Lost in Translation
Penn Global Seminar: Energy Security and Geopolitics
Chenyao, one of the Fall 2025 Penn Global Seminar Correspondents, shares her experience abroad during the Winter Break. Follow along with the group of correspondents on our blog and look out for their images on the @pennabroad Instagram feed.
Even though I was born and raised in Indiana — Go Hoosiers! — I’ve always thought my Mandarin was pretty good. Not bad, at the very least. I may be functionally illiterate when it comes to Chinese, but most ABCs (American-Born Chinese) are. I figured my ability to carry a half-decent conversation with relatives was more than enough.
In Taiwan, the imposter syndrome finally kicked in. I couldn’t order boba from a menu without pulling out Google Translate. I can’t count the number of times I asked a store clerk or food vendor to repeat their statement, struggling through unfamiliar accents and words. What made everything worse, was everyone’s utmost belief that I should be able to understand. The 7-Eleven cashier that bulldozed through my confusion until he saw my classmates behind me, finally clocking that I was a foreigner, too. The sales associates’ who came up to me to push their products before I could make a hasty retreat. It got to a point that I decided not to go out in Taipei by myself, relying on a classmate to grant me “foreigner status.”
Taiwan was completely foreign to me, in more ways than one. I had to learn to rely on cash instead of Apple Pay. I got used to standing in a crowd and not being the shortest one around. I walked through narrow alleyways at night and felt no sense of danger at all. I learned that the Taiwanese definition of spicy food is not very spicy at all. These unfamiliarities weren’t difficult to adjust to, which was good since our packed schedule didn’t allow for much time to struggle.
Throughout the week we had countless meetings, from politicians to policy experts to industry leaders. Walking into those rooms was intimidating enough without all my own insecurities. But, I was pleasantly surprised. Even though there were translators trying to work things into English, I was able to follow along in Mandarin. Even when it came to my professional language, I caught phrases before the translation came. I understood the jokes that the translator couldn’t figure out.
I couldn’t jump in with my own questions in Mandarin. I wouldn’t be able to hold debates on the spot. But I could listen actively and meaningfully, in a way some of my classmates couldn’t. And at the end of the day, the listening was enough. This class, this travel experience, wasn’t about performing fluency or proving anything about my identity. I was there to learn — about Taiwan, about cross-strait relations, about energy and national security — and maybe, about myself.
This realization gave me confidence, and some of my favorite moments on the trip. One afternoon, when we were released for lunch, we wandered through a bustling street market. I tried my hand at speaking again. And even though it was immediately obvious to vendors that I wasn’t Taiwanese, most thought I was from the mainland rather than American. I stumbled through orders and hesitated and got kind smiles and some free samples for my efforts.
By the end of the week, this PGS had done something travel does best — it had given me a different perspective. I learned how much I could understand without speaking, how much confidence comes from trying anyway, and how quickly shared problems can turn classmates into friends. If nothing else, Taiwan taught me that it’s okay to not have the right words as long as you’re willing to listen, try, and keep going forward.