Promoting the Culture of Chinese International Students and the American Society via YouTube
A YouTube channel called Chinese C Wisc emerged earlier this year after three young Chinese students decided to create a channel where American students can understand and integrate with international students.
Fangdi Pan, Muge Niu and Cecilia Miao met in a forum hosted by the Wisconsin China Initiative in spring of 2013 where they quickly discovered that they share similar ideas in promoting engagement of Chinese students and developing outreach opportunities for American students on campus. This is simply because Chinese international students are the largest group of international students on campus, also the second largest student cohort. According to the Wisconsin State Journal, nearly 2,500 Chinese students enrolled at UW-Madison this fall, including 288 freshmen. Enrollment has grown 356 percent from 2003. However, according to the founders, the cultural and social integration of Chinese student in UW-Madison is unsatisfactory.
In short, the YouTube channel addresses questions that American students may have but are afraid to ask Chinese students. The videos attempt to demystify Chinese students, promote bilateral understanding, and provide an honest, diverse and vernacular perspective on China and Chinese international students, so that Chinese students and domestic students are able to carry out in-depth conversations in and out of the classroom.
Photo courtesy of Wisconsin State Journal
One of their most popular video is “Why Chinese Students Don’t Speak English?” With over 70,000 views and about 400 likes, the video addresses the language barrier in a fun candid episode. In the first elevator scene, the Chinese students speak Chinese, leaving the American students looking confused. The final scene is the same but visa versa. The American students start speaking Chinese but realize it’s hard to do and they sound clunky. They revert to slang-heavy English, leaving their Chinese peers with a look of confusion.
The Chanel C founders explain that one of the most important reason for reverting back to their native language is because schools teach them to have good grades and to do well in exams like TOEFL, GRE and SAT and not really to chat in conversations. It is because of this reason the Institute of Global Success was created.
Professor Alan Kerzner noticed that these students struggle in the American classroom, no matter how smart they are. They are not accustomed to classroom participation, formal presentations or group work – which are all important parts of grades in US universities. Additionally, although most international students want to make friends from the US and other countries, they tend to befriend only students from their home country. Knowing that this has been a problem, Professor Kerzner created IGSS to give students the skills they need to excel academically, socially and professionally.
IGSS is open to students from any country attending any university and studying any academic field. Professors from top universities and successful business professionals teach all classes. The program is year-round and features: an intensive 8-Day workshop; interaction throughout the year between students and staff; and the opportunity to interview for and participate in internships reserved just for IISC participants.
For more information about IGSS’s programs such as our Undergraduate Program and Graduate Winter Program, please contact us.
Visit the Channel C website for more great content on conversing in two languages. Meanwhile, enjoy this video.
