 |
CLASSES
MANDARIN CHINESE LANGUAGE
All students are required to take four hours of Mandarin Chinese daily. Small, focused classes meet from Monday to Friday, between the hours of 8 AM to12:00 PM. The objective is to develop each student’s speaking, listening, reading and writing skills so that students will be able to communicate actively in class, with their host families and during all other activities while in Beijing.
Students are placed in classes according to their proficiency in Chinese, which is determined through written and oral proficiency tests administered prior to departure, a review of each student’s previous study of Chinese and comments from his/her teachers. Daily homework, written and oral examinations, offsite research excursions and attendance in study hall are required of all students.
All language teachers are native speakers
of Chinese, proficient in English and have
been trained at top Chinese universities in
the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language.
Through experience they know
what they can ask of American students. |
 |
CHINESE SOCIETY AND CULTURE
It is often hard to process all that is happening around you. Students seek to understand and interpret what they observe and experience during their stay in Beijing. Who are the workers are amusement parks popular? Is there unemployment in China today? Do kids help out at home? Why or why not? These questions and many others are explored in a weekly seminar aimed at helping students make sense of the various fragments of knowledge gained in school, at home, on the street and from books. The seminars may include briefings by specialists, field trips, and discussions led by China Institute staff trained in anthropology and cross-cultural communication. Students have the opportunity to share with each other their experiences and observations and are encouraged to record their observations in a journal which they may choose to share with the group. |
