Since 1986, the Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies (hereinafter referred to as the "Hopkins-Nanjing Center") has always adhered to the characteristics of cross-linguistic, cross-cultural, cross-disciplinary, and cross-border talent cultivation, and has become an educational platform for cultivating international talents with a broad international outlook, profound humanistic background, and a good understanding of different languages and cultures, as well as strong professional knowledge and the ability to solve complex problems.

In this issue, we focus on exploring the dimensions of "cross-language" and "cross-border", and revealing how they jointly shape the global vision and cross-cultural communication skills of Hopkins-Nanjing Center students.

Cross-Language (Chen, Shulin):

I think the reason why "cross-language" is listed as the first is because it is a feature that is always present in the daily life of the Center, and language is the basis for the other three. As an undergraduate student majoring in translation, I have a special appreciation for the "cross-language" feature.

At the Center, "cross-language" conversations do not only take place in academic settings such as classes and lectures, which are at the heart of a graduate program, but are only the "tip of the iceberg" in the richness of the Center's life. These "cross-language" conversations take place in the more everyday places such as the cafeteria, student rooms, dormitories, courtyards, and other relaxing moments such as daily chats, happy weekends, and holiday parties.

What is particularly interesting is that you will often see Chinese students asking questions in English and international students answering in Chinese, or international students asking questions in Chinese and Chinese students answering in English. It may seem that the language we use is always off-channel, but both sides can actually understand the conversation, clear their minds, and communicate freely. Chatting topics include not only study progress and academic topics, but also finding various kinds of partners (dinner partners, photography partners, fitness partners, etc.), making weekend plans, exchanging vacation destinations, and introducing the cultures of their respective countries and hometowns. Although the "official languages" of the Center are Chinese and English, there are many students who speak German, Russian, Spanish, Japanese, and other languages.

All the students who come to the Center have passed the test in the target language, but after all, they are not native speakers of the target language, so they still need to practice to get better at it. Therefore, even though not all of us are "perfect" in terms of grammar and vocabulary when communicating in the target language at the Center, we all try our best to express ourselves in the target language and improve our proficiency in the process. When one of us gets stuck in the process of expression, the other party will not feel impatient, but will wait patiently for you to "search" your own "language resource base", and if you really can't think of anything, the other party will also help you come up with a suitable word based on your context.

In addition to daily communication, the Center's "cross-language" features are also reflected in other aspects. Students have set up a mutual help group for writing revision, in which they put forward their needs for revision of assignments in the target language and wait for the response and help from native speakers of the target language. Of course, this kind of help is limited to the quality of the language itself, and does not involve the revision of the content and ideas of the assignments, which is in strict compliance with the academic norms; the students also organized their own speech activities to give speeches in the target language, and there will be native speakers of the target language to provide timely feedback and suggestions; in the classroom, the professors, when explaining the professional concepts, will not only use the target language of the course to tell, but will also try to use the mother tongue of the students to provide a solid grasp of the concepts, and the professors' efforts to use the standard pronunciation of the students' native language are sometimes a good opportunity to liven up the classroom atmosphere.

Cross-Border (Xu, Yizhuo):

When it comes to "cross-border", I would summarize it by saying that friendship and emotion coalesce here.

At the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, Chinese and international students live together and study together. We attend classes together, discuss homework together, catch up on deadlines together, and have fun together, and I have felt the camaraderie of the cross-border community as we get along.

I remember last year, when Hopkins-Nanjing Center held its first happy hour in the fall semester, I participated in the event as a bartender for the happy hour. My bartending partner, Sophie, is an international student. Together with the Chinese and foreign class members, we decided on the wine list and the shopping list, cleaned up the ingredients, adjusted the recipes over and over again, and made several trial mixes, acting as each other's tasters and cheering each other up.

Before the event began, we were worried about business at the bartending station, "Will no one come, will the wine not sell?" But our worries proved to be unfounded, as our booth was filled to capacity during the happy hour and was very popular with students and alumni! In less than an hour, almost all the wine we prepared was sold out. Sophie and I were both very happy and felt that this activity was very meaningful.

Through an in-depth understanding of the personal experiences of two current students of the Class of 2023, the group was able to see the big picture from their own stories in a small way, truly recreating the scenes of learning and living at Hopkins-Nanjing Center. It is this unique educational environment that nurtures future leaders who are able to comfortably navigate between different cultures and languages and solve international problems.

Admissions for the 2024 Certificate Program is ongoing, and we welcome you, who are reading this, to join the family of Hopkins-Nanjing Center!