Stories

Halden is from Pinehurst, NC and participated in the China Summer 2018 and Taiwan AY 2020-2021 programs. To feel a familial connection in a foreign country is to feel a sense of belonging, to feel the basic goodness of humanity. Upon leaving the airport, we begin a new chapter with… Read More

大家好！我是Gabe Bowman，但是我的中文名字是波高。我是搞高四的学生，来自密歇根的安娜堡。我参加NSLI-Y的2021暑假中文项目。我申请NSLI-Y项目因为我很喜欢学外语。我想当一个翻译。我九年级学日文，但是我觉得日文太难了。所以，我的中国朋友告诉我 ”你应该试学中文”。我十年级学中文和耳闻NSLI-Y项目。所以我十一年级 申请NSLI-Y。 在项目中，我们每天学15-30个生词 和3-4生语法。还有，我们每个星期有一个文化活动和工程。我们的文化活动包括国画，中国烹饪，功夫，什么的。我最喜欢的文化活动是烹饪，因为我喜欢吃中国菜，所以我想了试一试中国烹饪。 不巧，我的项目是想上学习，不是面对面，因为世界的新冠病毒的情况不好。我的老师在上海，而且同学们在美国。虽然我们线上学习，但是我觉得我们提高我们的中恩水平！我觉得我最大的进步是我的口语，但是我的阅读但有一点儿不好。 总的来说，虽然今年的项目是线上学习，但是我觉得NSLI-Y项目是一个最好的机会。如果有人喜欢学习外语，我力荐他们煽情NSLI-Y项目！ Hello everyone! My name is Gabe Bowman, but my Chinese name is 波高 (bo1 gao1). I am a high school senior from the Ann Arbor area of Michigan. When I applied to NSLI-Y, I had only studied Mandarin formally for a school… Read More

[Written in October 2020] I’m on a plane…again. On a gap year, again. About to live in a Mandarin-speaking country for over half an academic year, again. In a way, this feels so similar to my gap year on NSLI-Y AY Beijing two years ago. Heck, I even spent the… Read More

When Taylor returned to the U.S. in 2014 after a year studying in India, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing…or what she couldn’t see. “Where is all the traffic, and why are there so many trees?” she asked her parents as they left the airport. “It’s so quiet, and… Read More

Though just in sixth grade, Andy had a sense that knowing Chinese would help him. So, in 2011, when his private school in Philadelphia added Chinese to its usual language offerings of French, Spanish and Latin, he signed up. “I saw lots of benefits,” he says of his decision to… Read More