By Daniel Brasington ’25
Dr. Yongfang Zhang has been awarded a National Security Agency STARTALK grant of $137,194.82 to direct Wofford College’s 11th STARTALK Chinese program in June 2025. The program still provides the benefits of learning Chinese — career opportunity, cultural understanding and cognitive health — but this year the program is targeting a different student population.
“Previously the program was directed toward middle school and high school students, but this year the emphasis is on providing instruction to high school and college students,” says Zhang, associate professor of Chinese at Wofford. After joining the Wofford community 14 years ago, she quickly realized the value of bringing STARTALK to the college. She says working with students such as Moses Briggs ’25, a computer science and Chinese double major from Spartanburg, has been the best part.
“Learning a new language can bring frustration, but after a couple of days you can hear the participants singing children songs in Chinese and rushing through their lunch so that they can practice their introduction speeches,” says Briggs, who has served as a STARTALK counselor for the past two summer sessions. “The chance to build relationships and see friendships blossom has been very special to me.”
Briggs developed his love for the language in middle school, when he had the opportunity to participate in STARTALK. Now Briggs is hoping to pass on his passion for Chinese language and culture to the next generations of STARTALK students. He also has used his background in computer science to help develop an interactive Chinese learning program through Gather.
“The program allows students to learn interactively as they travel around this digital space, interacting with books, globes or videos, much like if students were traveling around the world,” says Briggs. “Students travel through different rooms while participating in various learning objectives. Once they have finished exploring the room, they must answer a question before advancing to the next.”
Zhang looks for opportunities to incorporate technology into the STARTALK curriculum. Placing an emphasis on typing Chinese characters instead of writing them is another way.
“The process of learning Chinese is revolutionizing and turning to typing as a more accessible method of communication,” says Zhang. “The keyboard can be easily installed in a few brief steps and can make writing the language much easier, giving students the tools necessary to apply their learning to the workplace.”
Because STARTALK is now for college-aged students, Zhang hopes that more Wofford students will take advantage of the free opportunity.
“Chinese is only growing in demand,” says Zhang, “and STARTALK can help high school and college students develop a new critical language and learn how to communicate across cultures. The experience also will be lots of fun!”
STARTALK will run from 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday through Friday, June 2-27, 2025, on the Wofford College campus. The free 20-day Chinese language and culture course will carry four hours of college credit with successful completion. The program is open to students who are in their first year of high school through college seniors.
Contact Zhang at zhangy@wofford.edu for more information. Visit Wofford.edu/startalkscholarship to apply.