PROGRAM
Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland and University of Soochow, China join hands in offering an exciting option for learning Chinese. Spend three weeks in China studying Chinese at a premier language school and earn academic credits or a Certificate of Proficiency.

With this study option you will fly to China for three weeks to work with a professional staff of Chinese instructors on language acquisition, conversation skills and Chinese culture. You will meet students from around the world at the Soochow campus.

In Soochow you will be placed into a small class based upon your level of Chinese language proficiency. From Mondays through Fridays there will be four hours of language instruction, conversation practice and study of Chinese culture. In the evenings and on the weekends there will be excursions and expeditions where you will have more opportunities to absorb the language and the culture of China.

Suzhou
An important city renowned for its historical and cultural heritage as well as for its natural beauty, Suzhou has been called “Capital of Silk”, “Land of Abundance”, “World of Gardens”, and "East Venice".

Situated on 30. 47-32.02 degrees north latitude and 119.55-121.20 degrees east longitude and bordering on Shanghai in the east, Zhejiang Province in the south, Lake Taihu in the west and the Yangtze in the north, Suzhou enjoys a mild and humid climate and is easily accessible by water, land and air communications.

Suzhou garden is nature in a nutshell, which enables one to “feel the charm of mountains, forest and springs without going out of the noisy surroundings of the town”. When enjoying tea, poem, flower arranging playing musical instrument in the garden, one gains the most natural inspiration. To those tourists desiring to understand China, Suzhou garden is the best museum.

CREDITS
HCC students seeking credits will need to register for the appropriate Chinese course before going to China. Students from other universities wanting credit for the course must get written permission from the Foreign Language department of their university prior to program departure.

DETAILS
The fee for the China Study Abroad Program is approximately TBD*. (Limited Financial Aid available for HCC credit students).

The TBD* includes

• roundtrip airfare,
• tuition at Soochow University,
• room and board,
• 2-3 excursions and
• ground transportation to and from the airport in China.

PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Alice Zhang
Phone: 410-772-4861
Email: azhang@howardcc.edu

PAYMENT
$250 Non-Refundable due: at registration           
TBD Initial Payment due: 02/29/08        
TBD Final Payment due: 03/28/08

Note: If you do not make payment on time you will automatically be dropped from the program and will not be able to re-register.