The Editorially Independent Voice of The University of Akron

The Buchtelite

The Editorially Independent Voice of The University of Akron

The Buchtelite

The Editorially Independent Voice of The University of Akron

The Buchtelite

Chinese students overcome the launguage barrier to live in Akron

China Week is an exciting festival for Chinese students at the University. The vacancies for

Gao is one of the volunteers for China Week. She taught students how to use a writing brush (an

Story continues below advertisement

Gao also did voluntary service for the New International Student Orientation. She likes being a

It depends on what you want; I prefer to be a volunteer for I can make friends with people from

This semester, there are 267 Chinese students studying at The University of Akron, most in science

and engineering majors. They are from diverse areas of China, yet they share similar lifestyles and

Chao Zhang is a new graduate student who arrived in Akron this fall. Before he came, he rented

an apartment with two other Chinese students with the help of the Chinese Students and Scholar

Association (CSSA). The CSSA can help new students to arrange their lives when they first enter

We are all far from home; we surely know it’s not easy, a student who rented an apartment for

Zhang contacted him through the BBS of CSSA. President of CSSA Hui Cheng said that the goal of

CSSA is to help new students to arrange their life in the States and help them to build confidence in

Many Chinese students have experienced this kind of difficulty in their first year. Though most of

them are good at English, compared to their classmates in China, they cannot understand all speech

They speak very fast, and there is a cultural background in their utterance, I am not familiar with

This is not the most annoying part. Bo Liu, a Chinese graduate student in Electronic Engineering,

has a class on Imaging System Engineering. Her professor has an accent and his writing is hard for

I can only understand 5% of his talking. The only way to study is to learn by myself, Bo said.

Zhang doesn’t have as much difficulty with the language barrier, yet he still spends about 10 hours

a day on his studies. Every day he wakes up at 8 a.m. and cooks his meals for the day. He goes to

The most important recreational activity for the Chinese students is to get together with friends on

weekends. Every weekend, Zhang goes boating and plays soccer with some senior students. They

I’ve never been to a native American’s party because I don’t have such kind of friends, …, Zhang

Compared to Zhang, Bo Liu’s friendships are rather international. She spent a weekend listening to

music in EJ Thomas Hall with a Korean, went to a barbeque with her American landlord and visited

I am a sociable person, I cannot bear to spend a day at home, said Bo. But still, she agrees that it

Sometimes I don’t know what can be talked about and what cannot, Zhang said, Say, when we

Chinese first meet each other, we will ask ‘how old are you?’ or ‘how is your family?’ But non-

Bo holds the same idea; she knows words can have different meanings when the listener holds a

different view than she. I just want to be polite, don’t want to be offensive, for I am representing

It’s a valuable experience in life, Danyang Wu, a student in Civil Engineering said. America is a

Danyang is planning to go to San Francisco and Las Vegas with a French classmate during the

coming Christmas vacation. Another student is planning to obtain a part-time job on campus for the

month off. Though this is their first year here, they have many plans. They are enjoying their busy

UA is just like what I imagine it when I am in China. I will love the life where I am in, I won’t

” #1.1777041:897597271.JPG:chin1:Chinese student Bo Liu holds a birthday party where she invited both her Chinese and American friends to celebrate.:”
“#1.1777043:4154630520.jpg:chin2:Chinese student volunteers make dumplings at the dumpling party, the last event of China Week.:”

Leave a Comment
Donate to The Buchtelite
$250
$500
Contributed
Our Goal

Your donation will support the student journalists of The University of Akron. Your contribution will allow us to keep printing our magazine edition, purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.

More to Discover
Donate to The Buchtelite
$250
$500
Contributed
Our Goal

Comments (0)

All comments that are well-informed, civil and relevant to the story are welcome. To leave a comment, please provide your name and email address. The Editorial Board reserves to right to remove any comment that is submitted under false pretenses or includes personal attacks, libel, hate speech, profanity, spam or inaccurate/misleading information. All comments are screened and are generally approved unless they are found to be found in violation of these standards. Readers who notice comments that appear to violate these standards are encouraged to contact the Online Editor at [email protected].
All The Buchtelite Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *