To prepare for an increasingly global world, Rider University students will have an opportunity to travel to China to tutor children this summer. Those wishing to learn the basics of Mandarin Chinese and Chinese culture will be able to do so right here on campus starting this coming fall.

Students selected for the trip to China will tutor English and teach American culture to high school-aged children. Tutors will receive room and board and a stipend during a month-long “summer camp” from July 15 to August 15 at a boarding school in Fuzhou, China. Each will work 30 hours per week as conversational partners for high school students.

Students who have already taken Chinese history or classes involving China will be given first priority. However, it will not be mandatory for those courses to be taken. The Fuzhou school will pay for most of the expenses, including room and board. Students will be responsible for their own airfare, which will be approximately $1,000. The application deadline was March 31.

“This is a magnificent opportunity for Rider students to gain first hand experience of Chinese culture,” said Dr. Anne Osborne, chairperson of the history department and director of the Asian Studies program at Rider. “It's especially exciting that students who wish to do so will be able to pursue this interest with language study beginning in the fall.”

Elementary Chinese 100 will be offered at Rider in September followed by Chinese 101 in the spring of 2007. The curriculum will focus on speaking, listening, reading and writing skills. Students’ learning will be heightened by the use of audio, video and computer technologies. The courses, offered through the department of foreign languages and literatures, will satisfy the liberal arts and sciences CORE foreign languages requirement.

“Language is the key to learning about a foreign culture, and China is emerging as a significant and explosive economy in the world,”said Dr. Linda Materna, chairperson of the department of foreign languages and literatures. “The federal government has emphasized the importance of the study of Chinese and other critical languages like Arabic. Rider has as one of its missions the preparation of students for success in a global world, and there is no question that knowledge of Chinese and Chinese culture will give them an edge in the job market.”

Dr. Minmin Wang, professor of communication and special assistant to the president and provost on Chinese programs, is excited about these new developments and about its impact on Rider students as well as Sanda students on campus. “Providing opportunities for Rider students to learn Chinese or to tutor English in China will enhance the college education experience for many students,” she said. “Just like Sanda students appreciate the opportunity to come to study at Rider, I hope that Rider students will take advantage of these opportunities to learn Chinese language and culture.”

For more information about the trip abroad, call the Office of Enrollment Management at (609) 896-5380. For information on elementary Chinese language courses at Rider, call Dr. Materna at (609) 895-5592.

.