Recipients of Intensive Chinese Language Program
May 2024
In May 2024, the Intensive Chinese Language program was held in Shantou University, hosting twelve 麻豆区 students on Shantou University campus in Shantou city, Guangdong, China, for a four-week intensive Chinese course.
Students departed from Montreal, YUL International airport and arrived in Hong Kong, where they took a train to Shantou city, to arrive on campus on May 3rd, 2024. They were welcomed on campus with various ceremonies and activities, and started their intensive class program.
Students attended class from Mondays to Fridays. The week was filled with practical activities and assignments, to maximize their practice of the language in an immersive setting.
On the week ends, students participated in various excursions, visiting temples, tea houses, museums, and many other places where they could learn about the history and culture of the cities of Shantou, Chaozhou, Meizhou, and Xiamen.
Words from our 2024 ICL Cohort
Philippe Beauvais, BA, International Development Studies
In STU I discovered some of the nicest people I’ll ever meet, both colleagues and tutors that I will cherish as dear friends forever. Being thrown into an alien environment, in a country so many worlds apart from where I grew up, along with complete strangers, pushed us to create an amazing bond in no time. This bond in turn undoubtedly fostered a great learning environment, where the constant Chinese immersion and the family-like interactions we had with our teachers and friends allowed for immense improvement in my speech and comprehension of Chinese. The people of Shantou, both inside and outside of campus, were so welcoming, friendly, and patient that communication failure was never dreaded, and something new could genuinely be learned every single day. The daily life interactions of shopping, eating, and living a normal life in China gave me a way to truly put my Chinese to use as it should be used. By the end of the program, I could have never dreamed of attaining such an improved level of fluency in such a short, yet unforgettable time.
Stella Conway, BA, International Development Studies and East Asian Studies
I was able to fulfill the goals I set out for myself. During my experience, I had an amazing time learning about Shantou, and that region of China. This was done through interacting with the teaching assistants (most of whom are from the province) to gain cultural knowledge, as well as through classes we took on inter-cultural communication.
Minty Corbett, BA, East Asian Studies
Don't let uncertainty or fear stop you from having the best time ever or even prevent you from applying in the first place. It is crucial to take advantage of all the experiences and opportunities that you can. Don't let yourselves fall into the trap of sticking solely with the safety of your fellow English-speaking 麻豆区 friends. Instead, go with them to meet people, practice your Chinese speaking, and exchange cultural experiences with the Shantou students. We all have many things to learn from each other beyond the apparent wish to improve our Chinese and English speaking skills. There are so many beautiful friendships to be made within the 麻豆区 group and the Shantou University group!
Lilan Forsyth, BAsC, Cognitive Science
Every day in Shantou, I would engage in conversations with teachers, student-tutors, and local workers, struggling at first to express myself; however, the people in Shantou were incredibly supportive whenever I spoke Mandarin. Through this nurturing environment, not only was learning Mandarin more fun, but I became more confident in my ability to communicate, and this opened doors to deeper connections with the people around me.
Adam Han, BA, Political Science
In this unfamiliar setting, I was able to thrive with new friends learning Chinese. From campus interactions with food vendors to talking with locals I could see how speaking their language opened new perspectives. My Chinese was far from perfect, but with some body language and translation apps, I was usually able to get my meaning across. (...) This trip has shown me how much people value their language - through learning inside and outside the classroom, I could break boundaries and thrive.
Albertine Hua, BA, East Asian Studies and Art History
I found that the courses at Shantou University were a perfect complement to the ones given at 麻豆区 and gave life to all the theoretical learning I had done before; I improved my vocabulary and grammar level, but I also became so much more confident in myself when talking with others in Mandarin. Throughout the whole month you will spend in Shantou, you will find a lot of joy in small things, such as ordering a dish in Mandarin and succeeding, or telling a funny story to your TA who understands you and laughs (hopefully). All those small, daily usages of Mandarin are what fills the whole program with joy and give a purpose to your study of the language.
Lucy Kaskie, BA, Economics and East Asian Studies
We were lucky to be welcomed by a wonderful community that is Shantou University. The teachers and tutors were the most generous people I have ever met, as they were so willing to share their everyday lives with us. Despite coming from different cultures, we shared friendship and laughter in everyday moments from scoring the winning goal in soccer to resting our heads on each other’s shoulders when we were tired. Immersion can be overwhelming and frustrating. After the first day, I remember falling asleep to a mess of Chinese words swimming in my pool of thoughts. It helped at the end of the day to remember the conversations I struggled with, then carefully write down the new words I learned. I greatly appreciate our teachers’ and tutors’ constant support and encouragement throughout our broken conversations.
Akassia Molina, BA, Economics
This transformative experience has solidified my passion for Mandarin and granted me an amazing community to share it with. I'm incredibly grateful for this opportunity and feel both eager and well prepared to begin the next level of my Mandarin studies.
Ella Paul-Chowdhury, BA, Art History
Given that my interest in art history stems from it being a mode of history that reveals the intricacies of humans’ lives from diverse places and periods, I was curious about the differences and similarities I would discover between Chinese people’s lives and my own. While I certainly learnt much from the museum visits included as part of our weekend explorations, getting to learn first-hand from the Shantou University tutors was both the most educational part of the program, and the most memorable. To communicate, I had to stretch my language skills far past what I had learned in a classroom setting. My favourite memories were trying to explain complicated card game rules in Mandarin and learning how to compliment people while playing soccer (“好球!”). Going in, I thought I barely knew the language, but I soon realized I could have hours-long conversations with tutors skilled in patiently unpuzzling my sentences. The limits I often encountered due to lacking vocabulary and practice only served as further motivation to get back into the classroom and learn more.
Olivia Randour, BA, History
What you learn in class helps you form sentences and express yourself, what you learn on your own is going to help you understand the tutors and have conversations with them. Surprisingly, what helped me a lot was my interest in Chinese pop culture. Not only was I used to hear young locals speak, but I had things to discuss with the tutors. It is how I started to bond with them.
Kristina Tham, BA, English Literature and Economics
The professors and TAs were incredibly hardworking and giving with their time. Their generosity and kindness were a huge motivator in my studies. For anybody interested in participating in the future, I would say the best thing you can do is enter this program with an open mind. Flexibility is key – although everything is very exciting, there are many things up in the air. Be able to pivot at a moment’s notice! But don’t worry, there’s an amazing team from the advisors, teachers, and TAs, to your new close-knit group of friends.
Serena Zhang, BA, East Asian Studies and Political Science
Being an exchange student at Shantou, even if only for a month, is a fully immersive experience that plunges you headfirst into the endlessly rich culture of the city and overall Chinese lifestyle. Like plunging into a pool however, things are disorienting at first, other people feel so distant, and you enter a different physical state when you go into this exchange program. I started off with some of the worst anxiety levels of my life, with my body constantly battling the intense climate and my brain battling the thought of whether I would ever get close with the other students on the trip. Channeling the proverb 入乡随俗 is the best way I was able get through that initial period. When in Rome, do as the Romans do- when in China, keep powering through and putting yourself out there with the language, food, culture, and people.
May 2023
In 2023, the Intensive Chinese Language program was held online, hosting ten 麻豆区 students from the Faculty of Arts for a four-week intensive Chinese course.
A Day in the Program
Students followed a daily schedule that included:
- Chinese classes led by Shantou University instructors
- Tutoring sessions provided by STU tutors
- Weekly cultural activities arranged by the Merry English School on Shantou University Campus
Meet Our Participants
These ten students were part of the Intensive Chinese Language course:
- Philipe Beauvais,
BA., International Development Studies and East Asian Studies - Grace van Bever,
BA., U0 - Inheon Choi,
BA., East Asian Studies and International Development Studies - Jackson Corfield,
BA., Hon. Linguistics - Katherine Gibby,
BA., East Asian Studies and Mathematics - Mathilde Hardouin,
BA., Jt. Hon. Political Science, Jt. Hon. East Asian Studies - Tali Libenstein,
BA., East Asian Studies and World Cinemas - Natacha Radenkovic,
BA., Political Science and International Development Studies - Alise Riddle,
BA., Political Science - Hana Samad,
BA., Jt. Hon. Political Science, Jt. Hon. History
Student Voices
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"I found tutorial sessions especially helpful, as they challenge you to say things outside of the typical classroom vocabulary in a more casual environment However, I would warn that they have to be willing to put the work in for it. With the appropriate amount of effort, this course is very good for improving fluency and confidence."
- Jackson Corfield
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"2023 LKS Intensive Chinese Language Course provided students with a chance to experience authentic Chinese culture and to practice our oral skills. The tutorial sessions and interactions with students from Shantou University are the highlight of the program."
- Inheon Choi
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"I genuinely believe this opportunity allowed me to address areas of my language skills that I don’t practice much in classroom settings and progress on my goals of improving my speaking and reading proficiency. I hope future students will continue learning and stay motivated because the experience lives up to everything you can imagine"
- Ali Riddle
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"I greatly enjoyed my tutor sessions alongside fellow classmates; it was such an invaluable experience! I learnt so much about Chinese culture from the perspective of young native Shantou residents, and formed special bonds along the way. At times, immersing myself fully in the program was difficult, primarily as a result of our late class time. I did my best to remain engaged by actively participating whenever possible and by the end of the program I became confident with my oral literacy."
- Tali Libenstein
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"I decided to participate in the Shantou program to become confident speaking in Mandarin. My ultimate goal is to become fluent in the language. The program allowed me to reach those goals: my Chinese has improved a lot, and I am now able to speak more fluidly. The main obstacle I faced was finding the courage to speak in Mandarin with our TAs. I was not confident at all in Chinese before the program and having conversations in Chinese with our TAs was very hard. Eventually, after a few days, I started becoming more comfortable and started speaking during the sessions."
- Natacha Radenkovic
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"I believe that this program allowed me to express myself better without overthinking every sentence. It also taught me a lot of expressions and words that are very common in everyday life, but that we do not come across in regular classes or books. We were able to discuss specific interests, while still being related to the course content. For example, I was able to discuss with one of the TAs the Shiji(史记) and the particularities of Classical Chinese as compared to modern mandarin."
- Mathilde Hardouin
May 2022
In May 2022, the following seven students from the Faculty of Arts took part in the Intensive Chinese Language program held online:
- Léa Baillargeon,
BA. Psychology - Ethan Bird,
BA. Geography - Bjorn Christensen,
BA. Computer Science and East Asian Studies - Anna Leeper,
BA. Langue et littérature fran?aise, traduction - Julia Miracle,
BA. Geography - Geeta Tewari,
BA. Political Science and Music - Michaela Zollicoffer,
BA. Economics
May 2021 - Online Pilot Program
In May 2021, we launched a pilot program for the Intensive Chinese Language Course, conducted online. This pilot program saw active participation from two outstanding students in the Faculty of Arts:
- John Allaster, PhD English Literature
- Sana Ashraf, BA. Jt. Hon. East Asian Studies, Jt. Hon. History
Their valuable participation and feedback have played a crucial role in improving the program. We extend our sincere thanks to them!