The Writing and Language Studio hosts events and collaborates on events with other members of the Duke Kunshan Community. An up-to-date list of events can be found on Duke Kunshan Engage.
Hunker down: (to get ready) to stay in one place for a long time or for as long as needed to accomplish or finish something
At the end of sessions, the WLS hosts Hunker Down and Write! events that provide a quiet room to write in. At this event, writers will feel the energy, motivation, and accountability that comes from being in a room full of people who are all writing something.
Here’s how it works:
Bring your laptop or tablet to the designated space at any time during the event. Set aside your phone and other distractions and work on any papers or other writing assignments you have. Refreshments will be provided.
There will be writing coaches from the WLS and/or a librarian available nearby. If at any time you need help with your writing, just pop over to talk to an available coach. Librarians can also help you search for sources or format your citations and references.
No distractions. No excuses. Just write!
The WLS regularly hosts Linguistics Puzzles events, where you can solve fun linguistic puzzles and learn about the diversity and consistency of languages with your friends. No prior knowledge of linguistics or second languages is necessary for participating in the activities. After solving the puzzles, we will also discuss interesting language features and phenomena together.
Please find below a list of past WLS workshops. To see an up-to-date workshop schedule, please visit Duke Kunshan Engage.
Delivered jointly by the Writing and Language Studio and the Academic Resource Center, this workshop focuses on helping students communicate about math in English—in other words, how to “speak” and understand “spoken” math in English.
Have you had struggles using English appropriately and accurately in an academic setting? Have you found yourself out of phrases or at a loss for words to professionally and politely express something in English? In this workshop, we talk about English etiquette in an academic setting,
In this workshop, we discuss what “creative writing” is, as well as some of the elements of effective creative writing. We also explore how to give good feedback by workshopping one anothers’ writing.
This is a workshop on learning, understanding, and memorizing Chinese characters. We talk about effective methods of learning Chinese characters, techniques for memorizing their structure and meaning, and useful online resources. We also invite experienced Chinese learners to share their strategies for learning Chinese characters.
At this workshop, we discuss email writing etiquette in academic settings, as well as techniques in communicating ideas through email clearly and professionally.
Want to meet with a coach to improve your writing? Not sure what happens in a coaching session or how to prepare for your appointment? This workshop helps you learn more about what you can expect from our writing coaches and what you can do to maximize your benefit from your coaching session.
In this workshop, we help you understand what it means to be an independent language learner. We give you hands on experience in setting goals or drafting your own language learning plan for the language of your choice. The skills you learn in this workshop are important not only in language learning—they can help you become a better learner at DKU and beyond!
At this workshop, we introduce basic information about the HSK test (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi 汉语水平考试). We discuss what the HSK test is, how to determine your HSK level, how to register for the test, and how to prepare for the test. You will also hear from people who have taken the test.
(The Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi, translated as the Chinese Proficiency Test used in Mainland China or the Chinese Standard Exam used in Mainland China, is the standardized test of Standard Chinese language proficiency in China for non-native speakers, such as foreign students and overseas Chinese.)
