Fall 2022 Culture and Language Integration in Chinese and English (CLIC)

About the Program
The CLA Language Center and the Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies (AMES) at the University of Minnesota have joined forces to run a Culture and Language Integration in Chinese and English (CLIC) program since 2017. In this program, we organize, coordinate, and conduct FREE weekly conversation sessions for American high school students who studied in Chinese immersion schools and international students from China. Participating students greatly enjoy the opportunities to practice and improve their target language with native speakers and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Over the last 12 semesters and summers, more than 460 students have benefited from this program. Minnesota Public Radio learned about this program and reported it on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Eligibility, Session Time, Location, and Contents
This program organizes American high school students who attended Chinese immersion schools for 6-8 years and UMN native or near-native Chinese speakers, and coordinates weekly 90-minute immersion conversation sessions, with 45 minutes in Chinese, and 45 minutes in English. The purpose is for both groups of students to maintain and improve the proficiency level of their target language.

Any student who participates in ten (10) or more sessions in one semester is awarded a Certificate of Completion issued by the two sponsoring departments.

This program meets via Zoom. The first conversation session will be on Thursday, September 22, 2022.

Contact Information: Zhen Zou, Coordinator and Instructor, zouxx009@umn.edu.