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Asian & Near Eastern Languages

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Taste the Sweetness of the Strawberry

November 06, 2025 03:00 PM
Honored Alumnus Chris Washburn shares how his humanities education taught him to appreciate the small moments in life.
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Festivals of Friends, Food, and Family

October 30, 2025 10:26 AM
In the autumn, Americans look forward to Halloween and Thanksgiving; but many BYU students celebrate two important Chinese holidays too: The Mid-Autumn Festival and Taiwan National Day.
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Case Markers: The Key to Korean

October 24, 2025 12:00 PM
Case markers differentiate parts of speech in many Korean sentences, and they may also be the key difference between novice and advanced language abilities.
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The Forgotten Father of Japanese Linguistics

October 14, 2025 12:00 PM
Japanese linguistics has grown into a large field of study, but according to Paul Warnick, it all started with a forgotten scholar’s deceptively simple metaphor: The noun is like the body.
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Finding the Best Literature

October 06, 2025 03:00 PM
Looking for some great reads? BYU literature professors at this year’s Education Week have you covered.
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Bridges to China

October 03, 2025 03:00 PM
One BYU undergrad traveled across the world to sing, debate, and perform stand-up comedy on an international stage—and all for a language competition.
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Culturally Different, but Still the Same

September 24, 2025 12:00 PM
With many participants flocking to BYU’s Education Week, one lecture series aimed to inform the human need for connection and cultural understanding, emphasizing that we are all children of God.
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Seth McCombie

Assistant Professor
Arabic
Asian and Near Eastern Languages
sethmm@byu.edu
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A Modern Approach to Textbooks

August 22, 2025 12:00 PM
Two BYU professors revamp traditional language textbooks to bring students from intermediate to advanced Chinese.
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The Radical Process of Learning Chinese

June 24, 2025 03:00 PM
Chinese is one of the most difficult languages to study, mainly because it uses thousands of characters. However, research shows that breaking characters into bite-sized pieces—known as radicals—may help.
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Cameron Scott

Adjunct Faculty
Hebrew
Asian and Near Eastern Languages
scotty5@byu.edu
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Pursuing a Passion for Global Healthcare: Zach Valentine, 2025 Schwarzman Scholar

April 25, 2025 06:51 PM
“My main focus is helping provide medical care to underserved communities,” Zach Valentine, 2025 Schwarzman Scholarship recipient, explained.
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So, Why Humanities?

March 04, 2025 12:00 PM
The German & Russian Department’s 2025 Distinguished Alumnus Award lecturer shared how you can expand your world, one adventure at a time.
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Hey, Chat! How Do You Speak Chinese?

January 31, 2025 12:00 PM
Tutors can be expensive and hard to find. However, new research shows that AI may provide a suitable alternative to one-on-one tutoring—at half the cost.
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Scars of Colonialism

January 23, 2025 03:00 PM
The 2024 Kennedy Center student research fellows unpacked the impacts of colonialism. Now, their findings can help bring peace around the world.
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Vietnamese Cantonese

December 06, 2024 03:00 PM
Cantonese may have originated in Canton, China, but to find its earliest form, you have to go to Vietnam—here’s why.
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The Power of Community

December 04, 2024 12:00 PM
Strength can be found in numbers, but more importantly, it can be found in community—especially when it comes to language preservation.
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Speak Your Language

November 20, 2024 03:00 PM
When it comes to learning a new language, sometimes you need to embrace your native one first.
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