UH students to develop hacks for language learning

Two University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa students have been selected to attend the national Hack The Language Flagship event hosted by the Flagship Technology Innovation Center (FTIC). The students, Mia Porter and Leon Qu, are scholars under the UH Mānoaʻs Chinese Language Flagship Program.

The Flagship Hackathon is a fast-paced event where participants seek advice from language technology experts throughout the country in order to propose technology-based solutions or “hacks” that could improve language learning.

Porter and Qu will travel to Washington D.C. this month to meet with other flagship scholars, representatives from the FTIC, and leadership from the National Security Education Program.

“The Hackathon mimics situations that would be encountered in workplaces and real life,” Flagship director Madeline Spring said. “The ability to assess problems and find solutions quickly is best developed in collaborative environments like the hackathon.”

Both scholars have received recognition for their academic achievements while at UH. Porter graduated over the summer as a triple major in Chinese, finance, and international business. Porter also received the Colleges of Arts and Sciences’ Richard and Mildred Kosaki Award and the Colleges of Arts and Sciences Alumni Association Academic Opportunities Award in 2017. Qu, a double major in Chinese Flagship and computer science, received funding from the Hiram L. Fong Fund in Arts and Sciences for his upcoming flagship capstone year in China.

More information on the Flagship Technology Innovation Center and their Hack the Language Flagship event can be found online. Additional information on UH Mānoaʻs Chinese Language Flagship Program can be found on the universityʻs website.