Arriving at Peking University with an enthusiasm for Chinese, a new cohort of international students stepped inside the campus gates to begin their Chinese-studying journey. 

 

    The 2016 PKU Chinese Language Summer School welcomed 223 students from over thirty different countries to Peking University to study Chinese, and get to know China. 

 

    The Chinese Language Summer School encompasses four different courses, one lasting eight weeks, one lasting six weeks, and the other two lasting four weeks each. The first group of students registered on the 4th of July, with another group arriving and registering on the 7th of August. 

Orientation

 

Registration

 

    This year, the Chinese Language Summer School improved the placement test by allowing self-assessment, reducing the duration of the test from 1.5 hours, to just half an hour. After completing the exam, the International Students’ Division gave a detailed introduction to living and studying in Beijing, offering some reminders to the students, particularly regarding health and safety. 

    Erling Midtgard is a Norwegian student who took part in the program last year and felt that he had benefited so much from it that he came back again this year to participate once again. Erling shared some of his experiences with the group, and expressed his hope that all the students would gain a better understanding of Chinese culture, and experience life in China by getting out and about, looking around, and talking with Chinese friends.

Erling Midtgard sharing his experiences at PKU Chinese Language Summer School

 

    To help students quickly settle into their lives at PKU, the International Students’ Division selected a number of PKU students as language partners, who can help them find their way around campus, and with whom they can practice their Chinese in small groups. These small groups also allow students from China and abroad to share ideas and improve mutual communication.

    During the program, the ISD and School of Chinese as a Foreign Language also organize a lecture series called “Dialogue with Experts”, in which leading professors from Peking University and other top universities give lectures on Chinese history and culture, language learning methods and cross-cultural communication. These lectures can enrich the students’ experience of PKU and improve their understanding of cultural differences between China and the West. 

Dialogue with Experts

 

    Each year, the Chinese Language Summer School attracts hard-working students with a passion for Chinese from all over the world. PKU carries out a rigorous selection process, and the program has is run by an excellent management team and faculty with rich and varied experience. By arranging language partners, cultural lectures and sightseeing activities, it is hoped that the students are able to enjoy their life and studies in Beijing. 

 

    The program is gaining popularity year by year. This year it hosted 223 students, showing an increase of 28.6%    . Many of these students come from world-renowned universities, such as Stanford University, Cambridge University, Princeton University, Columbia University, and the National University of Singapore.

 

    The program’s success is evident in its students. Through the summer school, they not only improve their language, but also improve their knowledge of China. Takeo Baba, a Japanese student who took part in the eight-week program, said “I have already been working for many years, so it’s not easy to find the time to study. PKU has offered just this sort of program. I have treasured my time studying here at PKU, and hope to study more things”; 

    Llinos Wyn Jones, from the Business department of the University of Edinburgh, studying the four-week program, felt that “coming to PKU and being a student again, it was only one month but I really value it”; Na Kyung Won uses a Chinese proverb she has just learned to describe her life at PKU, saying “花样年华” (“the prime of life”).

    PKU’s International Student Division is always striving to improve the Chinese Language Summer School, to enrich the content of the program, and to provide the best activities possible for the students. Thus the students will succeed in their courses and have a wonderful time at PKU.

 

Website of Chinese Language Summer School: http://www.isd.pku.edu.cn/clssen/index.php

Written by: Claire H Evans

Photo taken by: Huang Yumei & Zeng Qiang