ABSTRACT
The author narrates how she gradually lost proficiency in her heritage Tibetan language when she attended schools that adopted the dominant Mandarin in China. When she attended an American university for a Master’s degree, she developed an interest in reconnecting with classical texts from her heritage culture while writing her literacy autobiography. Unable to read the heritage classics in Tibetan, she undertook efforts to learn Tibetan again. She finally integrates Tibetan, Mandarin, and English into a new whole, rooted in her spiritual traditions, and concludes: “The philosophy developed from Tibetan Buddhism actually influences the way in which I think of issues in academic reading and writing. It encourages me to view things from different angles, mixed with both a healthy skepticism and compassion.”
