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Why Study Languages?
The ability to use another language and effectively function in other cultures is key to being a global educated citizen in the 21st century.
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Our Students
Yale-NUS students are curious about the world and its many cultures. Learn why our students decided to pursue the study of another language.
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Our Faculty
Our language courses are taught by experienced faculty with many years of teaching experience.
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Our Students' Experiences
Yale-NUS students continue their study of another language through internships, study abroad opportunities, and involvement in student organisations.
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Latest Events
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- Class of 2019
- Gabriel Lek
Why did you decide to study a language at Yale-NUS?
In high school, I was excited about the literary devices English authors used to manipulate the sound of their voices, and spent my days attempting to replicate their styles. But I realized I could not really understand the way the English language works as I have never had to puzzle my head over subjunctives or verb-preposition conjugations. I wanted to figure out its rhythms, and the best way to do that is to relearn the language in working through another.
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- Senior Lecturer (Spanish) & Associate Director of Language Studies
- Eduardo Lage-Otero
Why is learning another language central to the Liberal Arts experience?
One of the goals of a Liberal Arts education is to foster critical thinking and lifelong learning. Learning a new language provides students with the tools to do just that as they work on their majors and minors. Many students study a language as part of their major (e.g. Anthropology, Global Affairs, Literature), others need it to conduct research for their capstone projects (e.g., History, Philosophy), while others study a language as part of their personal development and to complement their goals in the major. Whatever the case may be, learning a new language is an adventure that will transform your life, much like a Liberal Arts education.
What do you enjoy the most about teaching Chinese at Yale-NUS?
Teaching Chinese at Yale-NUS College has been a dream come true. Because of the high quality of the students, I constantly learn from them while teaching. In pre-modern China, people believed that “the mutual stimulation of teaching and Learning教學相長” was the ideal intellectual setting (Book of Rites 禮記). So do I. The pre-modern Chinese also developed a pedagogical model which parallels modern scholarly methods: “Read ten-thousand volumes and travel ten-thousand miles 讀萬卷書行萬里路” (Dong Qichang 董其昌: “Principles in Painting” 画旨). My students have benefited from opportunities provided by Yale-NUS College, allowing them to study Chinese in the language’s native land.