Name: Xinying Wang
E-mail: xwang30@nd.edu
Language: Korean
Location of Study: Seoul, South Korea
Program of Study: Yonsei International Summer School
Sponsors: Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures and the Liu Endowment
Blog URL: http://blogs.nd.edu/sla2016/author/xwang30/
A brief personal bio:
My name is Xinying Wang. I am from Nanjing, China. I am a rising junior major in Accounting. I enjoy travelling to different places and communicating with local people. I took Korean because I am interested in Korean culture and intercultural communications between Korea and China. When I am free, I enjoy doing yoga and running.
Why this summer language abroad opportunity is important to me:
After graduating from Notre Dame, I am enthusiastic about pursuing further study as a graduate student in International Economics with a focus on East Asia district especially Korea. Not only can I improve my Korean through the program, but also I could align what I will achieve in the program with my future research goals. I would like to do research in Korean economics and its influence on East Asian economy development in my long-term academic study. Besides the Korean Summer language program, I am also passionate about applying for the Korean Summer Internship Program in my junior year summer. Taking advantage of Yonsei University’s vast alumni networks and strong ties with business partners, the Internship program provides students with the chance to gain professional work experience and build social networks in the world leading Korean companies and organizations. In order to become an intern in Korea in summer 2017, the Yonsei language program builds the foundation of language skills for me and simultaneously fulfills my career goals.
Upon return, I will continue my learning in Korean and will definitely take not only advanced Korean language courses, but also Korean and East Asian related cultural courses. I will further my learning by pursuing a minor in Korean and incorporate my experience in Korea into my language learning at Notre Dame. I am more than willing to share my experiences and ideas with other students who are eager to know more about Korean and East Asian studies.
What I hope to achieve as a result of this summer study abroad experience:
With an SLA award, I am passionate about improving my Korean learning through the 6-week Yonsei summer program. After taking the Korean elementary and intermediate courses at Notre Dame, I have been extremely interested in Korean learning due to my exposure to Korean language and culture in and outside the classroom. I truly hope that I could elevate my Korean to an advanced level by completing the intensive 3-hour study per day in the language at Yonsei University. After 3 semesters’ learning in Korean, I found that mastering more vocabulary and engaging in daily communications with native speakers would greatly improve my Korean skills. The Yonsei program provides me the exact opportunity that I crave to achieve my short-term academic goals in Korean study and motivates me to pursue a Korean minor at Notre Dame.
My specific learning goals for language and intercultural learning this summer:
- At the end of the summer, I will be able to communicate in Korean with native speakers on real life conversations and interesting topics.
- At the end of the summer, I will be able to demonstrate strong ability to analyze intercultural communications between Korea, China and U.S.
- At the end of the summer, I will be able to elevate my Korean level to advanced and be able to read authentic Korean literature books and write analytical essays in Korean.
- At the end of the summer, I will be able to make a lot of Korean friends, have a great time in Korea, and visit different historical places in Korea.
- At the end of the summer, I will be able to speak, read, write and listen at a level of proficiency equal to two semesters beyond my current Korean coursework placement at Notre Dame.
My plan for maximizing my international language learning experience:
With the help of an SLA Grant, I will commit a great amount of time into the Korean language course. Therefore, I am passionate about taking the 3-hour Intermediate Korean Language III course at Yonsei University. Although it might be challenging for me to take the level 3 courses, I will spend more time and effort practicing with my peers and instructors and learning Korean on a daily basis. What I enjoy the most about the course is to learn and grow not only from the classroom settings, but also from several field trips to Korean historical sites where immersion of cultures and languages happens. Beyond the Korean language course, I am truly eager to take the Topics in Korean Studies: Globalization and Multiculturalism, which is designed to motivate us to understand the importance of intercultural awareness and communications. I sincerely hope that after taking this course, I would be able to appreciate both the complexity and dynamics under Korean cultural contexts, enhance my reflection of Chinese culture in relation to other cultures, and develop a cross-cultural understanding of the contemporary American society. To me, learning Korean in America inspires me to understand the cultural differences from different perspectives.