Alamo Community Colleges News & Events

SAC Responds to World Events with Variety of Foreign Language Offerings

For Immediate Release
July 31, 2007
Contact: Deborah Martin, San Antonio College, Public Relations
(210) 733-2149
dmartin@accd.edu

Chinese is the most-recent foreign language course to be offered at San Antonio College. Started last year in an effort to help students keep up with world events, it will again be offered this fall semester, which starts August 27. In the course, students learn to speak Mandarin Chinese, and to read and write traditional Chinese characters.

Beginning Chinese I (CHIN 1411) and Beginning Chinese II (CHIN 1412) will be offered on the SAC main campus, 1300 San Pedro Ave., during day and evening times.

“Typical Chinese language students have been working professionals who are interested in international business, and professors from our college and other area institutions,” said Instructor Len McClure, who lived in Hong Kong, Singapore, and China for over 20 years. “Some had already traveled to China and found it fascinating, and plan to go back, now with the ability to speak to the language.”

McClure went on to explain that Chinese is not the difficult language that most people think. “There is no conjugation of verbs. Also, writing characters is fun - there's a logic to it,” he said.

Other languages with current world interest taught at SAC include Arabic and Japanese, as well as French, German, Italian and Spanish. The courses incorporate international curriculum and partially fulfill International Studies Certificate* requirements. Also, SAC offers an academic English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program that leads to college admission.

In addition to classroom instruction, foreign language courses include work in the language lab. With provision of additional resources such as video and audio tapes, foreign films, dictionaries and other resource books and tutoring services, work in the lab helps reinforce language learning.

For more information, contact the SAC Foreign Languages department at (210) 733-2620 or visit www.accd.edu/sac/forlang/home.htm. Registration for Fall classes continues online and on-campus through August 25. New students should allow extra time for enrollment and counseling. For registration details, visit www.accd.edu/sac.

* SAC students may earn an International Studies Certificate by completing a 12-hour international concentration within their degree plan. With select courses across a variety of disciplines, the initiative strives to increase students’ knowledge of history, culture and languages from other countries. Details at www.accd.edu/sac/history/itc/certificates.htm.