Exploring Linguistics in New Zealand

Welcome to the March 2024 edition of the Dartmouth College Fund's student-produced vlog! This month's featured student is Lexie ’26, who shares her experience studying abroad.

From immersive learning to unforgettable adventures, Lexie shares how her experience with the Department of Linguistics Foreign Study Program in Auckland, New Zealand transformed her understanding of linguistics and culture.

Full Video Transcript

My name is Lexi. I'm a ’26 at Dartmouth, and I'm double majoring in government and in linguistics, modified with native and indigenous studies. I'm currently in Auckland, New Zealand with the Linguistics Department Foreign Study Program. On campus I'm also involved in the Christian community. I work with the Wheelock Society at different service events.

This last weekend as a group, the Dartmouth Linguistics Program and also the anthropology program, all 30 of us got to go stay in a Marae, which is the traditional meeting grounds for the Maori people and learn about their culture. We stayed there for a weekend in Waiheke Island and we got to go snorkeling in the morning, which I've never been snorkeling before. I'm from Montana and we don't have a lot of opportunity to go snorkeling. Then we got to do weaving and we got to weave their flax bushes and learn how to make roses and things like that—it was really fun—and learning about the importance of these different plants that they have.

Then we also got to learn some of their songs in their Haka. They make it look so easy and actually trying to learn it, you realize how hard it is and all the coordination that comes together to have these beautiful performances. It was just a transformative experience for me. Learning about their culture and seeing how people view the world differently than I do was life changing and it's these kinds of experiences that would not be possible without the financial aid that I have received from Dartmouth and from generous donors who see the value of studying abroad, see the value of a Dartmouth education, and want to give that to other students like myself.