Student Blog

pic with homestay parents

A Jade Cabbage And Reflections On Taiwan: Alice Donnellan

Feb 27, 2018 As the fortunate recipient of the Harvard China Fund’s Winter Funding grant, I embarked on two weeks of intensive, one-on-one Mandarin study and a homestay organised through the Mandarin Chinese Learning Center. I can only speak effusively of the positive impacts both my lessons and homelife had on my confidence and ability […]

Josh Grossman On Exploring Shanghai’s Culture Of Connections

Aug 15, 2017 When I first arrived in Shanghai, I was unsure of what to expect. I had taken mandarin Chinese classes since seventh grade, but despite a longstanding academic interest in China and a planned joint concentration including East Asian Studies, I had never been before. I was nervous to experience first-hand a culture

Paloma O’Connor 2018 Summer Grant Essay

Feb 25, 2019 “只说中文!” “只说中文”—or, translated, No English Allowed—was Rule #1 at the Harvard-Beijing Academy (or, as we called it, 哈北班), where I spent my summer. We took the language pledge together on our first day, all eighty-something of us clustered in an auditorium swearing with our hands on our hearts to only speak Mandarin for