Why study Chinese?
China is the most populous country in the world with the second largest economy and one of the oldest continuous cultures known. More than one billion people speak Mandarin Chinese, and it is becoming an essential skill for business people and world travelers to have. Chinese is the oldest written language in the world with roughly 6,000 years of history. There are over 20,000 Chinese characters but only 3,000 to 4,000 are necessary to read a newspaper. Chinese grammar is relatively simple compared to languages with Greek or Latin roots. There are no verb conjugations. Bloomberg's calls it "the most useful business language after English."
Where is it spoken?
Cantonese as an official language is spoken in special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. Mandarin is spoken across China, Taiwan and Singapore.
Contact
Liang Ward
Assistant Professor of Instruction
Modern Languages and Literatures
liang.ward@utsa.eduChinese Courses Offered
(3-2) 4 hours credit. Fundamentals of Chinese offering the opportunity to develop basic listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Introduction of Chinese characters and Chinese culture.
(3-2) 4 hours credit. Prerequisite: CHN 1014, an equivalent, an appropriate placement test score, or consent of instructor. Fundamentals of Chinese offering the opportunity to develop basic speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills. Further study of Chinese characters and Chinese culture.
(3-1) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: CHN 1024, an equivalent, an appropriate placement test score, or consent of instructor. Continued opportunity to develop listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills through structural analysis of the Chinese language. Continued exposure to Chinese culture.
(3-1) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: CHN 2013, an equivalent, an appropriate placement test score, or consent of instructor. Continued opportunity to develop listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills through structural analysis of the Chinese language. Continued exposure to Chinese culture.
Student News
UTSA Student Receives Fulbright Student Grant
David Diaz, a recent graduate of UTSA and a former student of Dr. Liang Ward, Lecturer 2 in Chinese, has received a grant from the Fulbright Student Program to teach in Taipei City, Taiwan. Diaz will teach English in Taiwan for a year beginning in Fall 2020.
"I am a Spring 2020 graduate of the Master of Arts in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) degree program at UTSA. I was recently awarded an English Teaching Assistantship grant in April 2020 from the Fulbright Student Program for the 2020-2021 school year in Taipei City, Taiwan. In 2018 I began my TESL studies at UTSA and worked as a graduate assistant for my department and program. While at UTSA, I have also taken Chinese language courses for a year under the instruction of Dr. Liang Ward where my interest in the cultures and languages of Taiwan grew even further, applying for both UTSA’s Taiwan Study-Abroad Program and Taiwan’s Huayu Enrichment Scholarship for Summer 2020. I recommend that students interested in UTSA’s study abroad program in Taiwan and the Huayu Scholarship (intensive Chinese language study in Taiwan) contact Dr. Liang Ward and the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures for more information."
Two UTSA Students To Teach in Taiwan
Katie Andrews and Shelby Price, both students of Dr. Liang Ward, Lecturer 2 in Chinese, have each been chosen to teach English in Taiwan. Andrews completed four semesters of Chinese at UTSA and will be working in Taipei, Taiwan. Price, who studied Chinese for two semesters, will be teaching in Taichung, Taiwan.. Both students attended last summer's UTSA study abroad program in Taiwan.
"I graduated from UTSA in May 2020 with a Business Management degree. Thanks to the help of my professor, Dr. Liang Ward, I was able to get an amazing opportunity to teach English in an elementary school in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. It is a dream come true as I fell in love with the country when I and many others travelled to Taiwan in May 2019 for a wonderful study abroad program that was put together and led by Dr. Ward. I hope to be able to use the language skills that I have cultivated under Dr. Ward’s instruction over the course of two years in the Chinese language program under the department of Modern Languages at UTSA. I appreciate all the hard work Dr. Ward has put in to help during every step in the process, making sure that everything was done 100% and without any mistakes. Without her, none of this would have ever been possible and I recommend anyone interested in going to Taiwan to go through her as she really and truly cares for her students’ happiness and well-being." - Katie Andrews
"I am a recent UTSA Graduate with a bachelor degree in Modern Language Studies which I am getting ready to put to good use at an English Teaching Job in Taichung, Taiwan. Thanks to Dr. Liang Ward, the Chinese Program and the Modern Languages and Literatures Department (MLL), I now have the opportunity to go teach English and touch many students' lives while also learning one of the most difficult languages in the world. Speaking Chinese has always been a dream of mine and after 2 semesters with Dr. Ward in her Chinese class, I am well prepared to begin my learning and immersion in Taiwan. Studying Chinese is an amazing way to expand your learning style, and learning a high-grossing language in a very competitive job market is always an amazing way to stand out. Thank you so much again to Dr. Ward and the Chinese Program for opening the door to the countless opportunities ahead." - Shelby Price
Two UTSA Students Receive Taiwan Scholarship
Jacob Wagner and Jason Gov, students of Dr. Liang Ward, Lecturer 2 in Chinese, have each received the Taiwan Huayu Enrichment Scholarship which finances two semesters of study in Taiwan for them. Both students have take two semesters of Chinese at UTSA, including last summer's study abroad program to Taiwan.
"I am heading to Taiwan to study Chinese for a year. It was only through the exposure that I got in the programs and courses organized by Dr. Ward and offered by UTSA’s Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, as well as Dr. Ward’s help and recommendation, that I have this fantastic opportunity. Before I went on Dr. Ward’s 2019 Taiwan study abroad trip offered at UTSA, I had only considered working overseas in an English-speaking country such as Britain or Australia. After going on the study abroad trip, my horizons were broadened. After taking one year of Dr. Ward’s Chinese language courses, Dr. Ward helped me apply for the Huayu Enrichment Scholarship to study Chinese for an additional year in Taiwan. With Dr. Ward’s assistance and recommendation, I was awarded the Huayu Enrichment Scholarship and am now heading to Taiwan after graduating with my degree in Business Management. If you want to learn more about Taiwan or are considering Chinese for your language studies, I highly recommend checking out Dr. Ward’s study abroad program and/or her course offerings." - Jacob Wagner
"I am minoring in East Asian Studies and majoring in Systems Information at the University of Texas San Antonio. I have been taking Chinese language courses with Dr. Ward for a year after attending Dr. Ward’s study abroad program during the summer of 2019 in Taiwan. I am thankful I was able to receive the scholarship with the help from Dr. Liang Ward’s recommendation and help. I would also like to thank the recommendations from the Chinese program at the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures for giving me this opportunity to further advance my studies in a new area. I appreciate being chosen and will work hard on my studies while in Taiwan." - Jason Gov
