Gareth Dipple, a senior at Dayton Regional STEM School, spent two weeks this summer at an intensive Mandarin Chinese camp at the University of Dayton. He was preparing for a July trip to teach English at a rural elementary school in Taiwan.
"You can learn the vocabulary, you can learn the language, you can learn how to speak it, but there are certain actions and things that you can only get from coming to a place like this, with actual Chinese teachers who teach you, 'You have to do it this way; if you don't, it's disrespectful,'" he said.
Dipple was one of 20 U.S. high school and college students in the UD 2025 STARTALK program — a free residential summer camp from June 16-28, where they cultivated their Chinese language and cultural competencies.
The camp was led by Jia "Judy" Yang, associate professor of Chinese in the UD Department of Global Languages and Cultures, who was awarded a two-year, $136,537 grant from the U.S. National Security Agency's STARTALK program.
STARTALK's goal is to increase the number of Americans learning languages critical to national security and inspire those students to explore language-related careers, in effort to enhance workforce development for the federal government.
Yang's program, "Mastering Workplace Skills through Real-World Engagement," focused on establishing effective "guanxi," a concept that loosely translates to "interpersonal relationships." Comprehending and navigating social interactions in Chinese culture is pivotal for achieving success in any China-related profession.
"Right now, AI can help us to do translation, but human language skills are still needed to build relationships," Yang said. "One goal of our camp is to help students build cultural knowledge and language skills so they can build effective relationships with other people in the workplace."
Nearly 100 students nationwide applied for the program, which included language study, career connection and cultural activity sessions, as well as field trips to local sites including Fuyao Glass America, the Dayton Art Institute and the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
Fuyao is a Chinese automotive glass manufacturer whose first North American facility, in the Dayton suburb of Moraine, was featured in the Academy Award-winning documentary, American Factory.
Camp participants were required to have completed at least two semesters of Mandarin Chinese, with at least a novice to intermediate level of language proficiency. They received free tuition, lodging and meals, as well as one UD credit hour on successful completion of the camp.
Yang, the program's director, established UD's Chinese minor and collaborated with colleagues in the UD departments of history and philosophy, as well as the School of Business Administration, to launch an Asian studies minor. Her UD Common Academic Program course, "Chinese Culture and Civilization," served as the foundation for her STARTALK grant proposal.
The grant also supports the development of effective materials and curricula for teachers and students of "critical need" languages such as Chinese and Russian. She plans to create teaching materials on Chinese language and cultural education, based on this year's STARTALK camp experience.
Program personnel also included lead instructor Cheng-chih Weston, a Chinese language instructor at Cincinnati Country Day School; K-12 pedagogical expert Hui-si Zhao, senior advisor at Dayton Regional STEM School; and two undergraduate student assistants, Shannon Dennemann from UD and Benjamin Fullam from Purdue University.
Guest speakers included Jared Psigoda, an American entrepreneur and gaming industry veteran who was named to Forbes China's "30 Under 30" list; Courtney Henderson, a partner at Due East Advisors, who supported six governor's trade and investment missions for the State of Michigan; Christopher Agnew, associate professor and chair of the UD Department of History; and Zhongmei Yao, associate professor in the UD Department of Computer Science and director of research for the Center for Cybersecurity and Data Intelligence at the University of Dayton.
"We want students to get different perspectives and think about all the potentials, so they can really leverage their language skills to a more meaningful career," Yang said.
Minhao Chen, a high school junior from Grand Rapids, Michigan, came to UD's STARTALK camp to improve his Chinese language skills for business, such as expressing or responding to an agreement, disagreement, refusal or complaint.
"Everything that would normally happen in a business setting, I've learned to do politely and with manners," Chen said.
Ellen Trost-Rekich, a community college student from the Chicago suburb of Palatine, Illinois, aspires to work in the sustainability engineering field. She said global communication and cultural competency are needed for superpowers such as the U.S. and China to collaborate on renewable energy projects.
"There's one idiom in Chinese where you look for similarities, what you have in common, and that was emphasized through this camp and through the creation of Fuyao," she said. "I've learned a lot about collaboration and how to communicate well."
Top photo: Cheng-chih Weston teaches students about Chinese tea ceremony etiquette.
Middle photo: (Left to right) Judy Yang, Cheng-chih Weston and Hui-si Zhao.
Bottom photo: Jared Psigoda, an American entrepreneur and gaming industry veteran.