Wall of China), we instead visited a un-repaired portion of the wall, which we had to access via a remote town where a chicken farmer fed us all lunch after the 4-hour hike along the wall. Walking across the wall, peering out over foggy rural China, and taking photos with friends was unlike anything I had ever done.
The second highlight of the trip was a bit less tangible, and less to do with China, but with the experience of meeting new friends. After a week of assimilating, and cliques forming, night in and night out, my friends and I would spend time in one of our rooms, playing card games and telling various stories in broken Chinese, sheepishly substituting in English words when we blanked on how to say something. We would talk about anything we could, colleges, friends, past stories about anything we could manage in Chinese. When first going to the immersion program in Vermont, two summers ago, my biggest fear was being completely isolated from friends and other people as I would not be able to communicate with them, due to the lack of English. Fast-forward a year, and I ended up making some of my closest friends in my ever-so-slightly less broken Chinese.
It really was impressive, how the struggle to communicate with others, not only drastically improved my spoken Chinese, but also managed to bring me closer to those who struggled with me.
Thanks for this interesting and informative article, as it described your own personal experiences with the Chinese language. It is amazing that you went to this immersion program and learned so much Chinese on the way. It was interesting how you went to a remote part of the Great Wall and hiked for four hours. I hope that one day I can go on a similar trip, as I feel that it can be beneficial for learning Chinese but also being exposed to Chinese culture. I feel that it is very difficult to do one of these programs, as it can be hard not speaking your primary language and not knowing all the customs. Overall, it seems like a wonderful experience as well as a great learning experience. Great job on this article!
Thank you for this inspiring and informative article sharing your experiences, Matthew! I found your perseverance and commitment to improve your Chinese to be very admirable, taking the time to study for exams, etc. It’s so cool how you went through an immersion program in China to better your Chinese. Even though I am of Chinese descent, I don’t think I would be able to survive there without using English at all, so kudos. That four hike on the Great Wall seemed very eventful but exhausting, I’m sure you had a great view. All in all, I believe that this experience in China was very valuable and will reward you in the future for the challenges that you went through then.
I loved your article!!!!! I am inspired by your commitment to improving in the Chinese language. I think it’s really cool that you went through an immersion program to speak Chinese better. Me, knowing myself, know that I couldn’t survive in this program knowing that I can’t speak English. It seemed like a great challenge and I’m glad you went through this and made good friends along the way. I think it’s important to know how to speak Chinese because as you said in your article, 2.1 billion people in the world speak it. I’m sure this experience was a very memorable one! Great article!
This is such an inspirational article. It is great how you were able to expand from Chinese class in school to traveling to Bejing and immersing yourself in Chinese culture. Spending a summer in a foreign country is not a task everyone can accomplish. I also like how you explained how you gained a passion for the Chinese language in the beginning. To add on it is fantastic that you were able to write this article in Chinese too! Keep up the good work!
Thank you for sharing your story , Matthew. It is so inspiring to read your experience and your commitment of Chinese. I have been to numerous prep schools to learn Chinese ever since I was younger, so i understand how much work it takes to learn this language. I found it really fascinating how you went to the Great Wall of China and hiked for four hours! I can’t even hike an hour before wanting to go back home to rest.
This is such a wholesome article! I myself can relate to such an amazing experience at a foreign country. Last summer I went to Mexico with a friend for a program, and barely knew any Spanish. However, I quickly made friends with the students at the program, and loved everyday of the two week trip. It’s so cool that you went to China by yourself with the sole purpose of learning about the Chinese language and culture. I admire your efforts to learn Chinese and hope you the best in any future trips!
This trip seems very fun and enjoyable. Two summers ago, I went to China for a martial arts camp. At the camp, I struggled to communicate with the people and staff there. There were Chinese people from all over the world. Thanks for posting!
Thank you for sharing your amazing experience! I have never been to China, but I can only imagine how breathtaking it must have been, especially getting to see the Great Wall of China. Your story about meeting new friends and bonding over the trip is very inspirational and wholesome. It’s also really amazing that you went through the whole trip barely speaking any English. I imagine that your Chinese must have improved considerably from it being your only way to communicate with those around you.
Wonderful story! It’s amazing how far you’ve come in this language even coming from a typically non-Chinese environment. You’ve really immersed yourself in the culture and language and your efforts have definitely paid off. It’s amazing how these immersion programs allow you to make new friends and learn an entire language at the same time. Thanks for sharing!
Amazing article! I’m glad you had such a positive experience with learning Chinese. The strict No English policy was very interesting and impressive. It’s great that you were able to learn so much and make lifelong friends from your summer immersion program. I also would like to learn to speak more Chinese because I prefer speaking over writing. I hope your experience with Chinese gets even better this summer! Thanks for sharing your story!
This is such an inspiring article! Reading about how passionate you are about Chinese is motivating me to learn more myself! The immersion program sounds like so much fun. I would love to be able to walk around the city and visit the Great Wall! Thank you for sharing!
Amazing article! I’m glad you had such a positive experience with learning Chinese. The strict No English policy was very interesting and impressive. It’s great that you were able to learn so much and make lifelong friends from your summer immersion program. I imagine that your Chinese must have improved considerably from it being your only way to communicate with those around you. There were Chinese people from all over the world. Thanks for posting!