Chinese teachers journey from PiB to Princeton

When she was a young girl, Zheng Qu dreamed of traveling the world. Coming from a working-class family in Northeast China, however, Qu did not have the option of globetrotting.

She didn't know it then, but her childhood in Shenyang, the capital city of China's Liaoning province — specifically, the language she learned to speak growing up — would be her passport to venturing far from home as an adult.

Qu, who is in her 20s and has degrees in history, linguistics and Chinese language and literature from Beijing Normal University (BNU), was able to visit the United States for the first time when she got a job as a Chinese language lecturer at Princeton. She moved into an apartment provided by the University and started to carve out a home for herself in the East Asian studies (EAS) department.

"The campus is beautiful and filled with lovely and nice people," she said.

Her journey to Princeton is not uncommon among the Chinese language instructors on campus. Just as the University gives students a chance to live and study abroad, it gives the same opportunity to young scholars, including a handful from China who come to teach lectures and drills for the University's Chinese classes each year.

East Asian Studies professor Chih-p'ing Chou said that in the last five years, the University has seen a dramatic increase in the number of students taking Chinese, creating a high demand for language professors.

To satisfy this demand, the department's recruiting committee began hiring teachers from Princeton in Beijing (PiB), an eight-week intensive Chinese language summer program hosted at BNU. In addition to Princeton faculty, PiB draws teachers from BNU's masters degree programs in Chinese language, literature, history and linguistics.

Six of the 14 current Chinese language teachers at Princeton were recruited after they taught for PiB. To come to the University, candidates must undergo a rigorous selection process, including two summers of training with PiB, interviews in both Beijing and Princeton, and various presentations and teaching demonstrations.

All six of this year's recruited teachers are female, a phenomenon Chou said was expected. "It is common in the field of Chinese language teaching, and Asian language teaching in general, to have few male teachers," he said.

For many of the women, like Qu, this is the first time they have been to the United States. The department was able to provide an apartment for each of the newly recruited professors.

EAS, Qu said, is "like one big family," adding that she is very happy with the help and support she has received since moving to Princeton three months ago. "The East Asian studies department staff made everything easy and convenient for me," she said. "Everyone has been helpful in answering my questions."

Adjusting to Princeton

Though she is thousands of miles from home, Qu said she is not lonely, explaining that one of her favorite parts about living and working at the University is the social network she has developed through her department.

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"Three times already I have had students and colleagues over to my house to make dumplings," she said. Over Fall Break, some of her pupils helped her plan a trip to Boston and New York, and others have invited her to their eating clubs for dinner.

She added that, as she has sometimes struggled to adjust to a new culture and location, her students have occasionally become teachers. On the first day of classes, for example, having only been on campus a short while, Qu found herself lost moments before her first class. She stopped what she described as "a very American looking boy" and asked him where Frist Campus Center was located.

"I was so nervous that I accidentally asked him in Chinese," she said. "And to my surprise, he responded in Chinese."

Since then, Qu said, nothing at Princeton surprises her.

Lecturer Jingyu Wang, who was also recruited from PiB and is in her second year teaching at Princeton, agreed that adjusting can be tough. Her own first year was difficult, she said, but her second year has been easier.

"Newcomers need to be active in engaging in the American lifestyle," she said. "When people first arrive, one of their biggest problems is that they don't know what they need to do to have a good life here."

Wang, who also grew up in Northeastern China and attended BNU, said she "always knew I wanted to be a teacher, so I studied teaching Chinese as a second language at the best teacher training school in China." She knew that it was very common to go abroad in this field, she added, which is one reason she chose an international major.

When asked what they miss the most about their homes in China, Wang and Qu said they miss the food. "There is no Chinese supermarket near here," Wang said. "If I want real Chinese food, I have to go to New York City."

For fun outside of classes, Wang goes to lectures and performances on campus. She also went to last weekend's football game. "The Princeton versus Yale game was exciting," she said. "I was [immersed] in that crazy atmosphere."

The only real problem they've faced, the professors said, is that they lack an efficient and flexible way to improve their English. "A lot of us don't have enough time because we are so busy with our classes," Wang said.

Though she tried an English tutoring program at the Princeton Public Library, she found the teachers were often insufficient. She also tried to use the Language Resource Center in East Pyne but said that there are many more resources on learning Chinese and other languages than there are on learning English.

Despite these hurdles, Wang said improving her English remains an important priority — not only because it will benefit her, but because it will help her students. "I know perfecting my English would improve not only daily life," she said, "but also life in the classroom."