Chinese

Lake Forest College currently provides an ideal average Chinese language class size of less than 10. While we hope that students can spend at least one semester in China for an immersion experience, students at Lake Forest College can improve quickly and benefit from such a small class size for 3-4 years to maximize their competency whether or not they take advantage of an experience abroad. Practice opportunities are doubled or even tripled compared to a potential classroom size of 20 in a large university setting.

The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures employs Chinese student tutors, for extra oral and written practice and assistance to students on campus, and a weekly conversational Chinese Table, as well as cultural events organized on and off campus (global speakers, musicians, food, Chinese new year celebration, learning Go, etc.). The above activities provide additional opportunities for learning and engagement with Chinese and East Asia.

Students may complete a minor in Chinese, or obtain a concentration in Chinese within the interdisciplinary Asian Studies major or minor. Asian studies coursework includes Chinese film, business Chinese, literature, history, philosophy, religion and cultural topics and all levels of Japanese and Chinese speaking and writing, culturally contextualized.

Classroom teaching in Chinese can be individualized and adapted to each student. Faculty are highly accessible to students, and advanced tutorials are also provided upon request.

The curriculum in Chinese within the Modern Languages and Literatures Department includes courses in Chinese language, culture, film and literature, as well as business Chinese (which counts as an elective for the College’s global business major). There is also an additional competency in applied linguistics and offers coursework in English in this area as well, e.g. second language acquisition and teaching.

Lake Forest College co-founded a semester-long program of study (to include internship if desired) in Beijing (the capital of China) at Peking University, China’s most prestigious and beautiful university. Other study abroad opportunities in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Japan, and Malaysia are available, and students are able to use their financial aid on many programs in East and Southeast Asia.

The Chinese government has awarded Lake Forest College two semesters of Chinese Government Scholarship. This full scholarship covers the costs of tuition, room, and board for students while studying abroad in China at a variety of universities and locations.

We make learning Chinese fun, and connect to the College’s mission of preparing responsible global citizens, while also preparing students for global careers. 

1. Chinese minor will be able to demonstrate oral proficiency at the intermediate-mid level or above (as defined by ACTFL guidelines) and able to articulate grammatically correct and phonetically understandable Chinese at the required level.         
2. Chinese minor will be able to demonstrate written proficiency to articulate their ideas in standard written Chinese and at the intermediate-mid level or above (as defined by ACTFL guidelines).          
3. Chinese minor will demonstrate basic knowledge in Chinese history, society, and culture. 
4. Chinese minor will analyze and develop perspectives on attributes of contemporary Chinese society and understand continuity and change in the Chinese social system.
5. Chinese minor will demonstrate the ability to research, present findings and engage in business negotiations.