Chinese

The two-year UWW Chinese language program offers comprehensive training in Mandarin Chinese-putonghua (普通话, common speech, as it is called in mainland China) or guoyu (国语, national speech, as it is called in Taiwan). Mandarin Chinese is an official language in China, Singapore, and Taiwan. It is the official language recognized by the United Nations.

The program adopts the simplified Chinese characters in writing. To provide students with a well-rounded education, the program introduces students to the context (social, historical, and cultural) in which the language is shaped and used while aiming at the communicative competency in listening, speaking, reading and writing. The courses include Elementary and Intermediate Chinese.  For students attending UWW with previous experience of studying the Chinese language, independently designed language learning is an option, depending on each student's level of fluency. In this program, students develop their language skills and gain cross-cultural understanding of the values, attitudes, and beliefs through well-structured and interactive classroom instruction.

Why Study Chinese?

• Because we are in a global economy and China is one of America's largest trading partners.
• Because China is an arising political and economic power that is increasingly important to America in national security, trade and business, foreign relations.
• Because you want to be ready for the future job market which might favor job candidates with knowledge in Chinese language and culture.
• Because it is a language with 1.3 billion speakers, a fifth of the world's population.
• Because it is a simple, intuitive, and poetic language, a most ancient language of over 3,000 years that is still alive and well today.

What Can I Do If I Study Chinese?

• Teachers and professors teaching English in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore (Travel and learn while being paid).
  • Check out the link for more information: http://www.ciee.org/teach/china/
• Teachers or professors of Chinese.
• Marketing analysts, business consultants for companies that have business or business interest in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore.
• Researchers and officials working in government offices that deal with China related foreign affairs, policies, analyses.
• Foreign correspondents for newspapers, magazines, and TV networks covering China and east Asia.

For more information and to learn about oppurtunities the program offers, explore the links under Program Resources.