Nearly 500 students and teachers joined a treasure hunt in the Museum of World Languages at Shanghai International Studies University, Songjiang, on May 18, marking International Museum Day.

The activity entitled ‘Night at the Museum’ challenged participants to answer language-related questions such as “What was the first foreign language book to be translated into Chinese?” or complete tasks like “Take a photo of a postage stamp with Esperanto written on it”, all of which encouraged participants to zap around inside this world language-themed museum. 

Opened in December 2019, the museum covers an area of nearly 2,000 square meters. There are only a few language museums in the world and SISU’s is the first of its kind in China.
The first thing that greets visitors entering the museum is a curved display of the earth. Point at any place on the map, and the language of that place pops up.

The three main exhibition areas are themed “Speaking”, “Writing”, and “Translating”, In Chinese, the characters for these words all have the same radical, indicating that the word is related to language. A total of eight sub-sections, such as “Birth of Language”, “Language and Culture” and “Language and Education”, are scattered across these three areas.

The museum has fabulous visuals, but visitors’ ears and other senses are in for a treat too. 
A Reciting Booth is a must-visit for those who love to read out loud. They can try speaking into a microphone in any of the 49 foreign languages that are taught at SISU and have their pronunciation rated either “good”, “very good”, or “perfect”.

Beside the booth, nine Language Boxes provide pronunciation models for 17 groups of languages. For example, in the Germanic Language Box, visitors can listen to old English classics read by Golden Globe Award-winning actor Tom Hiddleston. Visitors interested in Thai can go to another Box and listen to the 15th century narrative poem Lilit Phra Lo read by SISU’s Professor Supaporn Plailek.

If you’re a fan of sci-fi movies, you can find your cup of tea here too. “Alien” languages such as Na’vi in Avatar, Klingon in Star Treks and Neo-Quenya in the Lord of the Rings all have their place in the museum.

And there’s no discrimination against computer nerds either. Python, R, Java, you name it.
On display in the Language and Education section are notes taken – and subsequently donated – by the late Professor Li Guanyi, a pioneer in English education and one of the earliest English professors in SISU.

 “The exhibits here come from so many different sources,” said Professor Wang Xuemei, the curator of the museum. “Some were donated by alumni, or communities, others were purchased from other museums and online antique shops.” 

The item that impressed her the most is a Phaistos Disc donated by a Greek consul general in Shanghai. “It symbolizes the friendly relationship between China and Greece. Items like this one donated by international friends are very meaningful,” she said.

The museum also occasionally organizes lectures and small-group discussions with SISU professors. On the afternoon of May 18, Director Li Weifeng of the documentation centre of the School of Asian and African Studies in SISU and some other scholars talked about classical language studies.

 “Not just tonight’s “Night at the Museum”, all our activities focus on language and culture. By linking knowledge to enjoyment, we hope students will form a deep understanding of and love for language,” Wang said.

 “The game was a real hoot! I even learned some sign language!” said Peng Cheng, a student from the School of Business and Management.

As the first foreign languages institution of higher education established after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, SISU has taken on the mission of “Translating the World, and Interpreting the Future” which chimes the “Words, Worlds” concept behind the museum. The goal is to promote the diversity and beauty of languages, as well as the part languages play in building a global community and a shared future.

 “We plan to extend the museum by building a Chinese Language and Culture pavilion in the education hall opposite the current location of the museum,” Wang said. “We will also make full use of our outdoor resources and expand the exhibition area, so as to enrich visitors’ experience and deepen their understanding of languages.”