Language at Oberlin

For today’s blog I wanted to deep dive into the language program here at Oberlin. While we have no language requirements, I highly recommend considering taking a language during your time here. I’ve personally studied Japanese for 2 semesters, but I wanted to format this blog as an interview with my friend Chloe (yes, we have the same name) because she has taken four semesters of Mandarin and can speak to what it’s like taking varying levels of language!  

So without further ado, my very first ‘interview style’ blog! I will be in the bolded font and Chloe will be in italics. 

So for today’s blog we’re going to be talking about languages at Oberlin. In particular, opportunities surrounding language instruction here and why someone should consider taking a language. To start with, what language are you taking and why?

I chose to take Mandarin because I’m really interested in East Asian Studies and Oberlin has an amazing East Asian Studies department. I knew I wanted to study Chinese history as well as take Mandarin, and they both go hand in hand together. 

Did you take Mandarin in high school? Do you think it gave you an advantage?

Yes, I did take Mandarin in high school, so I think that helped me personally. I still chose to take elementary level Mandarin my first semester because I wanted to learn how to handwrite characters, which is something I didn’t get a lot of emphasis on in my high school Mandarin classes. 

If you haven’t taken any language classes prior to college I don’t think you’re at a disadvantage. There are many people in my class that have never spoken a single word of Mandarin but they just jumped right in and are now more fluent than me, and can easily converse with professors. 

How quickly do you learn the language? Are you able to have conversations your first year studying?

I feel like you learn pretty rapidly, which is amazing. I think a lot of that has to do with how often we study the language. Usually for intermediate and elementary level you study every single day along with language tables and cultural events. You end up having a lot of conversations with your professors, in a very comfortable and non-judgmental way. I think this was really conducive to my learning, which is great. So I’ve definitely seen a lot of people jump into Mandarin and by their first semester are able to converse really well with their peers and their professors. 

Awesome! You mentioned things like language tables, and other opportunities similar to that. Can you go into more depth about the specific opportunities offered, what they entail, how often they are, stuff like that?

Yeah, of course. So language table, at least for Mandarin, is usually Tuesday and Friday. It’s during lunch so I like to grab some food from Umami and then head to the language lab in Peter’s. It’s a super beautiful space filled with tons of art and media, usually in different languages. 

You can eat lunch while conversing with your professors and peers. Usually, if you’re lucky enough the professors will bring you Chinese sweets, dumplings, or even “baozi,” which is like a filled bun. 

Sometimes there’s a cultural activity. Sometimes we just have conversations, and it’s a super fun way to get to know your professors and your classmates while also practicing Mandarin. We also get to participate in campus-wide events like the mid-autumn festival where we do a singing performance and the professors buy mooncakes for everyone. My favorite is definitely the spring festival where there’s live music, a Chinese food buffet, and tons of performances by students. Yeah, that’s awesome. 

That’s great! Can you describe what your typical class is like, or your weekly schedule, and maybe contrast it to what a high school class might be like?

Yeah, actually it’s not very different from my high school class because you’re doing it every single day. Usually 50 minutes a day. The classes are pretty structured and based off of a textbook, which I never bring with me haha. The biggest difference is all of the opportunities available to practice Mandarin, and the professors, because they really care about student success. 

Usually Tuesday we have a vocab quiz, Wednesday we go over texts, Thursday is a review day, and Friday we have a small test to review what we learned that week. Of course outside of class you’re going to be practicing a lot too. 

Actually, once a week you get to meet with a student at Oberlin who’s from China, and you not only get to talk about review for exams with them, but also talk about daily life. I really like that because you can talk with someone who is fluent in Chinese but also someone who is the same age as you. 

Something I love about Oberlin is how accessible professors are. Can you describe your relationships with your Mandarin professors a bit?

Yeah, we have weekly tutoring sessions with professors to review for tests. They also really do a lot to prepare you for your assignments. The professors are also extremely open to meeting with you exactly where you are in the class. I’ve never had a problem with communicating with  a professor and getting help. 

Especially for Mandarin professors I would say the relationship that you build with your professors is going to be very, very strong. You talk with them every single day, which is something I don’t necessarily believe other classes had. Classes are very discussion-based, so it’s a really nice environment for getting closer with your professors. You build a relationship, you eat food with them at Chinese language tables, you see them around campus, you update them on your life. 

My last question is, how are you planning to use your Mandarin skills in the future?

I’m actually planning to employ my language skills and travel to Taiwan. As I mentioned before, as a history major I am really fascinated by the history of mainland China as well as Taiwan. So I plan to take my language skills with me to China and Taiwan to conduct my own research for honors history or grad school. 

The more advanced you get in Mandarin the more you will be able to engage in certain social and political topics. Like, gender inequality and the economic development of China in a shifting world. You can even write essays and apply it to future research or a career. 

Thanks so much! Are you planning on taking Mandarin next semester? 

Of course :) 
 

Well, that’s the interview for you guys! Oberlin does languages very well, and I hope that as you think about what classes you would be interested in taking, you consider languages as well. There’s so many opportunities to take advantage of, many of which are a great way to build community and make friends. No matter what language you take, it’s bound to be an amazing experience!