students graduating from the chinese flagship program

Program Overview

About the Language Flagship

The Language Flagship leads the nation in designing, supporting, and implementing a new paradigm for advanced language education.

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Overview

The Language Flagship

Through an innovative collaboration among federal government agencies, educational institutions, and businesses, the Language Flagship prepares undergraduate and graduate students in all fields to take their place among the next generation of global professionals, commanding a superior level of fluency in one of many languages critical to U.S. competitiveness and security. Currently funded programs are in Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, and Russian.

The Language Flagship Program

The Language Flagship Program is comprised of both domestic and overseas study. Hunter College is one of eight universities that offer domestic Chinese Flagship Programs. The other institutions are Arizona State University, Indiana University, University of Minnesota, University of Mississippi, University of Rhode Island, University of North Georgia, and Western Kentucky University.

The Chinese Flagship Program at Hunter College

The Chinese Flagship Program at Hunter College, City University of New York is a rigorous undergraduate program of study in Mandarin Chinese language and culture that aims to enable highly-motivated undergraduate students of all majors to achieve a superior level of proficiency in Chinese. The program welcomes applications from current Hunter College students, high school seniors who have been admitted to Hunter College or Macaulay Honors College at Hunter, and undergraduates from all majors and at all levels of proficiency in Chinese who seek to achieve a professional level of competence.

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Curriculum

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student presenting project
Stage One

The curriculum is designed for entry at any point. We welcome students with zero Chinese language background, first-year beginners, intermediate students, advanced students, and heritage and non-heritage students.

Language proficiency in all modalities is gained through a variety of courses (large class, small class, and one-on-one sessions). Advanced students train with language tutors who have the same professional areas of interest or majors as the Flagship students. If face-to-face meetings cannot be arranged, instruction can be conducted in the online live classroom platform where users on both ends can communicate and share documents in text, audio, and video formats.

Students have access to web-based multimedia materials designed for learning Chinese. These materials allow students to practice daily language functions, read essays and stories, and write in Chinese.

During the semester, abundant cultural activities, internships, and community service projects are available for students to take part in to hone their cultural knowledge and professional language skills.

Stage Two

Flagship students with advanced-level proficiency will focus on developing professional language skills in their majors. Hunter College offers the best quality of Chinese language courses and content-based interdisciplinary courses taught in Chinese or English. Students receive individualized assistance from professional instructors who are native speakers of Chinese and who have expertise in students’ areas of study.

Students can participate in a summer internship in translation and interpretation in New York City. We will help students who have achieved advanced level proficiency apply for scholarships to the year-long Capstone study abroad program in Taiwan.

Enrichment Programs

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professor teaching students
Summer Enrichment Program

Newly accepted Flagship students are invited to participate in a 7-week Summer Enrichment Program offered by the Hunter Flagship Center. This non-credit-bearing program is free of tuition and provides students with an opportunity to:

  • Experience the Flagship approach to learning Chinese, a challenging yet rewarding language.
  • Build connections with fellow Flagship students.
  • Participate in cultural activities and field trips to Chinatown, museums, and historical and cultural sites in New York City.
Summer 2025 Program Dates
  • In-Person Component: June 30 - July 25
    • Location: Hunter College Campus
    • Schedule: Monday – Thursday, 10 AM – 3 PM
    • Fridays (July 11, July 18, and July 25): classes will be held online instead of in-person
  • Online Component: July 28 - August 15
    Staring from July 28, all classes will be held online via Zoom. Students will receive 1.5 hour of online group class plus one hour of 1-1 tutoring session daily, Monday – Friday.
Winter Enrichment Program

Flagship students are invited to participate in a 10-day Winter Enrichment Program that usually starts the week after New Years and ends the week before the Spring Semester starts. Students will receive 1.5 hours of online group instruction and 1 hour of online one-on-one instruction Monday to Friday. The winter session is also non-credit bearing so students will not need to pay tuition.

Flagship Capstone Year

The Chinese Flagship Overseas Capstone Program, currently located in National Chengchi University (NCCU) in Taiwan and administered by Hunter College, offers a year of language and culture study abroad. The Capstone Program includes Flagship Center classes, direct enrollment courses at NCCU, and an internship in Taipei. The Capstone year abroad is required for all Flagship students, and is designed to help them achieve their goal of reaching a professional level of Chinese language proficiency by graduation.

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Alumni

As of June 2022, over 90 students have completed the Hunter Chinese Flagship program and have earned Flagship certification.