NYU Shanghai’s Language Peer Mentor Program Has Its Biggest Year Yet

At the program’s core are weekly hour-long meetings where peer mentors converse with their partners. Each week the meetings alternate between Chinese and English. Students can choose their own topics or draw from themes provided by the program, which focus on useful vocabulary for real-world situations.

Additionally, the program hosts four conversation salons throughout the semester, offering students another opportunity to practice their language skills in judgement-free small groups. To successfully complete the program, participants must meet in pairs for 10 weeks and attend at least one conversation salon. Furthermore, at the end of the semester, they create video blogs where they speak in their target language.

Study Away Programs Specialist Milly Yin founded the Language Peer Mentor Program in 2018. It was inspired by her experiences as an international student studying in the United States. There, she participated in a similar program that improved her language skills and helped her make new connections. “We want to create a safe and private space for students to practice their language skills and also use it as an opportunity to make friends,” Yin says. “We’ve had students return four to five times. When you’re paired with different people, you learn new things.”

Ariel Jiang, NYU Shanghai Class of 2027, is from Shanghai. Meanwhile, Coco Wu, Class of 2028, is from Austin, Texas. For them, the program has been an opportunity to practice their language skills while learning about each other’s cultural backgrounds. “I feel less burdened asking Coco language questions because we have a dedicated space for it,” Ariel says. “I feel like I learned a lot about her cultural background. It’s what I remember most from our conversations.”

Coco agrees: “Our conversations gave me a glimpse into different perspectives and experiences. They provide a better understanding and stronger foundation for learning the language.” The two became fast friends, bonding over their shared love of cats, bubble tea, and blind box collectibles (盲盒).

New friendships are one of biggest benefits of joining the program, participants say. “At the beginning, I just expected to practice English and get in touch with others,” says Yining Gao, NYU Shanghai Class of 2028, from Chengdu. “I didn’t expect that I could make such a good friend.” Yining and her peer mentor, Catherine Ward, a senior at NYU Tisch School of the Arts who’s originally from Missouri, even took a trip to Beijing together over the Thanksgiving break. Catherine considers their friendship an important part of her study away experience in Shanghai. “Yining and I spent almost every Wednesday night walking around the parks and streets of Shanghai. We enjoyed exploring the city while conversing in both English and Chinese,” she says.

Kiera Liu, an NYU Shanghai Class of 2027 student from Beijing, and New Yorker Steven Chen, NYU Shanghai Class of 2027, both felt their language skills were quite strong. So, they took the program as a unique opportunity to introduce each other to internet memes from their respective cultures. “We decided to learn slang together to communicate with other students in the NYU community,” Steven says. The pair combed through Chinese memes together and texted frequently so Kiera could practice common English abbreviations.

Ultimately, the Language Peer Mentor Program gives NYU Shanghai students a structured yet personal way to connect outside the classroom, expanding both their social circles and language capabilities.