A Conversation With Mia Lee

Photo Credit: Courtesy

A Conversation With Mia Lee

By Sabaitide

Sabaitide: Hi, Mia. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Mia: Of course. Thank you for having me.

Sabaitide: Of course. Can you tell us what LingoX is?

Mia: Yes, absolutely. LingoX is a nonprofit organization I founded, and essentially the entire vision was to make language education more accessible for people from underserved communities — specifically refugees, indigenous communities, low-income students — and as of now, we currently serve students in 136 countries across six continents, which is really exciting. We also partner with a wide range of institutions, such as the University of Alabama's Community English Program, cultural learning centers in Panama, and rural elementary schools in China.

Sabaitide: Wow. That's amazing.

Mia: Thank you!

Sabaitide: I really enjoyed hearing you speak at the Teen Vogue Summit. I also wanted to ask you, how did you get started, and what is your story?

Mia: So in terms of LingoX, I'm not going to lie, it was definitely really tough at the start because it was absolutely just this seedling of an idea that I had. And of course, I never would have anticipated that it would become what it is today. That's kind of a frightening experience, not knowing where it's going to go. But it was simultaneously exciting because it was something I was really passionate about and really wanted to bring to the world. 

In general, in terms of my inspiration and motivation, I'd say that my grandfather played a huge role. A bit of background — he was a medic in rural Taiwan for the majority of his life, and so from a young age, he instilled a ton of his values into me. In particular, I was really inspired by his story of giving back to his community. When he passed away, I wanted to somehow extend his legacy, and that was a big impetus for making LingoX happen. For example, one of our programs is called the Shoujen Scholars Program. It's named after him, and through SSP, we provide the equivalent of a semester-long Mandarin Chinese course free of charge for thousands of students. This is kind of my way of continuing his legacy, but it has also really helped me to find my passion, do what I enjoy, and be able to help people who need it. 

Sabaitide: Did you do this alone? How did you find help and mentors to help you with this vision?

Mia: At the start, it was a one-woman thing that I was just trying to hold together and make happen. But then, of course, over the years, I've been very lucky to have amassed a team of volunteers from all around the world who are just as passionate about LingoX's vision as I am. So that's been super fortunate. Together, we've definitely been able to amplify our impact. I owe it a lot to a really strong team that's passionate and dedicated to the cause. They're a huge help. 

Sabaitide: Can you tell us more about education inequality and the ‘why’ behind LingoX? Like, why was this important for you to start it?

Mia: Yes, absolutely. Educational equity is obviously very important to me. The reason being is that I feel like in this globalized world, where everything is so interconnected, communication is really important. Oftentimes, this comes in the form of transnational communication, across countries and across borders, and it's become very prevalent in today's society. Yet at the same time, especially in more underserved communities, we see that it can often be deprioritized: lacking foreign language education in underfunded schools, for example.

It's especially an issue because it's an invisible problem. You don't see it. It's not visible to the naked eye. But that's what makes it so important for us to address, because it affects so many, especially youth. As they grow up, these disparities in their education will develop into disparities in career, and by that time, it’s too late. I think it's really important that we band together and mobilize our resources and privileges to level the playing field for others.

As someone who really enjoys learning languages and is lucky enough to know both Chinese and English, I have first-handedly witnessed the kind of groundbreaking, cross-cultural exchange that multilingual abilities can bring about. So that's the “why” behind LingoX.

Sabaitide: And how does LingoX make learning accessible? Is it online? Is it through in person sessions led by your volunteers? Like, how does it work?

Mia: We make learning accessible by, as you implied, the versatility of our offerings. We have online programs such as our Chinese classes, which are live on Zoom. People can tune in from all over the world at a common time. However, we also recognize that during our classes, people may be working or it might even be midnight where they live, so we offer resources such as free textbooks, online chats, as well as video recordings of all our lectures to our students. We also partner with a lot of institutions and organizations to host in person classrooms. We work with the local volunteers and teachers there to administer our curricula, which provides an incredible hands-on experience for everyone involved. We try to approach language pedagogy from a variety of methods, and in doing so, we’ve been successful in broadening our impact.

Sabaitide: And who is LingoX really for? Is It for my mom's friend who just wanted to practice speaking English or someone like myself who wanted to learn a certain language better? What spectrum does LingoX have for people who want to learn languages?

Mia: I'd say, a very wide range. For example, our Chinese courses are currently intended for beginners interested in learning conversational, everyday Chinese. That might be what someone is looking for. But in the case of your mom's friend, our flexible English courses would be perfect for her. If she already has an understanding of English, she can start with our more advanced coursework. Our English curricula is very comprehensive and suitable for people of all levels. And because of the large number of our incredible volunteers, we're able to maintain relatively small classes. So there's a lot of opportunity for students to communicate with their teachers about what they need: Would they like more practice materials they can take home? Would they like to talk to the teacher one on one and practice their oral English skills? We're really able to cater to a lot of different needs.

Sabaitide: That's amazing. Yeah. Thank you so much. I'll definitely tell more people about LingoX.

Mia: Awesome. Thank you.

Sabaitide: I just find it so incredible that you started this and knew what you wanted to do from a very young age. And do you have any advice for anyone who'd like to start something, whether that's a project, an organization, a solution to a problem like LingoX?

Mia: Well, thank you so much for your kind words. I’d say that the prospect of faliure shouldn’t be something that deters people from starting because, even with LingoX, it’s definitely been a very arduous process. I think it can be discouraging when you try something and it doesn’t immediately work out. But you know, few truly impactful projects are built in a day. Looking back, 98% of the time I’ve been working on LingoX, we didn’t get any recognition. And that was perfectly okay by me, because we were truly helping people, even if most of the world didn’t know about it. Then all of a sudden, people started noticing. And while it’s been amazing to be recognized, it took that 98% of time and effort invested beforehand. 

And so, for people who want to start something, you really have to be okay with a lot of things. You have to be okay with things not going to plan, or being difficult. You have to be okay with failing and trying again. And in spite of knowing all these possible outcomes, you have to be okay with giving it your everything. Because what if you succeed? At the end of the day, someone has to do it, and it absolutely can and should be you. I’m a huge supporter of the idea that nothing is off limits. It takes courage to confront other people’s expectations and judgment and chase after something that you’re passionate about. 

Another big thing: just stop waiting. At first, I procrastinated a lot and kept making excuses, pushing LingoX back and back and back. I worried it wouldn’t work out. Today, my only regret is not getting started sooner. Eventually, you just have to bite the bullet and take a leap of faith. It's going to be scary, but it’s important to make the first move. There’ll be a ton of trial and error, but you learn as you go along. It’s better to do something than nothing at all.

Sabaitide: I totally agree with everything you just said. Thank you so much Mia for your time.

Contact

Instagram: @lingoxofficial

Website: https://www.lingox.org