Working for the Chinese department has been a worthwhile experience.  Working with the students has been the best part about this experience.  It has been so rewarding to see people learn and grow as a result of my actions and hard work.  I hope I have been able to change some people’s lives because this experience has really changed me.

--Abby Thornton, East Asian Studies Major; Chinese Minor

The experience is awesome. I have learned many useful skills that I could apply in my career. I am graduating, and I wish I could repeat this experience.

--Quintin Schroeder, Business Major; Chinese Minor; Chinese Program Webmaster, Fall 2005

In all, I have to say that working as an intern for the Chinese department this
semester has been a beneficial and rewarding experience. I was taken aback several times by the good feedback I received from the students this semester. In one-on-one interviews they unanimously agreed that the conversation meetings were helpful. Having experienced the old PSU Chinese program myself, the kids this semester progressed much faster and with a heightened degree of understanding from previous semesters.

--Alex Wiker, East Asian Studies and Philosophy Major; Chinese Minor

This is my third semester as a Chinese intern, and I always thoroughly enjoy my experience as TA because it allows me to meet more people and get a feel for being a teacher. Being here for 3 semesters, I think one of the important aspects of the program is the quality of an intern. Overall, it has been a great experience and I still wouldn’t trade it for anything.

--Shiqi Wu, East Asian Studies Major / Chinese Minor; Chinese Intern, Fall, 2005

I really enjoyed being an intern. I like what I learned while I was interning. I also liked the tutorial sessions because I had opportunities to teach and I like to teach, so it fit me very well. I learned a lot from the students and the instructors. It was a very interesting and wonderful experience to work with them. Thank you!!!

 --Selena Lu, pre-med; Chinese Minor

My first semester at Penn State has been filled with challenges and excitements. Being the teaching assistant for the Chinese One class gave me a chance to use my native tongue to an advantage, helping students that are trying to learn this ancient yet modern, foreign yet cultured language. This semester has allowed me to grow both as a college student and a “teacher”; next semester I plan on doing the same thing again, and I am very well looking forward to helping students in overcoming their academic obstacles.

 --Jack Sun, freshman

"I was in for a pleasant surprise [in Spring 2005] with all the new implementations of the department and how it has tried to pull together a program with a much more defined goal. One of the things I have learnt as an intern is time management. Another thing I learnt because of the conversation partner hours was to be patient. Overall it has been a rewarding experience. Not only did I make better friends, but I have also learnt that if I want to be a teacher, I have to be more patient with people and understand that not everyone is going to meet a certain set standard. I have also met wonderful graduate Teaching Assistants and interns this semester and they are great additions to the department and have helped contributed to the overall goal of what the department wants to achieve."

--Shiqi Wu, East Asian Studies Major / Chinese Minor

"For me, this experience helped me maintain my Chinese and even learn at times. Towards the end, I found great joy in seeing the students like Chinese more."

 --Stephanie Wang, Business Major; Chinese Minor

I cannot believe the semester is over, as is my internship. I am not a talkative and active person. Therefore when I was young I had problems talking to people, especially strangers. Being a conversation partner and peer tutor is a really good chance for me to learn communication skill. Finally I want to thank my supervisor Professor Chen here. I would like to thank her for the help and support she has given me during this whole semester!

--Valerie Pan, Chinese Intern, Fall 2005

"I have always loved Chinese linguistics and literature, and I even planned to study in Taiwan. However, I did not have the chance to accomplish my goal. Thus, I was really excited when I had the opportunity to be a Chinese intern. I have learned many things through my internship. A native Chinese speaker does not necessarily mean one is able to teach Chinese because Chinese teaching involves many difficulties and challenges."

--Lai Sam, Comparative Literature Major

"This internship has not only taught me to better organize my time, but at the same time forced me to constantly keep up to date with things. [...] I learned several other skills that will certainly be of help to me in the future both as a student and [...] in my professional field. I [...] learned how to run Angle websites and how to transfer a VHS movie into DVD format. I know this is a skill that I will surely be referring to later on in life, especially with the growing influence technology has on communication, our economy and society. [...] I have learned to communicate much better through this internship. I was always rather timid and apprehensive to bring up issues to authoritative figures. By learning to communicate constantly in person and through e-mail, I feel my character has improved very much. Through [Prof. Huang's] support as a teacher and advisor, I no longer have such a hard time speaking up to teachers."

--Joyce Shih, Finance Major; Chinese Minor

"The internship experince let me learn the other side of education, which is the teaching side. It is a unique experience which I cannot find in other classes and extra-curricular activities. I learned the leadership skill and teamwork skill. It is my pleasure to join the Chinese internship program in my last semester."
                                                                                                  --Elaine Chan

"This internship experience was invaluable in improving my own communication abilities, especially in front of a large audience."                        --Jason Gao

"I have learned a great deal in these twelve weeks. I now know the great deal of preparation that is required before teaching a class. Now I realized what difficult tasks professors have to present their knowledge on the subject and to find a way for the students to absorb and enjoy them at the same time."
                                                                                                 -- Yingyi Xian

"I enjoyed being an intern because I came to realize that helping others learn is as great as learning the materials myself."                               --Former Intern

"What I have learnt [from the internship experience in Fall 2004] has certainly whetted my desire to not only become a teacher but strengthen my knowledge of the Chinese language. Learning to prepare for course materials was [...] one of the challenges that I had to face. Being mostly computer illiterate, I am glad I actually picked up how to digitize videos because I know it will be valuable in my future presentations or teaching [career] when I have to use small clips to illustrate examples. [The internship] has been an enriching experience. I learnt a lot from my fellow peers. Not only are they my 'students' but also teachers in other ways."

--Shiqi Wu, East Asian Studies Major; Chinese Minor