Berkeley's instructors in Chinese take a strongly multi-modal approach to the learning of the language. They not only use but have been active in developing web-based multimedia tools-online listening tests, for example, and an online traditional and simplified Chinese character tutoring program-to maximize student progress and teach students in a nurturing learning environment. The elementary course develops listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in modern standard (Mandarin) Chinese, using pinyin and simplified characters; the intermediate level continues to develop these skills, teaching both simplified and traditional characters. About one teacher in last summer's intensive Chinese program, a student writes, "Of about 16+ language instructors I've had over 16 years," she "is at the top of the list."
The San Francisco Bay Area, home to a large and diverse Asian-American and Asian Pacific community, provides many amenities of special interest of Chinese language ane culture. Chinese films are frequently shown off campus, and the campus Pacific Film Archive maintains one of the largest collections of Asian films in the world. There is regular programming in Chinese on local television channels. There are many Chinese bookstores and innumerable Chinese restaurants and markets. There are also excellent permanent collections of Asian art, as well as frequent special exhibitions at the University Art Museum on campus, the Asian Art Museum and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, and the Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University. Here on campus, the ongoing Berkeley China Initiative is bringing together UC Berkeley's exceptional resources to strengthen research and teaching about China across all disciplines and professions, forge new international partnerships, and enrich public life by communicating those results.
