OXFORD, Miss. Thirty high school students are to be
accepted in a selective four-week summer intensive Chinese
language program scheduled for July at the University of
Mississippi.
StarTalk, a government initiative aimed at increasing the
number of Americans learning critical-need languages, has
awarded $120,000 to UM’s Department of Modern Languages.
The funding for “StarTalk Two: Intensive Chinese” provides
the selected students with full tuition and fees, housing,
books and meal plans. Applications for the competitive
selection process are being accepted through April 18.
For more information or to download a brochure, application
materials and recommendation forms, visit
http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/modern?languages/StarTalk..
“StarTalk Two is a wonderful opportunity to be involved in
the study of Chinese at an earlier age than is normal for
American students,” said Donald Dyer, chair of modern
languages. “The University of Mississippi, which has
developed one of the country’s leading Chinese programs, is
pleased to offer this opportunity to the public again.”
Yi Lin, assistant professor of Chinese, has taught her
native tongue in America for more than a decade. Mastering
the language, which is measured by attaining superior
proficiency in both spoken and written language, can
require more than 15 years of formal instruction, she
said.
“The sounds do not correspond with the characters,” Lin
said. “Memorization is very important.”
A native of the coastal Shandong Province in eastern China,
Lin said the largest hurdle for Americans in learning
Chinese is grasping both the written and oral aspects.
“Native speakers grow up hearing the sounds, so they only
must learn to read and write,” Lin said. “For Americans (to
learn Chinese), they must learn the sounds too, which makes
it very difficult.”
For more information, contact Dyer at 662-915-7298 or
mldyer@olemiss.edu.