The Chinese Flagship Center at BYU provides an intense and rewarding language program that correlates with students’ career goals.
This winter semester, the Chinese Flagship Center will have a lot going on to get students involved, share the Chinese culture and spread awareness of the benefits of the program.
There will be a Chinese New Year event on Jan. 30, a Language Fair in April and information sessions each month. Many more events will happen throughout the semester and information about them will be available on the website and newsletter, Inkstone.
There are around 50 students involved with the program and more are applying each year. The goal of the program is to help students become highly proficient in the Chinese language. The BYU Chinese Flagship program offers two tracks that lead to the culminating overseas capstone experience. The Early Track, Advanced Track and Overseas Capstone make up the program and upon completion, students are able to function professionally in Chinese within their chosen field of work.
Rita Cortez, the managing director for the Chinese Flagship Center, said students who complete the program are extremely marketable to potential employers.
“Companies scoop up the graduates who have completed the program,” Cortez said. “The students gain so much from developing their language skills at such an advanced level and being engulfed in Chinese culture while enrolled at Nanjing University in China.”
The program is rigorous and known to have a workload and time commitments equivalent to a double major. Eric Hansen, 24, a Chinese major and business management minor from Appleton, Wis., is in the advanced track of the Chinese Flagship program.
Hansen said the amount of time dedicated to the program is the hardest part, but that it is worth it.
“I think the hardest part about the program is the time commitment,” he said. “This semester I took six credits of Flagship classes and next semester I will be taking the same. Each week I meet with the teachers and tutors to asses my progress and give me advice.”
Hansen said his experiences in the program have been enjoyable and are preparing him for his career.
“I have enjoyed counseling with the teachers and administrators,” he said. “They make an effort to help us interact with business and government leaders. I have been able to give campus tours to visiting Chinese students and performers, eat lunch with visiting Muslim clergymen from China and meet U.S. military leaders who are involved in China.”
Becky Sanderson, the center coordinator, said she believes the benefits of completing the program greatly outweigh the rigorousness and extra time spent in school.
“It is a hard program,” Sanderson said. “The benefit of being able to function both professionally and linguistically in the workplace is worth it to every student I’ve talked to who has completed the program. People notice how proficient these students are.”
The Chinese Flagship program at BYU was established in 2002 and funded by a grant from the National Security Education program. Dr. Dana Bourgerie, associate professor of Chinese in the BYU Asian and Near Eastern Languages Department, is the program director assisted by academic director, Dr. Mathew Christensen. For more information, visit chineseflagship.byu.edu.
