【背景介绍】

从2008年开始，西安外事学院正式与美国湖郡学院开展“中国一学期”项目，即该校学生在西安外事学院就读一学期，选修中国语言文化和有关专业课程，湖郡学院及其同盟院校承认学分。西安外事学院为这些学生开设的课程主要包括汉语课，中国文学与艺术、中国社会与文化、经济学基础等。除汉语课外，其他课程均以英语为授课语言，由中方教师承担。美方带队老师也视个人所从事的专业，开设有关课程，由外事学院学生和美方学生一起选修。国际合作学院与美国湖郡学院（College of Lake County）合作举办的第四届留学生学分课程教育项目已于2013年9月9日开课。这是我院iFP项目学生首次与美方学生同班进行专业课的学习，取得了良好的互动效果。此次学习为期15周。

美国教育部大学教育办公室及国际教育办公室2013年6月简报特刊报道我校与美国湖郡学院学期学分合作项目。

原文如下：

College of Lake County’s semester in China offers life-changing opportunities

Since 2008, 60 Illinois community college students have enjoyed a unique, affordable and life-changing opportunity to study and live in China at Xi’an International University (XAIU). The program was partially funded by a U.S. Department of Education Title VI-A grant awarded to the College of Lake County (CLC) of Grayslake, Ill.

CLC sponsored three semester-long trips to Xi’an in 2008, 2009 and 2011, and 14 students will spend fall semester 2013 in China. CLC has established a close partnership with XAIU to provide opportunities for students and faculty members, who benefit greatly from their educational and cultural experiences in China. CLC students experience life as Chinese university students through active campus life, sports and academic activities. Students pay about $4,500 for the semester-long program.

As students prepared for the semester-long programs in 2008 and 2009, enrollment in Chinese language courses jumped 300 percent. In addition to the trips, CLC created more Chinese language courses and new transferable, general education courses. The college now offers four levels of Chinese language courses in the fall, spring and summer sessions.

CLC English Professor Michael Latza, who accompanied 18 students in 2008, taught two English classes to international students at XIAU and participated in two other courses. He said the Illinois students quickly learned to navigate the city and university.

“Our students became very accomplished at surviving and thriving on their own in a large foreign city -- skills that will be handy for anyone who wants to do business in China. It was an opportunity for students to take control of their own lives, to be responsible for themselves in a substantial way, which fosters personal growth,” Latza said.

“I believe the lessons I am learning will help me throughout my academic and professional career,” said former student Peter Murphy while studying in China in 2009. “There are very few community colleges offering a program like this, and because I am an international business major who is very interested in China’s growing effect on the world, it just feels like the obvious thing to do.”

Dr. Li-hua Yu, CLC faculty coordinator of international education, said that without the Department of Education grant, CLC students would not have had this opportunity to learn Chinese and study in China. “CLC is the only community college with a semester-long study abroad program in China. “Our students understand how important China is and they seize this opportunity,” she said.

Six of the 60 CLC students who studied in China and then transferred to four-year universities later returned to China to launch their careers, according to Dr. Yu. “One of our students later went to Shanghai for a semester while he was attending New York University, and three students married Chinese women and now live there,” she said. “To these students, the experience of studying in China during their first few years in college was truly life changing.”

While in Xi’an, CLC groups have ventured to other cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. Visiting cultural landmarks such as the Terra Cotta Museum and historical sites have been part of the co-curriculum activities for the program. “For our students and faculty, opportunities like this are priceless,” said Dr. Yu.

Josh Bradley, a student who participated in one of the trips, agrees.

“My decision to go abroad solely relied upon my desire to escape the world I had grown so accustomed to so that I could experience something unique and amazing. While I did not know it at the time, my small spark of interest in China would eventually become a fire. Everything that I do now has ties to my time there and what I want to do in the future,” he said.

“Before I had gone to China I had no idea where my life was headed. Once I came back from China, so much had changed,” Bradley explained. “I began focusing my efforts in Mandarin because it was something that I truly enjoyed and felt that I could do well. I immediately expressed interest in going back to China and managed to do so another two times after the first semester had ended. My understanding of the world around me changed. Views on people, culture, religion, modern languages, all changed because of a single semester in another location.”

In fall of 2010, the semester-long study abroad program become a permanent program sponsored by the Illinois Community College Consortium of International Studies and Programs (ICISP), thus making this study abroad experience accessible to any student who attends one of the 38 community colleges that are members of the ICISP organization. With the support of ICISP, this program will be able to maintain the consistently high enrollment necessary to continue to provide Illinois community college students this uniquely affordable and accessible opportunity.

In addition, as the result of another U.S. Department of Education Title VI-A grant CLC received with Joliet Junior College (Joliet, Ill.) between 2010-2013, CLC is in the process of developing similar programs at Ehime University of Japan and Jordan University of Sciences and Technology at Irbid, Jordan. CLC students who are interested in studying Japanese and Arabic languages will be provided with opportunities for Japanese and Arabic language emersion programs in the near future. About 20 CLC students have already participated in three-week Study Abroad Programs to Japan in 2012 and to Jordan in 2013.

中国一学期， 改变你的一生

（摘译）

2008年以来，60名伊利诺伊社区大学的学生去中国西安的西安外事学院学习、生活，时间为一学期，对他们来讲，那是从未有过的，也可以说改变一生的经历，而且花费不多。他们所在的学校湖郡学院从美国教育部申请了VI-A项目资助，为他们支付了部分费用。

湖郡学院分别于2008、2009和2011年选派了三批学生，去西安外事学院就读。2013年秋季学期，又有14名学生将赴西安。湖郡学院与西安外事学院建立了紧密的合作关系，因此该校的学生与教师获得了去中国学习和进行文化交流的机会。通过积极参加校园各类活动与学术交流，湖郡学院的学生们体验中国大学生的校园生活，受益匪浅。

2008与2009年，“中国一学期”项目刚启动时，报名学习汉语的学生猛增了300%。除了去中国学习外，湖郡学院还开设了更多的汉语课程和新的可转换的通识课程。学院现在秋季、春季和夏季学期中开设四个级别的汉语课程。

湖郡学院英语专业Michael Latza教授2008年与18名学生一起去了西安。 他说，来自伊利诺伊的学生很快就熟悉了这所大学和西安市的环境。

Latza教授说，“在西安这个陌生的大城市，我们的学生很快地适应了环境，生活得相当惬意。这种能力对任何有意在中国经商的人来说都是必不可少的。对于我的学生们来说，那是一种自控能力，自我负责的能力，也是不断成长的过程。”

2009年去西安就读的Peter Murphy说，“我相信，我现在学习的课程会对我的整个学术与职业生涯有所帮助。”那时他还是湖郡学院的一名学生。“很少有社区学院能够提供这样的项目。我是一名国际商务专业的学生，中国在世界上的影响力越来越大，我对此很感兴趣，这是很自然的事情。”

湖郡学院的国际教育教师协调人余丽华博士认为，没有教育部的资助，湖郡学院的学生就没有机会学习汉语，并赴中国学习。“湖郡学院是唯一一所能够提供在中国学习长达一学期的社区学院。我们的学生了解中国的重要性，也抓住了机会。”

60名在中国学习过一学期的学生中，已有6名转入四年制大学学习，并在毕业后回到中国找到了工作。一名学生后来转入纽约大学学习，期间在中国上海度过了一学期的时间。还有三名学生娶了中国姑娘，都留在中国生活。“对于这些学生和教师，大学生活中最初几年中在中国的学习经历确实改变了他们的一生。

在西安学习期间，湖郡学院的学生也曾经去北京和上海等其他城市旅游。参观例如兵马俑博物馆这样标志性的历史文化名胜也是这“中国一学期”项目的有机组成部分。这种机会对于美国学生和教师非常宝贵。

曾经参加过“中国一学期”项目的学生Josh Bradley同样持这一观点。他说：“我原来只是想逃离那个再熟悉不过的环境，出去见见世面。不经意间，我对中国的兴趣越来越大。一个小火花燃成了一团大火。中国造就了我的现在，也会成就我的未来。”

“在我去中国之前，我完全不知道我要干什么。从中国回来后，我真的变了。”Bradley说。“我开始努力学习中文，因为我真的喜欢，而且也学得很好。我很快表达了自己想再去中国的意愿，并在第一学期结束后又去了两次。我对于自己周围世界的认识也改变了。只是因为在另一个地方待过一学期，我对于人类、文化、宗教、现代语言的观点都变了。”

2010年秋季，“中国一学期”项目成为由伊利诺伊社区学院国际研究与交流项目协会(ICISP)资助的永久性项目。这样一来，任何一位在该组织38所成员学院注册的学生都可以参加这个海外学习项目。有了ICISP的支持，这一项目将会一直保持很高的注册率，保证其持续发展。