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Language Learning at Swarthmore: A Student Perspective

My main motivation for learning Russian has always been related to my family. Since my mom was Romanian-Moldovan, her side of the family spoke Russian and Romanian, but not much English. While Romanian is more of my “heritage” language, Russian is taught
February 20, 2025

Language Learning at Swarthmore

When I tell people that my major is German studies, I often get the follow-up question, “Are you German?” No, I am not German. I took Spanish and German in high school, and I liked German enough that I decided to continue
February 13, 2025

My Squirrel Day in “Engwish”

What a beautiful day. The air is warm with anticipation for spring, with the sun warming my arching back as I stretch. My tree, or “Mossy” as I know him, is located a couple of squirrel lengths from the stony paths that
March 17, 2022

New Global Studies Minor to be Offered in Fall 2019

In spring 2019, Swarthmore will offer a new interdisciplinary Global Studies minor. Associate Professor of Political Science Ayse Kaya and Associate Professor of French Carina Yervasi, in collaboration with other faculty members, spearheaded the movement to make this minor a reality at
November 15, 2018

Rethinking the decline of language education

A few weeks ago, I attended a lecture by Dr. Brandon King ’05 on the parallels between legalism and contemporary education. Dr. King graduated with a Chinese major from Swarthmore, and in his year, 19 students graduated with a Chinese major or
May 3, 2018

Benefits of bilingualism

Last weekend, I volunteered to cook for the Chinese New Year party hosted by the Chinese Department. As I was frying spring rolls — authentic Chinese food — to be served at the party, I had the opportunity to meet with fellow
March 1, 2018

The beauty of an unintelligible world

I’ll never forget my first experience abroad, which was this semester. Exiting the plane for the first time, as I stepped into Hanoi, Vietnam, it was as if I had been transported to a whole new universe. Looking around me, I was
November 16, 2017

Order a pizza, and it shall come

Salam sejahtera, saya mampu bertutur dalam pelbagai bahasa dan ia memperkasakan saya — Hi, I speak multiple languages and that empowers me. As an ethnic Chinese from Malaysia (a country that’s not particularly kind to the children of immigrants), I was brought
March 30, 2017

A Happy Psuedo-Persian New Year

When it comes to observing cultural holidays while at Swat, being away from my home and family has always been a challenge. No matter the occasion, I always find myself defying conventional traditionalism and celebrating a filtered-down, dorm-room-makeshift interpretation of the holiday.
March 30, 2017
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