Summer Chinese Language Immersion Program

2023 Summer Chinese Language Immersion Program

May 23 - July 21, 2023

The NYU Shanghai Chinese Language Immersion Program is a 9-week summer program that enables students to learn two semesters of material and earn 8 NYU Shanghai academic credits. Two levels are offered: Intermediate and Advanced. Students must commit full-time to this program. Due to the intensive nature with language classes and activities every day of the week, it is not possible to simultaneously do an internship or take another course while taking this program. 

Program Description  |  Eligibility and How to Apply  |  Tuition & Fees  |  Financial Assistance  |  Housing  |  Contact

Through this Summer Chinese Language Immersion Program, you can:

  • Enjoy small intimate class sizes taught by highly experienced, full-time Chinese language faculty.
  • Improve your overall Chinese language competency, cross-cultural communication, self-awareness, and cultural awareness.
  • Apply your command of the language to real-life situations by honoring a Language Pledge in which you agree to only speak Chinese for the duration of the program. The pledge encourages an active learning environment and leads to significant learning results. Please note that repeated violations of the pledge may lead to dismissal from the program.
  • Participate in multiple field trips in Shanghai, Chinese culture classes, and meals with faculty to try different Chinese cuisines (subject to COVID-19 conditions at the time).
  • Earn 8 academic credits that will be recorded on your NYU transcript. Please note that it is your responsibility to work with your university’s academic advisor to determine whether and how a course might count towards your degree requirements.

Program Description

This is a nine-week program. You will be immersed in a Chinese-speaking only environment both in and out of class time with an intensive learning daily schedule consisting of 3 hours per day of class lectures, one hour per day of small group tutoring, and one hour per day of open office hours with Teaching Assistants. You are therefore expected to possess strong time management skills and resilience. You will also be expected to participate in various cultural activities to learn about Chinese culture and demonstrate strong motivation and openness to engaging with different cultures.

Intermediate Level Description (click to expand)

The Intermediate Level is designed for students who have completed Elementary Chinese II at NYU Shanghai, NYU New York or the equivalent at another institution. This course consists of in-class instruction, tutorial time, and out-of-class language practicums. It is equivalent to two semesters of language study, covering both Intermediate Chinese I and II (CHIN-SHU 201 & 202). By the end of the ninth week, students should be able to:
  • Understand and obtain information from extended and complex conversations.
  • Express and expound on, in extended length, feelings, opinions, and viewpoints in interpersonal conversations and in presentations related to social-cultural topics, with a high level of fluency and accuracy in pronunciation and grammar use.
  • Accumulate vocabulary needed for common conversations and formal topic discussions, debates, and presentations; develop the ability to decipher meanings of compound words.
  • Comprehend extended passages in form of narrative, exposition, and argumentation, search for detailed information, guess word meanings, express viewpoints, opinions, feelings, etc.
  • Write, in relative length (300-500 characters long) informational narratives, expository and simple argumentative passages with level-appropriate vocabulary and grammatical accuracy, as well as basic syntactic cohesion. 
  • Be acquainted with aspects of Chinese culture and society, explain and express opinions and viewpoints on phenomena in Chinese culture and society.
The textbooks used for the Intermediate level are Integrated Chinese Level II Part I, Level II Part II written by Tao-chung Yao and Yuehua Liu, Expanded Fourth Edition.

Advanced Level Description (click to expand)

The Advanced Level is designed for students who have completed Intermediate Chinese II at NYU Shanghai, NYU New York or the equivalent at another institution. It aims to reinforce and further improve overall language competency, with the focus on studying and employing semi-formal and formal expressions and usages. It is equivalent to two semesters of language study, covering both Advanced Chinese I and II (CHIN-SHU 301 & 302). By the end of this 9-week program, students should be able to:

  • Listening: Comprehend the main themes and most details of a speech or a broadcast outside of everyday topics; easily comprehend complicated Chinese conversations;
  • Speaking: Narrate events in chronological order; give descriptions about objects with details; make coherent arguments on socio-cultural topics.
  • Reading: Understand the main ideas and most details of articles related to Chinese culture and society, and extract valuable information and opinions from the articles. 
  • Writing: Write essays with precision and detail on a broad range of topics, and with considerable mastery of syntactic structures.
  • Cultural competence:  Obtain a deep understanding of Chinese culture and society; be aware of the similarities and differences between Chinese culture and other cultures, and be able to analyze them dialectically.   

The Advanced level textbook is ​The Routledge Advanced Chinese Multimedia Course: Crossing Cultural Boundaries​ written by Kunshan Lee et al. Routledge, Second Edition, 2014.

Eligibility & How To Apply

Application Deadline: February 19, 2023 

Students must have completed at least two semesters at an undergraduate institution prior to the start of this summer program.

NYU Shanghai students: Fill out the application here. 

NYU New York and NYU Abu Dhabi students: Log on to the application here with your NetID and password. Select "Start NYU Shanghai Summer Study Abroad 2023 Interest Form".

Non-NYU Visiting students from other accredited universities: Create an application ID through the online application. Select "Start NYU Shanghai Summer Study Abroad 2023 Interest Form". 

Tuition & Fees

Tuition: $4,368
Registration & Services Fee: $454
Program Administration Fee: US$600
Books and Course Materials Flat Fee*: US$250

*All books and materials will be made available upon the start of the course. The flat fee is adjusted after the first week of classes to reflect your actual book charges and any amount paid above the actual book charges will be refunded.

Students are responsible for round trip airfare, meals, and personal expenses. Immigration costs vary depending on student citizenship.  

For information about billing, payments, and refunds please visit the Bursar's website. 

Financial Assistance

Financial Aid

US citizens/eligible non-citizens (NYU New York and Shanghai Students): Federal financial aid (i.e. federal Direct student/parent loan) is available during the summer session(s) for students enrolled in a minimum of 6 credits, who also have a valid FAFSA on file, and are otherwise eligible.

NYU Shanghai Students: At this time there is no institutional scholarship/grant aid available for summer session(s).

NYU New York Students: Please visit the financial aid website for additional information regarding financial aid options for summer session(s).

All Other Students (including Visiting Students): Visiting students or current NYU students who are not eligible for federal financial aid will be able to seek out alternative loans. Students seeking alternative loans are encouraged to relay to their potential lender the number of credits they are taking and the type of student they are (i.e. in a degree or non-degree program at NYU) as lenders have different eligibility criteria.

NYU cannot recommend or endorse any particular private lender. Students are encouraged to research their options carefully. Please visit the financial aid website for more information about private (non-federal) alternative loans.

PLEASE NOTE: ​

Students who decrease or cancel summer session enrollment or who do not attend will have their summer award adjusted or canceled accordingly. This adjustment in financial aid may result in a balance on your bursar bill. Changes in enrollment affect the cost of attendance and the amount of aid that you are eligible to receive. Your financial aid cannot exceed your estimated cost of attendance.

Housing

Housing is available in Summer 2023. More information on the housing rate and application will be available in March.  

Contact

If you have any questions, please email shanghai.summer@nyu.edu.