Beijing Dialogue: Teaching Foreign Languages at the World-Class University in the U.S.

On August 16, Columbia Global Centers | Beijing held a dialogue on teaching foreign languages at the world-class university in the U.S featuring Professor Lening Liu from Columbia University and Professor Chih-p’ing Chou from Princeton University.

Professor Lening Liu is the Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures and Confucius Institute Director of Chinese Language Pedagogy. Professor Chih-p'ing Chou is the Professor of East Asian Studies, specializes in modern Chinese intellectual history and late Ming literature, and director of Chinese Language Program at Princeton University. 

Two speakers shared their insights and experiences in teaching Chinese to the non-Chinese speakers. Meanwhile, many of the audience were interested in teaching Chinese to the speakers of other Languages. Therefore, they had an in-depth conversation about this area.

Around 52 people attended the event and more than 57,000 people watched the event live through the Beijing Center’s live streaming platform.

Prior to this event, the Beijing Center also held a reception for Columbia University’s Summer Language Program in Beijing. Evan Streams was invited to give a speech in this reception, talking about his experiences in learning Chinese and working in China.

Evan has been visiting or living in China since 2014. He is currently a student of Columbia University School of General Studies. In that time he was manager of the National High Schools Debate League of China, Director of the China Youth Business League, and also helped create the Columbia Young Scholars Program and a speech competition for Chinese middle school students. He is also the author of a bilingual debate textbook used in both the US and China.