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Chinese Studies

These major is being discontinued and is no longer admitting new students. Visit Academic Transformation page on the Eberly College website for more information.


Chinese is currently spoken by nearly one-fifth of the world’s population, including over one billion people speaking Chinese as their native language. Studying Chinese will prepare you for the opportunities and challenges involving the greater China region and to participate in the global sociopolitical and economic arena. Learning Chinese also opens a unique window into one of the world’s most ancient civilizations that has roots extending more than 6,000 years.

Our program offers four levels of instruction in Chinese language courses, ranging from beginning to advanced levels. Our language courses, combined with advanced teaching methods and up-to-date instructional materials and technologies, are culture-based and student-centered, and they are designed to enable you to become proficient in aural comprehension, speaking, reading, writing and word processing in Chinese. We also offer various English-taught courses in Chinese culture and literature to enrich your knowledge of Chinese literary and intellectual history.

The Chinese program also provides generous scholarships to support your participation in our study abroad programs, which include the faculty-led summer programs and the semester-long exchange programs in several prestigious universities in the greater China region.

Our goal is not only to teach you Chinese language skills but to also train you to understand the thoughts and behaviors of Chinese people and to perform appropriately in a Chinese cultural context. Most importantly, we want to provide you with a fun, exciting and rewarding experience learning Chinese!

Course Descriptions