Chinese courses at Illinois Wesleyan are being offered on an experimental basis for 2011-2012 and 2012-2013

 

      " I would definitely recommend taking Chinese here at IWU. People normally think that the Chinese language is challenging but with Professor Song's great teaching and very easy to use textbook, workbook, and character book, learning Chinese at IWU is not so bad at all. The Chinese language is the most widely spoken language in the world and it would be very helpful in everyone's academic and professional pursuits. You even get to learn about Chinese culture and partake in many fun activities outside of class as well. Overall, Chinese class was definitely one of my most fun classes and was a pretty easy A so I would definitely encourage everybody to take Professor Song's Chinese class."                               

                                                            —— Kyle Chen (Student in Chinese 101 and 102 classes 

                                                                    in the fall semester of 2011 and spring semester of 2012)

     

      " I chose to take Intermediate Chinese I for a variety of reasons. Being partly Chinese, the primary reason I chose to take it was to improve my Chinese. I have always had a fascination with foreign languages, and appreciate being bilingual. In addition, however, I also think that it is becoming more and more important for non-Chinese speaking people to start learning Chinese as their second language rather than Spanish, French, or German because the Chinese economy is booming, and is projected to become the top economy in the world by 2050. Many people are looking to do international business, and China will be a very important contender in the economic/business world. Thus I believe it is an especially practical skill for business/economics majors to be able to speak some Chinese, because it is likely that you may have to go to China for a business trip, and it'd be useful to know some Chinese. I also have a deep appreciation for the Chinese culture, and thus find learning the language to be a great extension for that. This class also incorporates knowledge of the culture, including traditional holidays, as well as geographical knowledge about China. Learning Chinese, like learning any new language, requires a lot of patience and dedication, but the results will be well worth it! "

        —— Catherine Wu (Student in Chinese 201 class in the fall semester of 2011）