2025 Summer Chinese Language Immersion Program
Program Dates: May 30 - August 2, 2025 | Application Deadline: March 1, 2025
(Students arrive in Shanghai on Friday, May 30, 2025; classes start on Monday, June 2, 2025.
The Chinese Language Immersion Summer Program at NYU Shanghai offers students the opportunity to complete two semesters' worth of Chinese language study, earning 8 NYU Shanghai academic credits over nine weeks. This program is a blend of intensive language learning and cultural immersion in the vibrant city of Shanghai, where the city's storied past and cosmopolitan present offer endless opportunities for linguistic and cultural exploration.
We offer four levels of instruction in modern Chinese: Elementary Chinese (First-Year), Intermediate Chinese (Second-Year), Advanced Chinese (Third-Year), and Post-Advanced Chinese (Fourth-Year). Our courses are taught by a highly experienced team of Chinese language faculty from NYU Shanghai and other prestigious universities in the U.S., ensuring personalized attention in a small and intimate class setting. The program’s intensive curriculum, combined with its language pledge, is designed to elevate your Chinese proficiency to the next level, build a solid foundation, foster sustainable learning habits, and ultimately empower you with the confidence and competence in using the Chinese language.
Our summer program is distinguished by two key features: 1) its integration within the broader intellectual community of NYU Shanghai, and 2) its deep engagement with the local neighborhoods, the city of Shanghai, and the surrounding regions. Our summer program is an integral part of NYU Shanghai, the first Sino-U.S. research university in China. As such, our curriculum draws on the university’s academic strengths in broader China studies. Our approach goes beyond traditional language instruction by incorporating language content with insights from NYU faculty across various disciplines engaged in research on China. This integration ensures students not only acquire the language skills necessary to discuss topics in Chinese but also gain a deeper understanding of these topics through scholarly lenses. Our community-engaged learning efforts further enrich this experience. Our field trips are carefully crafted to weave together academic perspectives, language learning, and deep community engagement, enabling our students to apply their classroom learning in real-world contexts.
Program Structure and Courses | Eligibility and How to Apply | Tuition & Fees | Financial Assistance | Housing | FAQs | Contact
Program Structure and Courses
The courses are structured to ensure students will be “immersed” in the language environment. A comprehensive schedule encompasses daily classes, group drills, individual sessions, co-curricular activities, and evening office hours. To gauge your progress, written and oral assessments will be frequently conducted, and your teachers will provide personalized feedback to guide your improvement.
Beyond the regular language classes, you will have opportunities to attend special lectures on China studies, take part in excursions in and around Shanghai, explore local cuisines through the “Chinese language table,” participate in extracurricular activities to appreciate Chinese culture, and interact with local students and residents through NYU Shanghai's unique community-engaged learning opportunities. Our ultimate aim is to equip our students with the linguistic and cultural competence necessary to engage profoundly with China and its people.
Level 1: Elementary Level (First-Year Chinese) Description (click to expand)
Level 2: Intermediate Level (Second-Year Chinese) Description (click to expand)
The Intermediate Level is designed for students who have completed Elementary Chinese II at NYU Shanghai, NYU New York or the equivalent at another institution. This course consists of in-class instruction, tutorial time, and out-of-class language practicums. It is equivalent to two semesters of language study, covering both Intermediate Chinese I and II (CHIN-SHU 201 & 202). By the end of the ninth week, students should be able to:
- Understand and obtain information from extended and complex conversations.
- Express and expound on, in extended length, feelings, opinions, and viewpoints in interpersonal conversations and in presentations related to social-cultural topics, with a high level of fluency and accuracy in pronunciation and grammar use.
- Accumulate vocabulary needed for common conversations and formal topic discussions, debates, and presentations; develop the ability to decipher meanings of compound words.
- Comprehend extended passages in form of narrative, exposition, and argumentation, search for detailed information, guess word meanings, express viewpoints, opinions, feelings, etc.
- Write, in relative length (300-500 characters long) informational narratives, expository and simple argumentative passages with level-appropriate vocabulary and grammatical accuracy, as well as basic syntactic cohesion.
- Be acquainted with aspects of Chinese culture and society, explain and express opinions and viewpoints on phenomena in Chinese culture and society.
The textbooks used for the Intermediate level are Integrated Chinese Level II Part I, Level II Part II written by Tao-chung Yao and Yuehua Liu, Expanded Fourth Edition.
Level 3: Advanced Level (Third-Year Chinese) Description (click to expand)
The Advanced Level is designed for students who have completed Intermediate Chinese II at NYU Shanghai, NYU New York or the equivalent at another institution. It aims to reinforce and further improve overall language competency, with the focus on studying and employing semi-formal and formal expressions and usages. It is equivalent to two semesters of language study, covering both Advanced Chinese I and II (CHIN-SHU 301 & 302). By the end of this 9-week program, students should be able to:
- Listening: Comprehend the main themes and most details of a speech or a broadcast outside of everyday topics; easily comprehend complicated Chinese conversations.
- Speaking: Narrate events in chronological order; give descriptions about objects with details; make coherent arguments on socio-cultural topics.
- Reading: Understand the main ideas and most details of articles related to Chinese culture and society, and extract valuable information and opinions from the articles.
- Writing: Write essays with precision and detail on a broad range of topics, and with considerable mastery of syntactical structures.
- Cultural competence: Obtain a deep understanding of Chinese culture and society; be aware of the similarities and differences between Chinese culture and other cultures, and be able to analyze them dialectically.
The Advanced level textbook is the Routledge Advanced Chinese Multimedia Course: Crossing Cultural Boundaries written by Kunshan Lee et al. Routledge, Second Edition, 2014.
Level 4: Post-Advanced Level (Fourth-Year Chinese) Description (click to expand)
Note: Students should indicate in their application the level for which they think they are best-suited. Final placement will be at the discretion of the NYU Shanghai immersion program faculty based on tests and interviews done prior to the start of the program.
Discover the summer immersion program through the experiences of previous students (Summer 2023, Summer 2024).
Below are examples of field trips and cultural activities in the program.
Click here for samples of past academic talks.
Eligibility & How To Apply
Students enrolled at any accredited university are welcome to apply. The application deadline is March 1, 2025. Decisions will be notified by mid-March.
To apply, you must:
- Have completed at least two semesters at an undergraduate institution prior to the start of this summer program.
- Be in good academic and disciplinary standing.
NYU Shanghai students: Fill out the application form.
NYU New York and NYU Abu Dhabi students: Log on to the application here with your NetID and password. Select "Start NYU Shanghai Summer Study Abroad 2025 Interest Form".
Non-NYU Visiting students from other accredited universities: Create an application ID through the online application. Select "Start NYU Shanghai Summer Study Abroad 2025 Interest Form".
Tuition & Fees
Program Fees for Summer 2025 are $8,665, including:
- Tuition: $5205
- Program Administration Fee (includes international health insurance and all program activities and scheduled trips and excursions): $600
- Books and Course Materials Flat Fee*: $250
- Campus Housing Estimate (double-occupancy): $2,610
Students are responsible for round trip airfare, daily meals, and personal expenses. Immigration costs vary depending on student citizenship.
*All books and materials will be made available upon the start of the course. The flat fee is adjusted after the first week of classes to reflect your actual book charges and any amount paid.
For information about billing, payments, and refunds please visit the Bursar's website.
Financial Assistance
Financial Aid
US citizens/eligible non-citizens (NYU New York and Shanghai Students): Federal financial aid (i.e. federal Direct student/parent loan) is available during the summer session(s) for students enrolled in a minimum of 6 credits, who also have a valid FAFSA on file, and are otherwise eligible.
NYU Shanghai Students: At this time there is no institutional scholarship/grant aid available for summer session(s).
NYU New York Students: Please visit the financial aid website for additional information regarding financial aid options for summer session(s).
All Other Students (including Visiting Students): Visiting students or current NYU students who are not eligible for federal financial aid will be able to seek out alternative loans. Students seeking alternative loans are encouraged to relay to their potential lender the number of credits they are taking and the type of student they are (i.e. in a degree or non-degree program at NYU) as lenders have different eligibility criteria.
NYU cannot recommend or endorse any particular private lender. Students are encouraged to research their options carefully. Please visit the financial aid website for more information about private (non-federal) alternative loans.
Please note:
Students who decrease or cancel summer session enrollment or who do not attend will have their summer award adjusted or canceled accordingly. This adjustment in financial aid may result in a balance on your bursar bill. Changes in enrollment affect the cost of attendance and the amount of aid that you are eligible to receive. Your financial aid cannot exceed your estimated cost of attendance.
Other Source of Aid
Your college or university may also have FLAS (Foreign Language and Area Studies) grants, or other grant programs, available for Chinese language study.
Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship
Available for U.S. citizens who are receiving a Federal Pell Grant. Now available to students of ALL majors.
Boren Awards
The Boren Scholarships and Fellowships programs focus on geographic areas, languages, and fields of study critical to U.S. national security that are not emphasized in other U.S. study abroad programs. Through a merit-based, national, annual competition, successful applicants distinguish themselves as both highly motivated in their academic and career goals, as well as in their strong commitment to public service.
Freeman-ASIA
Freeman Awards for Study in Asia (Freeman-ASIA) provides scholarships for U.S. undergraduate students with demonstrated financial need to study abroad in East or Southeast Asia.
Fulbright Hays Group Project Abroad (GPA) Program
The GPA program is a discretionary grant program designed to contribute to the development and improvement of the study of modern foreign languages and area studies in the United States. Awards are made under the program to conduct overseas group projects in research, training, curriculum development, and advanced foreign language study.
Rotary Foundation Fellowships
Many Rotary Club chapters have scholarships for study abroad. Contact your local Rotary Club for more information. To find a Rotary club near you, please use their Club Locator.
Housing
As an Immersion Program summer student, you are required to live in NYU Shanghai dormitory housing as a condition of the program. Housing is available only for the dates of the program. The earliest move-in date is 9AM on May 20, and the latest move-out date is noon on July 20.
9-week housing rates for the 2024 Immersion Program:
| Room Type | RMB | USD |
| Triple Studio | ¥9,966 | $1,432 |
| Double Studio | ¥13,197 | $1,894 |
| Double In Suite | ¥15,456 | $2,220 |
| Single In Suite | ¥17,907 | $2,569 |
| Premium Single | ¥24,411 | $3,505 |
Contact
If you have any questions, please email shanghai.summer@nyu.edu.