Imagine not being allowed to speak your native language for eight weeks. How would you communicate with others? How would you express yourself? How would you express your wants and needs? Well you would have to learn another way to communicate rather quickly.
 
That is exactly what Oberlin College sophomore volleyball player Maddy Dunn did over the summer, attending an eight-week immersion program at Middlebury College where she had to speak exclusively in Chinese.
 
Dunn, who is a double major in East Asian Studies and economics, never spoke Chinese until she arrived at Oberlin as a freshman last fall.
 
"I figured learning Chinese could really help with my future career, but I immediately fell in love with it," Dunn said. "I think it's because it's such a tonal language and I did a lot of music growing up so I could easily relate to the sounds."
 
After getting introduced to the language at Oberlin, Dunn elected to spend her summer learning even more at Middlebury. She spent six hours a day getting intensive instruction. After three of hours of lecture, the class would then break off into small groups for two hours before each day would end with a one-hour one-on-one conversation.
 
"It was probably the most rigorous academic experience I have had," she said. "They would cram a typical week's worth of information in a normal Oberlin semester into one day. It was very challenging as you could only speak what you knew how to say so it made social interactions very tough, but you could always pull out your dictionary to look up a word you didn't know."
 
Dunn wasn't alone while at Middlebury as there were 150 others students from across the country trying to master the language with her. Additionally, other students were also there learning other foreign languages as well
 
While the workload was certainly tough, Dunn and her classmates had some time for fun as well, competing in the intramural volleyball program, which matched up students from each program up against one another.
 
"It was so much fun," she noted. "We went up against the Portuguese School and we were talking smack about them in Chinese and I am sure they were doing the same in Portuguese."
 
Dunn hopes put her Chinese skills to use in the future working for the government in some fashion, possibly in national security.
 
Even though she has 'big picture' plans for utilizing her bi-lingual skills, Dunn has not lost her childhood passion of music, as she still plays the bassoon on a regular basis.
 
"I take secondary lessons with a Conservatory student," she said. "It is perfect as I still get to play, but at my own pace and time as they know if you have a ton of homework, you likely are not going to practice."
 
Dunn, who hails from Richmond, California, has certainly made the most of her Oberlin experience thus far, but she is not doing without a familiar face close by. Her sister Katie is a senior on the swimming and diving team.
 
"I don't think I would have survived freshman year without her," she said. "Having someone to talk to and call if I am feeling home sick is just awesome. She is also my biggest supporter, coming to every volleyball game and is the loudest one cheering."
 
Whether it's talking to her sister on campus, or speaking Chinese a world away, Dunn certainly makes an intriguing conversationalist.
 
Dunn helped the Yeowomen finish 4-4 in the NCAC to secure the No. 5 seed in this weekend's conference tournament. She and her teammates will square off against DePauw University on Friday at 4 p.m. on the campus of Wittenberg University.

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