Name: Tiara Leilani
E-mail: ltiara@nd.edu
Language: Chinese
Location of Study: Beijing, China
Program of Study: Beijing Language Summer Program
Sponsors: Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures and Liu Endowment
Blog URL: http://sites.nd.edu/sla2017/author/ltiarand-edu/
A brief personal bio:
I’m Leilani Tiara, born and raised in Indonesia. I am currently a freshman, rising sophomore studying at Notre Dame. I am currently majoring in Science-Business and hopefully minoring in Chinese. I am of Chinese-descent and learned the language before as a toddler but never really progressed or became fluent in it. I have a lot of experiences traveling for fun but previous to living in South Bend, I have only lived in New York for a month and at home in Jakarta, Indonesia. I am very excited to have the opportunity to live in the prestigious Peking University in Beijing for two months to improve my Chinese language skills.
Why this summer language abroad opportunity is important to me:
The SLA Grant allows me the opportunity to finish an entire year or two semesters worth of Chinese. I will be finishing Second-Year Chinese so that when I return back to Notre Dame in the Fall, I will be able to join the Third-Year Chinese class. The opportunity to study Chinese in Beijing is very valuable because I will be exposed to more of the culture and will have to use what I learned in class into my daily life for two months. I find that learning in a classroom in Notre Dame is good, but being exposed to an environment where Chinese is a way of life and spoken daily to survive will really train me and push me to improve my proficiency. I am so grateful for this opportunity.
What I hope to achieve as a result of this summer study abroad experience:
The SLA Grant is important to me because it will help me achieve my goals of learning Mandarin. I have dreams to become a healthcare professional- something along the lines of a doctor but still unsure of what career exactly. However, I feel that it is extremely important for me to pursue one field of study outside of my current major. I would like to pursue Mandarin until at least the third-year- proficiency. I believe that the Chinese will allow me to reach, serve, communicate so many more people in the healthcare field and improve world health. Chinese is also a commonly used language in many areas of Indonesia and will definitely help both in professional and personal life . Language is an important aspect of human life- people often feel more comfortable in communicating and can relate on a personal level when they are from the same country or speaking the same language. My future academic goals and career needs this level of personal relationship so that I may serve others well.
My specific learning goals for language and intercultural learning this summer:
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 Mandarin Chinese coursework placement at Notre Dame – finishing Second-Year Chinese.
At the end of the summer, I will be able to communicate and converse about daily life topics in Chinese with native speakers quite fluently
At the end of the summer, I will be able to appreciate Chinese culture by participating in linguistic and cultural interactions of Chinese daily life that are beyond what I am used to experiencing back home
My plan for maximizing my international language learning experience: