Academics

Field of Study: Humanities

Advance your Chinese language skills from beginning through advanced levels. In this immersive, language-focused program, you’ll be able to practice your Chinese daily during program excursions, cultural activities, and interactions with locals.

Language

Language of Instruction: Chinese

Chinese Language Study: Required

Chinese language study is the focus of this program. You’ll enroll in two courses at your language level that focuses on reading, writing, listening, and conversation in simplified standard Mandarin, Putonghua.

Courses and Credit

Requirements While Abroad

To successfully complete this program:

  • Take two courses, Intensive Chinese Reading and Spoken Chinese, for a total 16 quarter/10.5 semester UC units.
  • There are 4 levels offered for this course: basic, elementary, intermediate, advanced.  
  • Courses course must be taken for a letter grade. The pass/no pass grading option is not permitted.
  • Attend all course sessions regularly. Absences result in a lower or failing grade (if you miss more than 25 percent of a course).
  • Stick to the scheduled exam dates; they cannot be changed.

UCEAP does not award additional academic credit for elective lectures and activities. 

Applicable Language Levels:
Basic Class- Mainly for students with zero Chinese ability, or at the stage of learning Pinyin, common Chinese characters and simple Chinese words and sentences.

Elementary Class- For those who have vocabulary skill of more than 200 Chinese words. The class mainly teaches basic grammar and daily expressions.

Intermediate Class- For those who have vocabulary skill of more than 1200 Chinese words. The course aims to allow students to use Chinese in daily lives, studies and work.

Advanced Class- For those who have vocabulary skill of more than 2500 Chinese words. The course aims to enable students to discuss and communicate their ideas on general social topics. 

Students can either do an online self-assessment to determine language level or PKU can choose a level for students. 

This program does not have coursework for native or heritage speakers. If you are a native or heritage speaker, you are ineligible for this program.

Catalogs and resources

  • Campus Credit Abroad: Learn the types of credit (major, minor, general education, elective) students from your campus received at this location.

Academic culture

Instruction in this program is intensive. The average class size is 15 students, though some classes may be even smaller. Instructors take attendance, which is included as part of the course grade. Classes take place from 8am-12pm, Monday-Friday. 

Grades

You will earn direct UC credit and grades for all coursework. Grades for this program are typically available in late September.

Exams

Although practices vary, you can expert one midterm exam and one final exam or written report (frequent short quizzes are rare). Homework may or may not be graded, but missed or incomplete homework is penalized. Exams in the language curriculum are often made up by staff, not necessarily in close consultation with the teacher. Tests are standardized for each level, so they may not always cover material exactly as it was provided in class. It’s uncommon for students to question instructors about grades in China. If you have a question or concern about test scores or grades, the UCEAP Study Center will be a resource for you.