Steve C .
Second-year Chinese, Summer 2008
College Professor

"I am a professor of economics at Knox College and recently have become interested in studying the Chinese economy and Chinese political-economic thought. I took second year Chinese at the Beloit Center for Language Studies in the summer of 2008 and recommend the program highly.

Our instructors were both native speakers from China and very good teachers. The 3:1 student/faculty ratio and 6 hours of class and individual tutorials daily gave everyone a lot of individual attention. Morale was high. All of the students in my class worked very hard (~4 hours of study per night, on top of 6 hours of class) and helped each other. As all students and instructors lived in a common dorm and ate meals together we were able to focus on language almost all of the time.

We had a number of interesting co-curricular activities, such as viewing Chinese films together and visiting Chicago’s China town, but the focus was rightly on language study. As an older student, I think this immersion strategy was especially helpful.

We had access to the gym and library and cafeteria food that was much better than I remember from my college days. I learned a lot and had an energizing time."