Ohio Valley University (B)

OVU Offering New Mandarin Chinese Course

VIENNA, WV – In the fall of 2010, Ohio Valley University offered a first semester course in Mandarin Chinese. This spring the university will again offer first-semester Mandarin Chinese as well as a second-semester course.

The first-semester Mandarin Chinese course encompasses all the necessary language skills such as reading, writing, speaking, listening and grammar. In addition to first-semester Chinese, a second-semester Chinese course will be offered this spring. Second-semester Chinese is a continuation of skills learned in the first course. In 2011-12 OVU will offer Chinese courses ranging from I-IV to allow students to continue their foreign language education.

“Statistics show that one fourth of the planet’s population speak Chinese as their first language and by speaking both English and Chinese you will be able to converse with one-half of the entire human race,” said Dr. Steven Hardy, OVU dean of the college of arts and sciences. “OVU requires a diversity experience before graduation, and two semesters of Chinese can fulfill this requirement. For the past several years, one or more of our graduates has gone to China to teach English; providing those interested in teaching in China with this opportunity of learning the language will make them better teachers and residents.”

OVU will offer the courses through a partnership with The Alliance for Language Learning and Education Exchange’s Intercultural Exchange Program in Mandarin Chinese (ALLEX). ALLEX enables universities to begin or maintain a high quality Chinese language program by providing the university with professionally trained, native Chinese speaking instructors who teach in exchange for tuition waivers to pursue a master’s, associate’s or second bachelor’s degree. Over 500 lecturers have taught at more than 150 universities in the program’s 22 year history.

You-Ying Lin, a native of Taichung, Taiwan, was an English major at Providence University in Taiwan. She participated in an intensive training program sponsored by ALLEX in the summer of 2010 to prepare for teaching at OVU this fall.

“Recently China became the world’s second largest economy,” said Hardy. “At OVU, we want to prepare students for their futures, and I believe one of the best ways for students to prepare for the future is to learn Chinese so that they can interact with the Chinese—both their Chinese competitors and their Chinese partners—effectively and fairly.”

Students may register for the Chinese language courses when signing up for classes this spring. Those interested in learning Chinese, but not in earning course credit, may audit courses for $50—the same fee it costs to audit any course at OVU. For more information, contact Steven Hardy at 304-865-6153 or steven.hardy@ovu.edu.

To learn more about Ohio Valley University, visit www.ovu.edu.

Photo Caption: You-Ying Lin works one-on-one with an Ohio Valley University student during a Mandarin Chinese course. Lin, a native of Taichung, Taiwan, participated in an intensive training program through ALLEX in the summer of 2010 to be prepared to teach the first Mandarin Chinese language courses at OVU this fall.