Letters | If Chinese students in the US want to make it, they must speak English and make the most of America

Foreign students should remember that mastering the local language offers insights into the new culture and is a way to get an education, not just a diploma

America has a lot to offer. Practise English always, and enjoy its culture while you can. Remember that you’re always a personal ambassador of your country

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New degree holders wave Chinese flags during the 2018 graduation ceremony at Columbia University, New York. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 1:31am, 20 Feb 2019Updated: 1:49am, 20 Feb 2019

I refer to the recent controversy surrounding students speaking Chinese “very loudly” at Duke University (“US tutor steps down in row over Chinese students not speaking English”, January 27), and write in partial support of the remarks made by assistant professor Megan Neely. I would like to recount my own experience as a former member of the community of Chinese foreign students in the US. I was an undergraduate at the University of California, Berkeley, and a graduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Hailing from the slums of Hong Kong, I went to America at 19. I highly valued the rare opportunity to learn – not just the English language, but also about Western civilisation and culture. After the first year, I made it a point to room with either Americans (for English) or Taiwanese (for Mandarin) to sharpen my language skills. Realising the need to practice, I “shamelessly” spoke mostly (heavily accented) English to all my friends from different backgrounds, on campus or off. I also socialised with many local friends to learn about Western culture first-hand – let no one underestimate its importance. It opened up my mind and soul.

Thanks to my quickly acquired language skills and cultural affinity, I managed to become a good teaching assistant. The physics department at UCLA offered me a job as assistant professor of physics at Cal Poly, a state university in Pomona, in 1967, when I had barely finished my PhD qualifying exam, at a time when a PhD was a must for the position.

Willingness to blend in continued to serve me well as a teacher, as a successful scientist at Hughes Research Laboratories, and later, when I went on to raise venture capital for my own business.

A series of emails sent by an assistant professor at Duke University that chastised Chinese students for speaking their native language sparked debate. Photo: Bloomberg

After 22 years of full-time residence in the US, I had to move to Taiwan and mainland China for business, where the local language is officially Mandarin. Now I had to adapt again. In our company in Guangzhou, most, but not all, staff spoke Cantonese like myself. Regionalism was rampant. I made it a rule that everyone refrain from speaking Cantonese if even one non-Cantonese speaker was present in a room. Mutual respect has helped build teamwork and language skills, and hence corporate success.