Immersing in a natural environment to learn language
There is no better way to learn a language than to actually live in a place where it is spoken and to come into direct contact with the people and the culture. This is what BEd(L) students do for one semester of their programme. English major students study for a full 15-week semester in an English-speaking country, such as Australia, Canada or the UK; Chinese major students study in China. Students in China stay in hostels on the university campus while English major students have home-stay in host families.

During immersion students are expected to study non-language elective modules as well as language modules. English major students have options which have included philosophy, sociology, anthropology and astronomy. Their counterparts in the Chinese major, on the other hand, immerse themselves in Chinese culture, both in breadth and depth, by studying classical literature (e.g. The Books of Songs and Zhuangzi) and acquainting themselves with different cultural forms such as Suzhou garden arrangements, Kunqu opera, Chinese paintings and the zither.

A feature common to both groups of students is the opportunity to mingle with local students, participate in the host university activities and take part in a wide variety of cultural visits. Students returning from the immersion semester all agree that the experience has a profound impact on their personal development. They realise their horizon and vision have been broadened, their confidence level boosted, a global vision formed and, perhaps more importantly, language proficiency greatly enhanced.