Yikai Xu, German 101: "As a math major, I am looking forward to exploring the beauty of math throughout the language of famous German mathematicians."
Yikai Xu writes:
"As an International student at the University of Washington, I consider German as my second foreign language. Honestly, I am not required to learn a new language for graduation. However, I believe languages, as the most direct and effective tool of communication, establish bridges between different nations, countries, and cultures. As the development of human civilization, it is important to know the world, in other words, we need to build more connections between different cultures. Although I haven’t been to Germany before, my parents who have traveled to Germany shared their amazing experiences with me. My mom said the trees in the road are strictly arranged in a straight line without much differences. My parents described Germany as a country with preciseness, which triggered my interest in learning German at the first place.
In terms of my own goal of learning German, having a second foreign language is an important skill for myself. From the perspective of both future development and personal preference, the ability to speak more languages will definitely contribute to a better self. The other goal for learning German is to read more mathematic books in the original language, which is German. As we all know, Germany is a country with lots of excellent academic contributions especially in the field of science. As a math major, I am looking forward to exploring the beauty of math throughout the language of famous German mathematicians. Overall, I believe it’s a right choice to learn German."