Tell us about yourself. What do you study? What kind of work have you done? Any hobbies?

Ni hao! Hello, I am Lin Zhu, a graduate student at University of Oregon. Right now, I am in two programs: I am a PhD student in East Asian Linguistics program in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures and also an MA student in LTS program in the Department of Linguistics. My research interests include Chinese syntax, semantics, and SLA (primarily concerning Chinese teaching and learning). Here at the U of O I have been a teaching assistant for 2nd-year Chinese classes and now I am a TA for 1st-year Chinese. I am a Chinese guy working towards being a Chinese teacher. My ultimate goal is to teach Chinese in a university setting. I’m a fan of sports; basketball, badminton, table tennis, etc. I especially enjoy jogging and walking on the track.

Tell us about completing two concurrent degrees with the LTS and EALL programs. How does the work you do in LTS relate to EALL?

Well, you can imagine doing two programs at the same time is sometimes tiresome. Things keep coming up in my to-do list and the homework is always due very soon and seems to go on and on. I am a person who is early to bed and early to rise. But sometimes things keep me so busy that I become someone who is late to bed and still early to rise.

That being said, doing two programs is awesome in that you can have two cohorts to interact with. For example, this year, I had a Thanksgiving party with my classmates in the LTS program and had a Chinese New Year party with the EALL cohort! 🙂

I can easily find a balance between what I do in the EALL and LTS programs. The EALL program is theoretical. I get solid theoretical instruction from this and I get deeper understanding of the Chinese language. Also, the EALL program provides me with theoretical frameworks and methodological toolkit to conduct academic research. On the other hand, the LTS opens another door for me. It shows me the applied side of linguistics study. It gives me the theoretical underpinnings of language teaching and learning which is applied to a variety of real-life language teaching experiences. Also, as a TA in EALL, the time in LTS makes me a better teacher.