Chinese is being spoken for the first time in a Saint Anselm College classroom this fall, with 35 students taking two sections of Elementary Chinese I, the start of a two-year pilot program.
Jessie Tsai is the teacher of "Mandarin" Chinese, which is the Beijing 
dialect and the standard form of the language. A native of Taipei, Taiwan, Tsai holds a master's degree in Chinese literature from the National Taiwan Normal University and has taught Chinese to children from diverse backgrounds.
Xiaofang (Amanda) Qian functions as a native speaker and meets with students for weekly conversation sessions. She comes to Saint Anselm from Beijing through the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program. Qian holds a master's degree in English Language and Literature from Beijing Normal University and has taught both English to Chinese students and Chinese to foreign students.
"We are delighted that our incoming class has shown such an interest in Chinese," says Fr. Augustine Kelly, O.S.B., dean of the college. "I believe that this reflects an appreciation by this generation of the increasing importance of China in the world scene."
For several years, Bro. Andrew Thornton, O.S.B., associate professor of Modern Languages, has advocated introducing Chinese at Saint Anselm. He holds a Ph.D. in German studies and Humanities from Stanford University, but also has a strong interest in Chinese language and culture. He visited China and Taiwan, and in 2002 led a group of students and faculty members on a three-week study tour of China. Last semester, he participated in a course in classical Chinese language at Harvard University. In the philosophy department, he teaches classes in Confucian thinking and Daoism.
"China is the biggest act in town and is going to be for a good long time, in my opinion," Bro. Andrew says. "Anyone who is interested in international work would be well served to know even a little Chinese." By exposing themselves to Chinese, a language without tenses, gender or plural forms, students will also learn something about Chinese thinking and culture. "Our students will very quickly understand that Chinese people think very, very differently than we do," he says.
Photo by Doug Minor
Native speaker Xiaofang Qian, left, and lecturer Jessi Tsai, right, are bringing Mandarin Chinese to campus.
(Bottom image) Saint Anselm College written in Chinese characters.