SWU News:

April 18 , 2008

SWU student translates interest in language into love for China

A path that began at a Chinese restaurant in Easley, S.C., has taken one Southern Wesleyan University student all the way to China.

Fluent in Chinese, Tina Collins of Liberty has visited the country twice. She learned to speak Chinese at age 13 with the help of a Chinese family at The China Buffet in Easley.

“ In high school there was a language requirement I needed to fulfill. Through prayer, the Lord led me and my family to a Chinese restaurant one Sunday and the answer was right there,” Collins said. Her mother struck a deal with the restaurant’s owners. She and her daughter would teach their family English in exchange for lessons in speaking Chinese.

Collins, a home-schooled student, had a flexible schedule and met with the Chinese family three times a week after business hours. She later became a waitress at the Chinese restaurant and found more opportunities to practice her second language.

“It didn’t occur to me that it was odd to learn Chinese at a Chinese restaurant in Easley,” she said, laughing.

Collins also said restaurant patrons would ask her if she is Chinese because of her language fluency.

“Here was this white American who could speak Chinese,” she said. “I had so much fun.”

Learning Chinese has involved learning the Chinese alphabet as well as Chinese characters, Collins said.

“The symbols have ABCs like our language – only 22 actual letters. Each letter makes a sound. If you know the letters, you can sound it out,” she said. “The graphic Chinese characters represent concepts, not letters.” Collins started learning these characters two years ago.

Since learning the language, she has visited China twice - once with Youth with a Mission, a nondenominational group, and once with Mission to the World, sponsored by the Presbyterian Church of America.

Recently, Collins was invited to be a dancer in the Olympic parade in Beijing, China. Because of political unrest in the country, that trip has been put on hold, postponing her plans to live in the Olympic Village, perform dance routines and serve as a translator.

She was to be one of 600 other students, parents and organization members with Light the World Parade of Franklin, Tenn.

Locally, Collins uses her language skills to work with Chinese students in the community, many who are drawn to the area by Clemson University.

“I’m a translator for the Pickens County School District,” she said. “There are a lot of international children in our area, with Clemson University nearby.”

Collins provides translation skills and advice on Chinese cultural issues for the school district.

She also works with Chinese students in the community through a summer dance program that teaches girls ages 5 to 11 international dance, interpretive dance and sign language. Collins also communicates through sign language, something she learned from her mother, a special education teacher.

“Education is the most revered occupation in China -- more than politics or any other profession. Teachers are revered,” Collins said. “That’s what I would love to do in China. I’d love to teach dance and sign language in the schools.”

For now, Collins is majoring in English, with a theater minor. But even on the Southern Wesleyan University campus in Central, she has a daily opportunity to practice her Chinese.

This year, the university welcomed Chen Chen, a freshman, from Hefei, China. Collins and Chen had an immediate bond.

“Chen and I are sisters now. That’s a God thing. I have really been able to help her,” Collins said. “I work with her to translate her books. She stays with my family on the weekends.”

Collins says that she usually speaks to Chen in Chinese and Chen generally speaks to her in English. The two call this “Chenglish” – a way for each of them to practice their secondary languages.

“My family has pretty much adopted Chen. She has her own room in my house,” Collins said.

As she keeps an eye out for opportunities to travel to China, Collins continues to work at The China Buffet on Sundays.

“I can work anywhere in the world – anywhere there’s a Chinese restaurant,” Collins said. “I’ll be working with Chinese people my whole life. The whole idea of a different culture with a different set of standards is so interesting. I would love to be a bridge between our two cultures,” she said.

The first cultural differences Collins noticed were in Chinese greetings and farewells.

“The first question they ask is not ‘How are you doing?,’ it’s ‘Have you eaten yet?’ They don’t say goodbye, they say ‘I will see you again,’” she said.

And with Collins’ language skills and career focus, those in China are indeed likely to see her again.

See also: Chinese student follows dream, prayer