Meet Sharon Wang, Notre Dame’s Mandarin FLTA this year, originally from Taoyuan and currently based in Taipei. She came to South Bend through the Fulbright FLTA program to teach Mandarin, share Taiwanese culture, and learn alongside the students and community she now works with every day.
Sharon completed her undergraduate studies at National Taiwan University, where she studied in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. She also completed a teacher education program that qualifies her to teach at the secondary school level. That mix of language study and formal teacher training has shaped her approach to education: learning should feel lived, not forced, and students grow fastest when they can connect what they are learning to who they are.
Before coming to Notre Dame, Sharon worked in public high schools as an English and Civics educator. She also spent time involved in NGO and social innovation–related projects, which reinforced something she cares about deeply: education is not only academic, it is also about giving students tools to navigate life with more confidence and direction. Last year, she brought those interests together by co-founding an education startup, PathSeekers Education Studio, focused on autonomous learning and career exploration for high school students in Taiwan.
Sharon was drawn to the FLTA program because she wanted a deeper, lived understanding of different cultures and ways of learning. She saw the program as an opportunity to step outside familiar educational and cultural contexts, engage with people from diverse backgrounds, and reflect on her own teaching practices through those interactions. Currently, she teaches and shares Taiwanese culture, but she is also learning from her students and from the wider Notre Dame community.
Notre Dame was not a school she initially chose, and she had not heard of it before arriving. Now, she describes herself as genuinely grateful to be here. What surprised her most was how kind and welcoming people have been, and how quickly that kindness can make a new place feel less unfamiliar.
As someone coming from Taiwan, Sharon has found the Midwest’s social culture especially noticeable. She has been impressed by how friendly people are, from greeting strangers to casual small talk. It is a different rhythm than what she is used to in Taiwan and in other East Asian cities she has visited, and it has shaped her impression of this part of the country as open, warm, and community-oriented.
Looking ahead, Sharon hopes to stay in education and cross-cultural learning after her Fulbright year ends. Her long-term goal is to keep building an education studio that helps students explore their interests and learn autonomously, while also staying connected to international education and global teaching communities.
For language learners, Sharon’s advice is simple but real: there is no single textbook that fits everyone. The key is to connect the language to your own life, interests, and emotions. When it becomes personal, it becomes meaningful—and that is when learning starts to stick.
About the CSLC
The Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures (CSLC) aims to support language learners at ND by facilitating meaningful experiences with linguistic acquisition and exchange - both in our campus community and abroad. We believe that access to the world's languages and cultures allows us to seek out new perspectives, to value the diversity of the world's cultures, and to embody global citizenship.
Originally published by at cslc.nd.edu on February 06, 2026.