Chih-Ling Yang, the Chinese language intern, was born and raised in Tainan and speaks four languages: Chinese, Taiwanese, English and German. Yang started learning English at five years old through an after-school program and improves her language ability and cultural understanding through songs, movies and novels.

“From my perspective, language is the media to connect yourself to the world. It is a bridge beyond the border. Once you start learning a language, it will lead you to any corner around the world,” Yang said.

Yang studied to teach Chinese as a second language at the National Taiwan Normal University and is now working on her master’s degree. In her college years, she spent most of her time as an intern, assisting in classrooms and volunteering for a variety of projects. After her time at Colgate, she plans to return to Taiwan to finish her masters and participate in another internship at an international school there. 

Yang came to Colgate through the Fulbright program as an Foreign Language Teaching 

Assistant (FLTA). It is her first time in the United States, and she is excited to be here and live at Colgate. She enjoys the peaceful quiet of Colgate and Hamilton, though her experiences at home are very different. In Taiwan, she lives near the center of  Tainan, a city famous for its temples and historical buildings, with a climate much warmer than Hamilton’s frigid everlasting winter. 

“The weather now in October is the winter for me already. I hope I can survive the freezing and snowy winter here,” Yang said. 

Yang says that despite her anticipation of the coming winter, she is really enjoying the fall, when the leaves turn yellow and red. Given Colgate’s beautiful environment, she has the ability to spend time outside with her fellow language interns.

“We spend lots of time hanging out together, for example, we just came back from our road trip to Canada. Sometimes we participate in all kinds of sports and activities. We cook together occasionally too,” Yang explained.

Her main responsibility as the Chinese language intern is one-on-one tutoring with students. Each tutoring session is personalized to the student’s needs and Yang helps with anything from writing and speaking to movie watching. She also views part of her job on campus as being a cultural ambassador and sharing Taiwanese and Chinese culture with everyone she meets.

Yang stated that she loves how Colgate creates a supportive environment for all faculty, staff, and students. 

“You are always encouraged to put your thoughts into practice and get involved in all kinds of events,” Yang said.