The most beautiful environment for learning Chinese Chinese Language Center at National Sun Yat-sen University 最美的華語學習環境─國立中山大學華語教學中心
New choice for learning Chinese
The Center was founded in 1997 as a very new type of unit. In Taiwan, there are Chinese language centers attached to fourteen universities, but they are concentrated in the north of Taiwan. Considering that more and more foreigners are now coming to the south of Taiwan, National Sun Yat-sen University set up a Chinese language center.
Students who learn Chinese in this university can enjoy the beautiful scenery of sea and mountains, creating an excellent learning environment. The Chinese class begins once each term and takes 100 students. So far, students learning Chinese have come from 33 different countries. Of these, fifty percent came from Japan and Korea and many others were exchange students from America and Canada. Some were interested in Chinese language; some came with family members who obtained jobs in Kaohsiung; and sometimes a whole family took the class together.
Excellent teachers & programs
The head of the Chinese Center, Professor Mei-chih Tsai, has said that there is today much demand for learning Chinese. Many foreigners have begun to learn Chinese. Although many people go to China to learn Chinese, foreigners and natives there live in largely separate accommodation. By contrast, in Taiwan, not only are foreigners able to join in with the natives life, but also there is no problem of adaptation because the life style of Taiwan is like that of big cities all over the world.
All the teachers in this center are graduates from universities at home or abroad and are fully qualified as teachers of Chinese. The curriculum is divided into "general curriculum" and "specialist curriculum." The general curriculum involves twelve-level training for four abilities - listening, speaking, reading and writing. The specialist curriculum follows the general curriculum. According to the needs and abilities of students, options in conversation, reading and writing, culture, and other special areas are available. At present, there is a class for the southern Fukien dialect so that foreigners staying in the Greater Kaohsiung Area can improve their understanding of the essentials of native culture.
Various activities & students
Small classes─around three to eight students each class─are held in the CLC of National Sun Yat-sen University. Students can receive comprehensive and excellent supervision while also having opportunities for mutual activities with other students. One student, Sasaki Tetsuo, from Japan, who liked this kind of training very much said that learning a different culture by taking the same class with other foreigners from different countries was a wonderful thing besides leaning the language. During his undergraduate days, Sasaki Tetsuo had taken a class in Chinese language just for his "leisure". At the outset, he could not speak Chinese at all. However, after one year in the CLC, he spoke Chinese fluently: when he was interviewed by the press in Chinese, he showed that during his year of learning Chinese, his speaking and reading improved a lot!
The CLC has not only all necessary visual-audio equipment and computers but also a rich collection of books for student use. To help students learn about and join in Taiwan's life, the center regularly organizes many activities. For example: a karaoke competition of Chinese songs; a competition for foreigners speaking Chinese; a visits to a traditional clay kiln; a trip Meinung to learn about Hakka Culture; pottery making; trips to historic sights; tasting the traditional dishes in Tainan; and bowling games. Such arrangements not only help the students understand Taiwanese culture but also enable the students to make friends with each other.
The rich curriculum and extracurricular program enable foreigners coming to Taiwan for the first time to get on quickly with their studies and their life. Thus it can be claimed that the CLC of National Sun Yat-sen University is quite simply the best place to learn Chinese.
For more information http://www2.nsysu.edu.tw/CLC/
華語學習新選擇
1997年成立的中山大學華語教學中心，算是很新的一個單位；國內有14所大學附設的華語中心，不過多半集中在北部，考慮到南台灣越來越多外國朋友的需要，因此中山大學有了華語教學中心的成立。
華語中心的學員擁有中山大學依山傍海的美景所成就的絕佳學習環境，每一季開班一次，每季約100人左右。目前學員涵蓋33個國籍，其中半數為日本、韓國學生，也有許多來自美、加地區的交流學生。他們有些是對華語有興趣的學生，有些則是因家人來高雄工作，甚至有人全家一起來上課的。
豐富師資課程
華語教學中心主任蔡美智教授說，在華語市場越來越大的今天，許多國外朋友也開始學習華語，雖然也有許多人到中國學習，然而在中國，外國人士的居住處所是與當地人完全分開的；在台灣則不同，不但可以融入本地的生活文化，台灣的生活型態也與世界大都市接近，學員較無適應上的問題。
中山華語教學中心的師資均為國內外大學院校畢業，並受過訓練的合格對外華語教師；課程則分為「綜合性課程」與「加強課程」。綜合性課程即聽、說、讀、寫四大技能的訓練課程，區分為十二級。「加強課程」則是在綜合課程的基礎上，針對學生的需要與能力開設會話、讀寫，甚至文化課程或其他「特殊課程」。目前也有閩南語進修班，讓旅居大高雄地區的外籍人士，能更深入體會本地文化精華。
小班多樣活動
中山華語教學中心是採三到八人的小班制，同學可以獲得周全的指導，同時又有與其他同學互動的機會。來自日本的佐佐木哲夫(Sasaki Tetsuo)就很喜歡這一點，他表示，因為和各國學生一起上課，可以接觸多國文化，是語言學習之外最有意思的事。佐佐木在大學時因為「好玩」修過一年華語，不過當時還沒有辦法開口，在中山華語教學中心上課將近一年，佐佐木可以順暢地用中文接受採訪，並且表示，這一年華語「說」和「讀」的能力都進步好多！
華語教學中心不僅視聽、電腦設備齊全，更有豐富的藏書可以使用；為了讓學生更能融入台灣生活，更定期舉辦活動，像是華語卡拉OK歌唱比賽、外國人說華語比賽，甚至外出焢土窯、參訪美濃客家文化、捏陶、台南古蹟小吃巡禮、保齡球大賽等，不但讓學員更了解台灣文化，也增進彼此感情。
這麼豐富的課程與活動，即使是初次來台的外籍學生，也可以很快地融入學習與生活，因此中山大學華語中心，可說是華語學習的極佳環境。
中山大學華語中心網址 http://www2.nsysu.edu.tw/CLC/。