Chinese Language Program

Mission Statement

Founded in 1936, UChicago Chinese language program now offers training in modern Chinese language for non-heritage students as well as for Chinese heritage students. The curriculum in non-heritage Chinese track includes courses from first year to fifth year Chinese, plus content-based courses. The curriculum for Chinese heritage learners includes courses from first to third year Chinese. In addition to courses during the regular academic year, we also provide intensive summer programs at the University’s Beijing Center and on our Hyde Park campus.

The curriculum and instruction of Chinese program aligns with American Council of Teaching Foreign Languages (ACTFL) guidelines and principles. The courses offered in our program not only aim to develop learners’ language proficiency, but also seek to expand their understanding of Chinese society and culture.

Events

Chinese Table: every Thursday 12:00-1:00pm in Wieboldt 301 

Resources

For a full list of resources with links, please go to the Chinese Language page on the EALC wiki!

PINYIN LEARNING 

  1. Pinyin with sounds
  2. Pinyin Practice
  3. Pinyin learning with Yoyo (female voice) 
  4. Quick Mandarin (male voice) 
     

CHARACTER LEARNING

  1. MBDG: Chinese-English Dictionary  
  2. HanziCraft: the Information about Chinese characters  
  3. Hacking Chinese: the 100 Most Common Radicals  
  4. Chinese Etymology
  5. Skritter mobile app 
  6. Stroke order 汉字屋
  7. 悟空识字  mobile app(Beginning to intermediate) 
     

VOCABULARY LEARNING 

  1. Memrise
  2. Quizlet
  3. Yes! Chinese! 朗朗中文 
     

ONLINE DICTIONARY

  1. Pleco mobile app 
  2. MDBG Chinese-English dictionary.  
  3. Yellow Bridge dictionary 
  4. 海词词典 
  5. 汉典：Chinese-Chinese dictionary for advanced learners 
     

CHINESE VIDEOS, AUDIOS AND WEBSITES

  1. YouTube Channels (CCTV, BBC News, etc.)
  2. Youku: the youtube in China  
  3. Popup Chinese: Chinese podcasts  
  4. FluentU 
  5. Chinese pod  
  6. 脉脉早报
  7. 十点读书
  8. 慢速中文
     

READING RESOURCES

  1. BBC中文网  
  2. 纽约时报中文网  
  3. 中华语文网：学习中国传统文化知识 
  4. Du Chinese mobile app 
     

Study Abroad

Placement & Proficiency Tests

Tests and Assessments 

Placement Test: Please contact Wang Youqian Laoshi (ywang7@uchicago.edu) to schedule the placement test if you are a heritage student and Xiang Shan Laoshi (sxiang@uchicago.edu) if you're a non-heritage student.

Academic Reading Comprehension Assessment (ARCA)

College Language Competency Assessment (CLCA) 

Advanced Language Proficiency Assessment

 

Alumni

Hannah Rausch (AB '16)

English: 

From my perspective, the strength of the University of Chicago Chinese language department lies in the dedication and passion of its instructors. I entered my first Chinese class at UChicago with the unearned confidence of a first-year who had scraped through to second-year Chinese, only to quickly realize that memorizing a decent number of characters did not make me nearly as “fluent” as I thought it did. Slowly rebuilding my foundational Chinese knowledge, and shifting my approach to learning from one of rapid mastery (and rapid forgetting) to gradual understanding and creative application of vocabulary was, and remains, a daunting task. 

Thankfully, my professors at UChicago were some of the most thoughtful educators I’ve interacted with, and their patience and passion for teaching made the process worth pursuing. My professors never made me feel like it was too late to ask questions about topics that I ought to have learned earlier. When it became clear that I did not have a strong foundational knowledge of character structure, Yang laoshi devoted time outside of class explaining basic radical meanings and provided me with additional resource material to catch up on my own. At UChicago, each class struck the careful balance of applied language use and detailed explanation that one needs to truly understand and use the language. I’m hardly a model student of Chinese language, but the desire to continually learn and understanding of the humility needed to continually improve that was instilled in me during my time at UChicago has served me well in my post-graduation efforts.

Chinese (not exact translation): 

在我看来（窃以为），芝加哥大学中文系的特点和优势在于任课教师的专注与激情。我上大一的时候，以为自己的汉语水平很不错，但当我勉强升入二年级中文班时, 我很快便意识到，仅靠识记汉字并不能让我达到流利的汉语水平。于是，我开始巩固汉语基础知识并调整学习方式，从记得快忘得也快，转变为逐渐加深对词语和文本理解。不过对我来说，创造性地运用所学词汇仍然比较困难。

幸运的是，我所遇到的芝大汉语老师都特别耐心、充满激情且善解人意，让我感到了这个学习过程的意义。我的老师有问必答，耐心解答我提出的所有问题，包括那些我早就应该掌握的问题。例如，我在大二的时候发现自己对汉字构造的掌握并不扎实，杨老师便课后抽出时间为我讲解偏旁部首的含义，并给我提供补充材料，让我自学。芝加哥大学的汉语教学十分强调语言的实际应用，同时也相当重视对语言的透彻讲解，以保证学生真正理解并掌握这门语言，这让我受益匪浅。虽然我算不上汉语学习的模范生，但是在芝加哥大学的教育经历激发了我继续学习的渴望，并让我认识到持续进步离不开一颗谦逊的心。

Contacts

Yi-Lu Kuo

Meng Li

Xiarong Wang

Youqin Wang

Shan Xiang

Jun Yang (coordinator)

Yujia Ye