China Exploration
A Four-Week Chinese Immersion Program in Beijing, China
Program Overview: The most effective way to learn a language is through total cultural immersion. China Exploration offers students intensive exposure to all facets of Chinese culture and the study of spoken and written Chinese at the Tsinghua University in a four-week program, located in the capital city of Beijing. The students are grouped according to their language level for daily morning language classes. All instruction is conducted in Chinese, based on a thematic curriculum. Students also will be exposed to cultural classes like calligraphy, brush painting, Tai-chi, etc. The students will also attend cultural events, visit historical and artistic points of interests, have the opportunity to participate in Community Services, and enjoy learning a new language. They will bear the responsibility of being ambassadors of their own culture, while being given the chance to grow in many ways throughout this cultural adventure.
The China Exploration program is laid out in three phases:
Phase One: Orientation at Miss Porter’s School and Tsinghua University. The students will receive important orientation and preparations about Chinese culture and upcoming camp lives.
Phase Two: Three-week Chinese study in Tsinghua University, Beijing. The students live in Tsinghua’s foreign students dormitory while taking Chinese instruction daily on campus. Community service will also be an integrated component of the program, and students will also go on regular cultural visits and tours in and around Beijing. On weekends, the students will visit historical sites and local points of interest, such as the Great Wall, the Museum, Tian’anmen Square, the Ming Tomb, the Summer Palace, and the Forbidden City.
Phase Three: One-week excursion around the country. At the end of the three-week academic session, students will go on a seven-day excursion to Xi’an, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Zhouzhuang, and Shanghai.
Daily Schedule: The students start a typical day in the morning with Tai-Chi exercises and breakfast, followed by two language classes and a cultural class. After lunch break, students will take two more language classes and one cultural class. Community services or group assignment activities will then follow and continue until dinnertime. Writing practice, study hours, and computer access time will be a routine schedule for weekday evenings, with lights-out at 10:00 p.m. Saturday mornings will be reserved for group presentations or performances; Saturday afternoons and Sundays will be the time for cultural visits and fun tours, in and around Beijing.
Staff: Professional language teachers will create a fun and exciting atmosphere for students to learn and improve their Chinese skills.
About Beijing: Beijing is the capital of the People’s Republic of China and China’s political and cultural center. Beijing and its surroundings reflect the history and cultures of the Ming and Qing dynasties, including the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Ming Tombs, the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven, and many other sites.
About Tsinghua University: Founded in 1911, Tsinghua University has outstanding offerings in science, engineering, economics, humanities, and social sciences. Generally speaking, China’s Peking University and Tsinghua University are equivalent to America’s Harvard University and MIT. Tsinghua is located in the Beijing’s northwest district of Haidian; the spacious campus encompasses small parks, numerous lakes, and tree-lined walks. The surrounding neighborhood includes bookstores, shops, and restaurants, and there are several other major universities nearby. Tsinghua has cooperative programs and relationships with more than 100 universities around the world and sponsors frequent regional and international conferences.
Program Dates: June 23-July 21, 2007 (tentative dates)
Costs: $5,300.00
Includes: Roundtrip airfare to China
Full room and boarding during the student’s participation
Medical insurance
All program activities, tours and excursions
Visa application
Application deadline: February 1, 2007 ($80 non-refundable application fee)
Our Chinese teacher, Wen-Lin Su, will accompany and chaperone our girls throughout the trip. Please direct your inquiries to Wen-Lin Su at Miss Porter’s School, 60 Main Street, Farmington, CT 06032, 860-409-3500, or wen-lin_su@missporters.org.
