Earlier this month, our wonderful Chinese TA Jenny and Chinese Corridor students gathered to make 卤肉饭 (lǔ ròu fàn, meaning Taiwanese braised pork rice). Everyone also had fun cooking 绿豆汤 (sweet green bean soup). Thank you for hosting another great cooking event, Jenny!
A very impressive display of delicious ingredients.
Students assembling bao and rice bowls.
Chinese Corridor students looking very happy and satisfied after a tasty meal!
Chinese Corridor, the Chinese-language dorm space in Bates Hall, held several events last semester thanks to our wonderful Chinese TA, Yu-Chen (Jenny) Huang! Here’s a quick recap of some of the events that took place.
Chinese Kitchen (煮饭活动)
Students in Chinese Corridor gathered for the first time to cook together in preparation for the upcoming Moon Festival. The menu included dumplings, stir-fried vegetables and lamb, mushrooms and Chinese cabbage, braised pork, and–of course–moon cakes! As this was the first activity of the semester, all the students introduced themselves and had fun talking while eating a hearty meal.
The second Chinese Kitchen event featured Taiwanese spring rolls (春捲). So many fillings were available to make the rolls with! Later in the semester, the corridor also held another cooking event with fried rice, scallion pancakes, and more. Jenny also helped put on a cooking competition and movie night with yuanxiao (rice soup balls). Chinese Corridor later held an event with TCO (Taiwanese Cultural Organization) where everyone made rice balls together!
Chinese Corridor students happy and full after a day full of cooking and eating!
Students making Taiwanese spring rolls.
TCO members and Chinese Corridor students making rice balls together.
Breakfast at Bates
Jenny holds “Breakfast at Bates” every Thursday in Bates Dining Hall at 8:00am. She meets with students who want to practice Chinese (and offers to teach them some slang words, too). Students had a wonderful time eating breakfast with Jenny and practicing their language skills!
Jenny and students enjoying breakfast in Bates Dining Hall.
Chinese Majors Hotpot Night
Chinese majors gathered to cook hotpot together along with Jenny and one of our lovely Chinese professors, Professor Dai Chen! We hope that all the students had a good time eating together with Jenny and Professor Chen.
So many hotpot ingredients!
Professor Chen and Chinese majors having a hotpot party.
Thank you to Jenny for helping to put on all these amazing events last semester!
Stay tuned for more events happening this spring in the Chinese Department and Chinese Corridor! Be sure to also check out the Chinese Corridor’s website (made by Jenny herself!) for more photos and event descriptions.
Hello all,
Long time no see! It has been quite some time since our Chinese blog has been updated–and we want to change that.
From this point onwards, we hope to update this blog more frequently with a variety of posts, including news and event updates from the Wellesley Chinese Department, Chinese Corridor, and Chinese alumnae.
Thank you for sticking around with us! Please look forward to more posts coming very soon.
Ana Isabelle van der Walle’17 studied Chinese in Beijing during the summer of 2014 with the CET program. Here is her reflections on this program:
(The original feedback might be edited for length and clarity.)
I had an incredibly positive experience with CET. CET is a very strong language program but there are three things that make the CET program different from all the other programs I have attended:
1. The location
2. The teaching assistants (TA’s)
3. The Roommates
During my time there the CET Beijing campus was located at the Beijing language Institute across from the Beijing Zoo. This area was ideal for a foreign student as it was not an area with a lot of English speakers and foreigners although it was a near a main attraction. The campus was central enough that we could explore the city easily and we were with in walking distance of many local restaurants and also a super market in the area. Although the program campus has since moved I have heard wonderful things about the new campus as I have friends who are currently in a semester abroad in Beijing.
CET provided me with an environment where I was able to improve my Chinese, learn about the culture and make good friends. CET’s language classes were intense but they provided us with enough support to succeed through the help of TA’s. The TA’s were what I consider to be one of the best things about this program. I became incredibly close with my classes 5 TA’s and they were my best resources through out this program. Through my TA besides strengthening my Chinese I was able to learn more about the city that I was in and also the small cultural differences between China and the US.
Lastly, unlike other college programs CET requires for every student to live with a local roommate. This is one of the great aspects of the program. The roommate provides the CET students with access to what it is like to be our age in China. Although not everyone had the same experience as I did, I really liked my roommate. Although my roommate was not around as much as some of the other roommates she was always very willing to teach me as much as she could when she was around.
Taking everything into consideration, I really enjoyed my CET experience and I would recommend this program to any other interested student.
Caitlin Bailey’16 is a rising senior majoring in East Asian Studies and minoring in Economics. She spent a year in Beijing with the CET program. This post is cited from Caitlin’s original blog post at https://blogs.wellesley.edu/admission/caitlin-bailey/another-year-a-whole-new-adventure/ with the author’s consent.
Hello! I’m so glad to be back in the swing of the school year sharing my life with you all! This year, things are a little different on my end, however… because I’m in China!!!! 
I arrived here two weeks ago and I have yet to look back. I’m on a study abroad term with a company called CET that started in China but now has study abroad programs all over the world. My campus is located in Beijing. Beijing is beyond beautiful, in my opinion. Yes, there is pollution but I think it is a lot better now than it was in the past years. There are a lot more parks and green spaces than I was expecting. And I can literally feel the culture seeping into my bones (okay, maybe that’s a little weird… but I’m so happy to be here that it hurts a little)! The food is amazing, the language is amazing, the prices are amazing (eating out costs on average $6 per person).
My classes are taught all in Chinese so the first week was a little rough. We have a language pledge so other than reading and writing, I’m not allowed to come into contact with any English (that includes music)! But I’m getting the hang of it. We’ve already gone on a couple cool little trips around the city. (We, as in the 35 students and our roommates, who are Chinese students at local universities.)
Last week we went to Jingshan Park and the Summer Palace, both of which have incredibly beautiful, traditional, ancient Chinese architecture.
This is me at Jingshan Park.
My roommate, 筱筱, and I on our way to the Summer Palace!
Beautiful tradition architecture and decorations at the Summer Palace.
Exploring Beijing thus far has been more than anything I could have ever imagined it to be. I know I sound so absurdly over the top right now but, in my defense, I have been studying Chinese for the past two years of my life in the hopes that one day I would be able to go to China. Now I’m here. It is unreal. I feel like Wellesley gave me this: an incredible opportunity to grow and learn and figure out who I am. After two weeks here, I am fairly certain that I want to live here in the future. I want to communicate with other people in Chinese every day. I love this.
Wellesley helped me find what I love. I hope that anyone reading this will take this message to heart. Maybe you don’t quite know what it is that you love yet, but finding a school that will help you find your passion is the first step.
再见！(Until next time!)
Phoebe Lee’17 studied at National Taiwan University, Taipei (NTU) through the International Chinese Language Program (ICLP), an intensive eight-week language program. She majors in Cognitive & Linguistic studies at Wellesley and welcomes any questions.
(The original feedback might be edited for length and clarity.)
Prior Language Preparation?
Before attending ICLP, I took CHIN 101 and CHIN 102 at Wellesley, although ICLP also accepts people who are complete beginners. After my summer abroad, I was able to enroll in CHIN 301 at Wellesley, and I felt well-prepared by ICLP for that course. That being said, ICLP is certainly an intensive eight-week language learning program.
General Reflections on the Program
ICLP has a great atmosphere: the teachers are dedicated to helping their students improve their Chinese and the students are dedicated to learning as much as they can. In particular, the teachers are extremely kind, helpful, and patient. ICLP also provides various facilities for the students, including a computer lab, a small library, and a student lounge with a refrigerator, sink, and personal lockers and mailboxes for each student.
Program Structure?
The first week is an orientation week during which you will take your written and oral placement exams, get a tour of the campus, and attend general lectures while they sort everyone into their classes for the rest of the program. You will also be asked to sign an attendance pledge and a Chinese language pledge, which applies to anywhere within the language center building. (Note: Chinese language pledge requires that all conversations be conducted in Chinese.)
You will then be enrolled into three classes that each meet for one hour every weekday, meaning 15 hours of class a week. You will have one group class (of about 4 people), a one-on-one class, and a listening comprehension class or elective class (of about 3 people), depending on your level of Chinese (if your level of Chinese is high, you are allowed to choose an elective class). You will have about 4-6 hours of homework every day, depending on your classes.
At the end of the program, you will have final exams in each class, except your one-on-one class. Your teachers will also help you prepare for your final presentation, which you must present in front of some of the ICLP teachers and students.
Life in Taipei
As for Taiwan in general, the majority of people are really friendly, the food is super cheap, and transportation is easy. Most ICLP students ate at the cafeteria on campus or at the food shops across the street from the language center. For transportation, ICLP students walked, rode a bike, took the bus, or rode the MRT (metro/subway). If you plan to ride the MRT often, it might be a good idea to buy an EasyCard. You can also rent out a YouBike from any of the stations throughout Taipei, and the first 30 minutes should be free. On the weekends, you can take day trips or visit night markets. ICLP offers a few day trips that you can sign up for as well.
Applying
If you’re interested in improving your Chinese quickly, I highly recommend applying to this program. The application is due at the end of March, and you can find the application instruction and materials at http://iclp.ntu.edu.tw/. If you’re concerned about finances, you can also apply for the Mayling Soong Grant through Wellesley by the beginning of February.
Savitri Restrepo’16 majors in International Relations – Political Science and minors in Chinese Language & Culture. She studied in Beijing for 2 months in 2013 with the CET Program (Beijing Chinese Language Program), an immersive Chinese language study program hosted by the Beijing Institution of Education. Savitri received support from the Mayling Soong Summer Scholarship.
(The original feedback might be edited for length and clarity.)
I chose to go to this summer program not only because I wanted to complete the “300-level courses” distribution requirement during the summer, but also, most importantly, because I wanted to have the opportunity to fully immerse in the Chinese culture and apply my knowledge of the language “outside of the classroom” in an ordinary context.
I believe that this was the perfect program for me. Right from the beginning, I wanted to challenge myself academically while also being able to enjoy my summer and explore the amazing capital of China. My program was an intensive language course that covered at least one year of Chinese in a few months. My progress was noticeable even after a few weeks thanks to the strict language pledge, our weekly outings, and most importantly, my Chinese roommate.
Having a Chinese roommate was perhaps one of the most significant experiences of the program, since I had the opportunity to share my stories and experiences with her. She, too, agreed to abide by the full time language pledge. I even had the opportunity to meet her family and friends, which was a unique way to truly understand the culture and discover the most authentic places in Beijing.
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