Study Abroad in China

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Beginning Chinese Intensive

Pre-Trip Course Requirements
Fall Semester
CHI 101: Beginning Chinese I (4 credits)
Cross-listed: Asian Studies
For students with little or no previous knowledge of Chinese. An introduction to modern (Mandarin) Chinese through an intensive drill of its oral and written forms. Emphasis on speaking and basic grammar as well as the formation of the characters. Audio and video materials will be incorporated into the curriculum to expose the class to Chinese daily life and culture. Daily active participation, frequent use of the language lab and one hour per week tutorial with the Chinese tutor are expected. The course is followed by an intensive course (eight hours per week) in the spring semester and a summer intensive program (eight weeks) in Qingdao, China. Divisible.

Spring Semester
CHI 106: Intensive Chinese (8 credits)
Cross-listed: Asian Studies
This course is intended for students who have completed Beginning Chinese 101, and for those who have had the equivalent of one semester’s Beginning Chinese at another institution. We will continue to focus on both the oral and written aspects of the language. Regular work in the language lab and private drill sessions with the tutor are required. An 8-week summer immersion program in Qingdao, China will follow this course. Upon successful completion of the summer program, the students will receive six (6) credits. (Financial aid is available for qualified students to cover part of the cost of the summer program.

Additional Details
Classes and Tutorials
Chinese Language (Required)- Monday to Friday 8:00-12:00
Daily Tutorials (Required) – Monday to Friday for one hour each
Cultural Activities (Required)—3 times during the course of the program
Chinese Calligraphy and Painting (Elective)— Once a week for 1 ½ hour
Taiji and Gongfu (Elective)—once a week Tuesday 3:00-4:30
Chinese music- guzheng (Elective)—once a week for two hours
(note: Of the three Electives, you select at least one and at most two)

Weekend Trips
Several day trips will be arranged to visit local sights, including Laoshan, a Taoist mountain, a tea farm, Qingdao Brewery Museum, and Qingdao City Planning Museum. In general, no activity is scheduled for Sundays, except two extended weekend trips, one to Beijing and the other to Qufu, Confucius hometown, and Taishan, a scenic and historic mountain close to Qufu.

Homestay
In the middle of the program, usually during the 6th week, each student is paired with a local family and for a whole week, the student lives with the family while coming to the university for classes.

City of Qingdao
Qingdao, also Tsingtao or Ch’ing-tao, (meaning: green island) is in eastern China with a population of approximately two million.  It is a major naval base, an industrial center, and a port on the Yellow Sea.  The most famous industry in Qingdao is its brewery, Tsingtao Beer.  Its electronics and home appliance companies are also among the fastest growing industries in China.  Qingdao is an important marine science and technology research base.  With its beaches, ancient temples outside the city, museums, cultural festivals, restaurants, and beautiful parks, the city is also a tourist attraction. The nearby Laoshan has been a Taoist sacred mountain since 200BC.

Qingdao University
Qingdao University is a public university, consisting of ten colleges: Humanities, Science and Technology, Textile Engineering and Fashion Design, Business, Medicine, Education, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Automatic Engineering, International Studies, and Continuing Education.  It enrolls a total of 20,000 students.