{"id":463,"date":"2013-03-25T16:38:29","date_gmt":"2013-03-25T21:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/lpa\/?p=463"},"modified":"2013-04-23T16:22:28","modified_gmt":"2013-04-23T21:22:28","slug":"wang-and-dai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/lpa\/wang-and-dai\/","title":{"rendered":"Love of language not limited to Foreign Language Month"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DaiBP\"<\/a>As National Foreign Language Month, March found the English and Foreign Language Department celebrating with international food, lectures and foreign movies.<\/p>\n

Two associate professors, who were each born in China, consider foreign languages essential for learning and recognize their value long beyond the boundaries of the March event.<\/p>\n

Since America is the melting pot of the world its people have to compete in a competitive global economy, having knowledge of another language not only helps students communicate with others from different backgrounds, it can be vital to future success.<\/p>\n

Growing up in an obscure coal mine in the city of Datong, in China\u2019s Shanxi province, SAU Spanish Professor Dr. Juping Wang remembers black being the dominant color of her childhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cWherever I went, I saw coal. Even the dust in the air was black,\u201d said Wang.<\/p>\n

Wang was able to overlook the dismal surroundings and find comfort in books. Living in rural China meant there was no public library, so she borrowed books from friends, classmates and siblings. Her older brother Ju Wang bought many books and subscribed to several major literary magazines. She credits him for instilling in her a love of reading and writing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe initiated me to a life-long love affair with words, ideas and learning,\u201d she said. \u201cReading opened a window for me to see into the other side of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

In another area of China a young boy began life as a quiet, yet smart and responsible child. Dr. Yonghu Dai, also an associate professor of Spanish at SAU, grew up in the port city of Ningbo in the Zhejiang Province – about two hours south of Shanghai. Dai discovered a love of academic works. Nobody forced him into learning; He just developed the love on his own. He was a top student who chose geometry problems over open-air movies. His parents gave him a strong foundation in life and taught him he could be anything he wanted to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father had strong family values and my mother taught me to strive for my own life – the idea of self-reliance,\u201d said Dai. \u201cHer teachings were profound and simple. She simply sits down and [imagines] with me what will happen, what will become of my life, if I cannot do this or if I cannot achieve that.\u201d<\/p>\n

That exercise was very motivating for Dai, who would meet Wang, his future wife, at Peking University in Beijing \u2013 the Harvard of China. Both were studying Spanish. It was quite an honor to be admitted to the prestigious school. The university only accepts about a dozen students into the foreign language department from the entire country. It was there the couple would marry while still working on their respective degrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose years we spent at Peking University were really important,\u201d said Wang. \u201cThose were the years for reading through the nights, playing guitar and singing, writing and reciting poetry, attending lectures by famous writers, thinkers and scholars, visiting museums and debating philosophical, social and political issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once Dai finished his master\u2019s degree in Spanish, he was highly sought after in the United States as a Ph.D candidate. With offers from more than ten colleges such as University of Texas Austin, Boston College, Ohio State and Southern California University, Dai decided to pursue his Ph.D in Spanish at Tulane University in New Orleans. He moved his family to Louisiana where he earned his doctorate in 2000, followed closely by his wife who earned hers in 2003.<\/p>\n

In 2001, Dai was hired as an assistant Spanish Professor at SAU and moved his family to Magnolia. Wang taught as an adjunct for a year before being hired as full-time faculty in 2003.<\/p>\n

The couple has two sons, Jesse and Chris. They used to discuss things in Spanish that they did not want their children to understand, but that is no longer an effective stategy.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince Jesse is taking Spanish at school, we cannot even use Spanish as a safe secret language anymore,\u201d said Wang. \u201cIt is time to learn a new language.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Wang and Dai are fluent in their native tongue of Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and English with Wang also being fluent in Italian and currently studying French.<\/p>\n

Dai says learning a language only requires a desire and serious learning.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the way a colleague put it. \u2018How do you get to play basketball so well? By throwing the ball into the basket again and again,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Both Wang and Dai have made great memories at SAU. Wang fondly recalls visiting Machu Picchu in Peru last year while attending a conference.<\/p>\n

Dai remembers a student who knew no Chinese, but used Google translator to find words and draw Chinese characters on paper to tell him he was a good teacher.<\/p>\n

Dai notes that with the growing Hispanic population who are choosing to hold onto their language unlike previous waves of immigrants from Europe, the importance of learning Spanish is self-evident. He feels that learning less commonly taught languages such as Arabic, Russian or Chinese would be a valuable contribution for members of society as a whole.<\/p>\n

SAU offers three bachelor degrees in Spanish: Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Languages: Spanish; Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Languages: Spanish with Education minor, and Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Languages: Spanish and French. Study abroad opportunities with Casa Xelaju, a language school in Guatemala, affords students an opportunity to study outside of the country and transfer credits back to SAU. The Dr. Betty Blue Scholarship is available each year to a Spanish major or minor, who excels in language. The Foreign Language Department also offers a Spanish Club, which coordinates field trips, movie screenings, poetry readings, food feasts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As National Foreign Language Month, March found the English and Foreign Language Department celebrating with international food, lectures and foreign movies. Two associate professors, who were each born in China, consider foreign languages essential for learning and recognize their value long beyond the boundaries of the March event. Since America is the melting pot of… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10505],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-463","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-faculty-spotlights","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/lpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/lpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/lpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/lpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/lpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/lpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/lpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/lpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/lpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}