“Every waking hour was dedicated to pushing forward in my Mandarin studies,” said Matthew Steinhauer, a PhD student and Japanese instructor at The Ohio State University. Steinhauer spent two months studying beginner-level Mandarin at National Taiwan Normal University’s Mandarin Training Center as a Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship award recipient. During his stay in Taipei, Steinhauer committed as much time as he could to developing his Chinese language ability, even chatting with people at night markets or shops outside of his usual studying hours.
One of the main factors in choosing Mandarin for his fellowship studies was his background in Japanese. “I have always been interested in how Kanji came to acquire their meaning. Chinese seems like a natural step to better understand the content I teach at Ohio State,” Steinhauer explained. Kanji are Chinese characters that are incorporated into the Japanese writing system.
At Ohio State, Steinhauer is researching how to build cutting-edge language learning experiences in virtual reality for those who may not be able to financially support the chance to study abroad. “Full immersion is the best strategy we have now to most effectively acquire the language,” he said. However, “virtual reality could be a stop-gap solution for those who cannot afford (to study abroad) in the future.” Steinhauer’s love of language learning fuels his research goals to make this journey accessible for everyone.
When asked what piece of advice he would give to someone starting their fellowship experience, Steinhauer mentioned two specific things. “Let go of all expectations and charge respectfully in the target culture to learn how that group navigates in the world,” he said. According to his past experiences, showing interest in a specific culture will incentivize individuals from that culture to take you under their wing and help with socialization. Steinhauer also describes the importance of being open to influence. “What I mean by influence is to be open to letting your target culture influence how you see the world,” he explained. Allowing the culture to influence you enables you to act with people belonging to that culture while understanding the rules they abide by. “The cold hard truth is until you accept influence you cannot begin to integrate into that society.”