School of Chinese Studies

Immersive Mandarin Summer Program for Children (ages 2-15)

July 10 – August 18, for children ages 2-15:

This summer, we invite your child(ren) to China Institute’s in-person immersive Mandarin summer program in downtown Manhattan to explore Chinese language and culture! With flexible scheduling, our 6-week summer program offers students a simulating “journey” through three most popular Chinese festivals: Dragon Boat festival, originally regarded as a traditional medical and health festival; Mid-autumn festival, a celebration of autumn harvests and the appreciation of the moon; and the most important and festive of all – Lunar New Year!

Our accredited educators will create an engaging and interactive learning experience for young students with a wide range of content-based Chinese activities, including Chinese literature for Children, musical instrument workshops, Peking opera and shadow puppet workshops, arts and science projects, and more! Whether your child(ren) is a beginner or advanced student of Chinese language, our summer program will help them gain confidence and make significant progress in their conversational and literacy skills.

Learning Chinese language is a meaningful way to keep your child intellectually challenged, inspired, and engaged. Upon registration, students will be carefully placed in an age-appropriate group with similar language levels. Options for half-day, full-day, or weekly enrollment are available.

Students will also participate in various cultural activities, such as Chinese water painting, calligraphy, Chinese sports, and culinary, as well as weekly music and theatre workshops on Wednesdays that will broaden students’ horizons of Chinese culture and arts!

Unsure of your child’s Chinese language level? Please contact our program director Yonglian Xiao at [email protected] or call 212-744-8181, ext. 110 to schedule a free online language proficiency consultation.

For questions, please contact our Children and Youth Programs director Yonglian Xiao at [email protected] or call 212-744-8181, ext. 110.

Our Amazing Team

Our experienced instructors and staff are passionate about bringing a fun and enriching summer to your child(ren). Lead teachers are all native speakers of Chinese and well trained in teaching Chinese as a second language, as well as early childhood education. Young camp counselors who have studied Chinese are carefully selected from all over the nation to work with our program.

A sample schedule for one day of the summer program

Half-day schedule: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM from Mondays to Fridays
Full-day schedule: 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM from Mondays to Fridays

A cultural workshop is arranged every Wednesday from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM.

Read and See More about Our Summer Program:

Check out our Summer Program Blog to get a sneak peek into some of this summer’s fun activities!

Hear from parents on what makes our Summer Program an enriching experience:

Testimonials

Joseph B. (Summer 2021 – Fall 2022)

“I think it is incredibly important for people to learn Chinese these days. Children should learn when they can because it’s a lot easier for them to learn a language when they are young. My daughter seems to be learning a lot from the classes at China Institute. She was correcting my Chinese. Well, this is a definitely a positive direction! Let’s keep going with this!”

Vincent R. (Summer 2022)

“During the summer program, everybody here was very kind to my daughter. At home, we have only English and French. It was important for her to be here. My daughter really like the classes because she felt really comfortable. Every day she was coming home with new ideas. She learned a lot of things. We will recommend China Institute to everyone else. It’s such as friendly environment. The class is small. The teachers are giving attention to everyone.”

Alex P. (Summer 2022)

“My son is half Chinese. It’s part of who he is, so it’s important for him to know the language, know the culture, so he understands fundamentally who he is. So, eventually, when he grows up, he wants to spread his wings, there is so much opportunity out there in the world. It’s doing him a service as a parent… I see the greatest growth in Henry’s language ability in the last six weeks (of China Institute’s summer program). Now he actually uses some Chinese words and sings Chinese songs without prompting. If we are talking about reinforcing a decision on why this place is a good school for Henry, and a good place to educate him, it is a solid reason. The experience with China Institute is very fun! Henry gets very excited to come in the morning. He will tell us to be quick in the morning, so that he can come to school. When he comes home, he will tell us about his school. He will be excited!”

Hongchen W. (Summer 2022)

“We wanted our daughter to learn Chinese. It’s not only about the culture, identity, but more about culture heritage. My self, as a linguist, I think learning multiple languages will help our kids to develop their cognitive and communicative skills. That’s why we wanted our daughter to get into this immersive Chinese program in the summer… If you want to really know how to speak a language or communicate with the speakers of that language, you really need to know the culture part, the philosophy part. That’s the part I think China Institute stands out! My daughter really enjoyed the summer program. She would tell me: “We learned some songs, and we drew and danced, and I also played with my friends.” Sometimes, when she’s back home, she would even say “Tomorrow, I will see that friend or that teacher!”

Alessia N. (Spring 2020 – Spring 2022)

“Our six-year-old daughter has blossomed during her Mandarin Studies at the China Institute. In a matter of a handful of weeks, she has quickly adjusted to the style of her teachers, from summer intensive to weekly private instruction. She looks forward to every class and enjoys bringing her learning back in our daily life with curiosity and genuine desire to communicate with Mandarin and non-Mandarin speakers about her experience. Impressive teachers and impeccable educational curriculum!”

Marta W. (Spring 2020 – Spring 2022)

“Neither my husband and myself have any background in Chinese, so we were looking around the city or organizations that provided Chinese language instruction to very young children. We were so happy to send our daughter to China Institute’s summer program. A big part of is the engagement. The teacher was so engaging and consistently working with our daughter to see what she was interested in, like what she would bring to class that day.”

Christopher K. (Summer 2021 – Spring 2022)

“My child gets opportunity to learn both Chinese culture and language, which means a lot to me and my daughter. China Institute is one of the rare places, and I’m so glad to be a supporter.”

Wilson L. (Summer 2021)

“My daughter made friends at China Institute’s summer program. She’s always smiling. She’s happy. She talks about what they did in class, so I know she’s having a good time. The amazing thing is like we would come home and she start speaking to us in Chinese. If you are interested in Chinese culture, and China Institute is a great place to learn more.”

Having questions for us? We got the answers for you!

Read more about some frequently asked questions from our parents.