Harvard Summer Program in Beijing, China

  China

• Beijing: 
Beijing

Term: Summer 
Dates: June 12-August 16

Description: Beijing, the cultural and political center of China, is a 3,000-year-old city that has been the national capital for most of the past 600 years. While maintaining its deep historical roots, Beijing is quickly becoming a modern city and an important center for international business. Among the historical riches students may experience are the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, the Lamaist Temple Yonghegong, ancient teahouses, and Beijing opera theaters. This program provides students with full linguistic and cultural immersion.

The Harvard Summer Program in Beijing, also called Harvard-Beijing Academy (HBA), gives Chinese language students the opportunity to explore this richly historic city while participating in intensive language instruction. The program offers four intensive courses in modern Chinese at the intermediate and advanced levels, as well as a one-week social study project. The language training is embedded in the Chinese setting, with speakers from many sectors of Chinese society joining the participants to discuss their lives.

On a typical weekday, students have four hours of class in the morning (two hours of instruction and two hours of drills) and a 45-minute one-on-one conversation session with one of the teachers in the afternoon. The rest of the afternoon is left open for study and extracurricular activities in Chinese. There is a quiz every Friday morning and a weekly faculty-student luncheon where they can get to know the teachers and practice Chinese in a relaxed social setting. Teachers hold office hours in the evenings.

On the weekends, there are performances, trips, and lectures by guest speakers from various strata of Chinese society (for example, private business owners, workers, peasants, and scholars). Students may also spend time on weekends with host families to experience the daily lives and customs of Chinese families. Weekend excursions to historic sites outside Beijing such as Chengde Summer Palace, Longqing Valley, and the Ming Tombs will broaden their perspectives on Chinese culture. This school/society nexus gives the program its unique participatory flavor, with language instruction continually related to its Beijing setting.

In addition, students are encouraged to take lessons in Chinese arts, such as taiji, martial arts, calligraphy, cooking, or music. One special event is a speech contest among American students in all of the Beijing summer Chinese language programs.

Highlights: Students enroll in one of the four courses listed below, and are placed in a course commensurate with their level of fluency, which is assessed based on their written and oral application materials and a placement test taken after they arrive in Beijing. Because all language progress is relative and student strengths vary, every effort is made to ensure the best placement.

The textbooks, written by faculty of the program, use both traditional and simplified characters, and students are encouraged to learn both. Those who know only traditional characters generally learn to recognize simplified characters quickly. Every student has a language partner.

Prerequisites: Harvard College students must take the Harvard Chinese placement test with an assignment of intermediate-level Chinese (120a) or higher. Taking a Chinese language course increases a student's chances of being accepted to the program. Students from other colleges must have one year of college-level Chinese or the equivalent.

CHIN S-120 Study Abroad in China: Intermediate Modern Chinese

In this second-year course, students develop their conversational and narrative skills using carefully selected vocabulary and grammar. The textbook is based on authentic conversation, moving gradually from casual to formal styles. The text covers the most important communicative skills needed by American students studying in China and provides a deeper understanding of cultural and intellectual differences between US and Chinese societies. The text for this course is When in China. This course assumes that students know approximately 600 common Chinese characters.

CHIN S-130 Study Abroad in China: Advanced Modern Chinese

In this third-year course, students study contemporary China and develop their speaking and writing skills by constructing new compounds, using idiomatic expressions, and mastering formal and informal styles. The curriculum is designed to further improve listening and reading abilities through texts geared specifically to the understanding of Chinese media. The texts for this course are Understanding the People and the World, An Introduction to Chinese Films and Television, and An Introduction to Chinese News Broadcasts.

CHIN S-140 Study Abroad in China: Advanced Readings in Modern Chinese

In this fourth-year course, students read authentic articles, novels, and newspapers emphasizing social and cultural issues in contemporary America and China. Through the extensive readings, students learn speed-reading strategies, rhythmic writing rules, and stylistic transformations (casual and formal). Students also write compositions and papers, do formal presentations, and participate in classroom discussions to develop a solid foundation in the four skills--listening, speaking, reading, and writing in formal Chinese. The text for this course is On the Present and Past.

CHIN S-150 Study Abroad in China: Advanced Writing in Modern Chinese

This fifth-year course enables students to speak and write formally, preparing them for future research and engagement in all fields where Chinese is used professionally. Students read academic articles from different genres and classical stories from different periods compiled in the textbook. They also write compositions and papers, do formal presentations, and participate in classroom discussions. Students learn a complete set of written grammar, including formal vocabularies (about 300 monosyllabic and 300 disyllabic words), formal sentence patterns (about 200), and rhythmic rules that govern sentences as well as words. The text for this course is Writing and Truth.

Degree Level: Bachelors Degree (Undergraduate)

Cost in US$: $5,250

- tuition
- room and one meal each week
- course materials
- scheduled local excursions and extracurricular activities in Beijing

In addition, students are responsible for:

- most meals (about $5/day)
- laundry
- a health insurance fee (approximately $165; waived if students have - US insurance that provides coverage outside the United States)
- transportation to and from Beijing
- transportation within Beijing
- entertainment
- all costs relating to the social study project (including room, board, and travel expenses if staying outside of Beijing). Rooms at the university are covered for students doing their social studies in the Beijing area.
- Students are advised to purchase airline tickets as soon as they are accepted to the program.

A notebook computer, though not required, is strongly recommended. To make a computer Chinese ready, see the instructions on the Chinese Language Program website. Every student must have an iPod or other MP3 player to listen to the audio recordings that accompany the textbook. You can also use a computer if it is equipped or purchase inexpensive audio equipment in Beijing.

Experience Required: yes

Prerequisites: one year of college-level Chinese or the equivalent

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants.

Application Process Involves:

• Essay
• Letters of Reference
• Other
• Transcript
• Written Application

Harvard Summer School Study Abroad Programs's Mission Statement: The Harvard Summer School makes Harvards academic resourcesa distinguished faculty, well-equipped laboratories, fine museums, and a world-class university library available to men and women of many ages, backgrounds, and nationalities through an intensive summer session of liberal arts courses in Cambridge and overseas. Our international student body includes Harvard undergraduate and graduate students, visitors from other colleges and universities, highly qualified secondary school students, adult learners, and nonnative English speakers seeking to refine their language skills. Students take courses to challenge themselves academically, meet degree requirements, prepare for graduate school, gain college experience, advance their careers, and pursue personal enrichment. Students who study at Harvard Summer School may reside in a supportive residential environment, commute to campus, complete courses via distance education, or participate in one of the faculty-led programs based abroad. Many come to experience the extraordinary environment of Harvard College academics, resources, and residential life. Harvard Summer School serves the University community by providing faculty with teaching opportunities that allow them to experiment with new materials and teaching methods. Students from many Harvard schools take advantage of the breadth of summer course offerings to meet requirements for concentrations and degree programs, and to create more flexibility within their term-time academic program. Harvard graduate students from abroad can work on refining their English language skills, and Harvard College students take advantage of the summer session to expand their cultural, social, and intellectual horizons by studying abroad.