The Chinese language is the oldest written language in the world with at least six thousand years of history. Chinese character inscriptions have been found in turtle shells dating back to the Shang dynasty (1766-1123 BC) proving the written language has existed for more than 3,000 years. The Chinese written language uses single distinctive symbols, or characters, to represent each word of the vocabulary. The vast majority of characters are written versions of spoken sounds that have meaning.

In an attempt to make the Chinese language more understandable to the western world, China developed the "pinyin" (pin-yin) system. The pinyin system uses the western alphabet and spelling to pronounce Chinese words. Chinese languages have been transliterated into the pinyin system since 1892 (except personal and location names). Primarily Chinese in China uses simplified characters. It is taught in Mandarin-Chinese classes internationally as well. These characters are simpler, i.e., have less pen-strokes, than traditional Chinese characters.

This program is a perfect combination of intensive one-on-one Chinese course and volunteering opportunities in China. Volunteering in China means living and working alongside local people and gaining a better understanding of Chinese culture. Students will have 4 hours’ one-on-one Chinese lessons with a professional Chinese teacher in the morning to have some drills in Chinese language which they will be using when doing the volunteer work in the afternoon. Many students find this is a great program for self-exploration, self-fulfillment and spiritual enhancement. Most of the time, helping others is a way to help ourselves.