Chinese Language Program Sichuan University As one of the national key universities directly under the State Ministry of Education (MOE) as well as one of the State “211 Project” and 985 Project” universities enjoying privileged construction in the Ninth Five-Year Plan period, the present Sichuan University (SCU) was first incorporated in April, 1994 with Chengdu University of Science and Technology (CUST), then a national key university under the MOE, and then reincorporated again in Sept, 2000 with the West China University of Medical Science (WCUMS), a key university directly under the State Ministry of Health in 2000. The former Sichuan University was one of the earliest institutes of higher learning in China, with a history dating back to Sichuan Zhong-Xi Xuetang (Sichuan Chinese and Western School), established in 1896. The predecessor of CUST is Chengdu Engineering College, set up in 1954 as the result of the nation-wide college and department adjustment. WCUMS originated from the private Huaxi Xiehe University (West China Union University), established in 1910 by five Christian missionary groups from U.S.A., UK and Canada. Over the course of its long history, SCU has acquired a profound cultural background and a solid foundation in its operation. The university motto “The sea is made great by accepting hundreds of rivers”, and university spirit of “rigorousness, diligence, truth-seeking, and innovation” are at the core of SCU’s raison d’etre. At present, Sichuan University is a first class comprehensive research university in Western China. The University has established 30 Colleges, a College of Graduate Studies, a School of Overseas Education and two independent colleges, Jin Cheng and Jin Jiang College. These colleges cover 11 areas of study including: Humanities, Science, Medical, Economics, Management, Law, History, Philosophy, Agriculture, and Education. At Sichuan University there are 46 key disciplines at the national level, 66 key disciplines at the provincial level, 44 first class Ph.D. disciplines as well as 277 other P.h.D. disciplines, 361 Master’s Degree disciplines, 13 specialized degree programs, 136 Undergraduate disciplines, 28 post-doctorate interim-positions, 6 National Innovative Training Bases for Scientific Research and Curriculum Study, and a National Base for the Education of University Students in Culture and Ethics. To achieve the goal of turning Sichuan University into a world class comprehensive research university, SCU believes that “putting people first, valuing academic research, and pursuing excellence” while targeting “cultivating students into social elites with profound cultural knowledge, solid specialized foundation, strong sense of innovation, and broad global vision”. The student population consists of 38,000 undergraduates, 20,000 postgraduates, 1,600 international students, and 200 students from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. SCU has fostered co-operative ties with more than 150 world-renowned universities, educational organizations and foundations from 42 countries and regions. It has co-established platforms for high-level academic exchanges such as “Sino-US Institute for University Design”, “Jiuzhaigou International Laboratory for Ecology, Environment, and Sustainability”, “Sino-German Institute for Energy Research”, and “Western China Poverty-Alleviation International Research Center”, and other international level co-operative platforms. SCU is a member of the “10+10” alliance consisting of the 10 campuses in the University of California system and 10 Chinese Universities. Moreover, it is also co-training students with universities such as the University of Washington, Nottingham University, and Monash University in forms of “2+2”, “3+1”, and “2+1+1”, in order to enhance its international competitiveness. The School of Overseas Education at Sichuan University: The School of Overseas Education is set up to teach international students the Chinese language and culture. It boasts an experienced teaching staff, broad coverage of distinctive courses, advanced facilities, a favorable environment for study and strict management of teaching affairs. In addition to enrolling Masters Students in TCSOL and overseas undergraduates in Chinese majors, it also offers programs of Chinese training to foreign experts and teachers, staff of foreign consular agencies, international organizations, and multinational companies in the Chengdu region, as well as Chinese courses to international students other than Chinese majors. Moreover, the college partners with foreign universities and education agencies in running summer courses and intensive training programs of the Chinese language. The classes of Chinese language program are taught in Mandarin Chinese, with a focus on language training, and provide students with sufficient knowledge concerning Chinese language skills and necessary background information of Chinese culture. Each class is allowed to have up to 25 students. Compulsory courses are held from 8:30am to 12:00pm, from Monday to Friday, which include comprehensive Chinese reading, listening, writing and speaking classes. In the afternoons extracurricular courses and activities are available, such as Chinese Calligraphy, Chinese Black-ink Painting, Taiji etc. During some weekends, the school of overseas education will organize field trips and sight-seeing excursions. There is no regular course during the summer and winter vacation. For those who want to study Chinese but can’t come to morning classes or during the regular academic semesters, we have a one-on-one program. It is available all year round, though applicants should study for at least 10 academic hours per week. Please register at least 1 month prior to your intended time to begin one-on-one classes. The tuition during the regular academic semester is: 80 RMB Yuan/class hour. During weekends or vacation time is: 120 RMB Yuan/class hour. The college serves as one of the test centers for HSK and Test for Ability to Teach Chinese as a Foreign Language. The College implements Chinese language study by three levels of difficulty (Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced), each level has various classes of differing degrees. The College warmly welcomes foreign students to attend classes which will advance their knowledge of Chinese or to enter into our Chinese Language Undergraduate Major. Curriculum Title Weekly Contents (First Year) Hours/ Total Hours Elementary 12/192 Course includes Mandarin pronunciation, basic Chinese vocabulary and grammar with the goal of forming Comprehension -1 simple complete sentences. No prior Chinese required. (Elementary Class One) Elementary 12/160 Course includes elementary Chinese grammar, basic Chinese writing skills and vocabulary with sentence formation. Comprehension -2 A fundamental understanding of Chinese is needed. (Elementary Class Two) Oral Chinese and 6/96 Training in listening and speaking Mandarin. To be Listening accompanied with Elementary I. Comprehension Chinese 4/64 Course focuses on recognizing and writing Chinese Character characters. To be accompanied with Elementary I.. Recognition and Writing Reading-1 4/64 Course includes higher level reading comprehension to ensure that students can comprehend larger bodies of works rapidly and accurately. To be accompanied with Elementary II. Chinese Film 1/16 Audio/ Visual immersion into Chinese culture through Study watching relevant films and TV shows to learn more natural speech patterns. To be accompanied with Elementary II. Chinese 2/32 Course goal will enable students to understand and Listening articulate daily speech and short passages of relevant Comprehension content. To be accompanied with Elementary II. Oral Chinese 4/64 Course goal focuses on oral articulation to ensure that students will be able to communicate correctly and effectively in Chinese. To be accompanied with Elementary II and Chinese Listening Comprehension. Beginning 1/16 Beginning writing class in which students will be able to Writing articulate themselves in basic Chinese writing. To be accompanied with Elementary Chinese II. Physical 2/64 Courses offered includes: Shadowboxing (Taiji Quan), education-1 Ping Pong, Badminton, and Taiji Sword Practice Physical education -2 Chinese 2/32 Course will introduce students to the art of Chinese Calligraphy calligraphy and will ensure a basic grasp of writing skills. Title Weekly Contents (Second Year) hours/ Total hours Intermediate 8/128 Designed for students with a basic grasp of Chinese Chinese grammar and ability to comprehend daily discussion. Comprehension-1 Course will enlarge their vocabulary to approximately (Intermediate 3700 characters, and teach more complicated sentence Class 1) structures and expressions. Intermediate 8/128 At this stage the vocabulary will be increased to 4500 Chinese characters and will require students to use skills they Comprehension-2 already have to articulate more complicated information (Intermediate orally and in written form relevant to a real world Class 2) setting. Listening 4/128 Course will focus on two aspects: Listening comprehension comprehension will ensure that students can grasp the and speaking-1 meaning of assorted Chinese passages and articles as a Listening whole. The second aspect of the course will ensure that comprehension students will be able to orally articulate themselves in and speaking -2 complete Chinese paragraphs. Reading 2/64 Course will ensure that students have a basic grasp of Comprehension-2 assorted reading materials with the ability to