Leaping language hurdles alongside Olympians

According to The New York Times, the U.S. Olympic Team will be training and eating at Beijing Normal University, the same institution that has been hosting PiB students for eight weeks every summer since 1993.

Though the main focus of PiB is improvement of Chinese language skills through intensive immersion, the Olympics have boosted interest in this year’s program.

“There is somewhat greater interest in PiB this year because of the Olympics, but not that much extra,” Perry Link, associate director of PiB and professor of East-Asian studies, said in an e-mail. “PiB is a very intensive and demanding language program. Students know this, and this is why they go. The Olympics are only a sidelight.”

As athletes and tourists plan to flock to Beijing this summer, it was harder to find accommodations for PiB students. The program will be about 10 percent smaller than last year’s record-high 167 students, Link said.

“Dorms, beds and classrooms will be quite tight this summer,” said Chih-p’ing Chou, PiB director and professor of East-Asian studies. “We still at this moment will be able to admit no less than 140 students.”

The program fee for the eight weeks in Beijing will not rise, but students may still have to pay more for the summer experience.

“We did not increase [any prices] for our students,” Chou said. “This year we will actually subsidize for every student at least $500.”

Airfares, however, will rise because of high demand for transportation to the Olympics, Link said.

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“I think the Olympics will cause prices to be uncharacteristically high,” previous PiB participant Tony Hu ’10 added. “It will probably stay pretty cheap [compared to U.S. prices,] but there will be a noticeable increase due to the influx of foreigners.”

The effectiveness of the program itself is also at risk. PiB has a strict language pledge and threatens expulsion to participants who do not speak exclusively in Chinese at all times, Vanessa Folkerts ’10 said.

Folkerts, who attended PiB last year and plans to return to Beijing this summer, added that students desiring to talk with American athletes may find themselves in an awkward situation.

“It’s much more likely that PiB students will be seeing foreigners as opposed to when I was there,” Hu said. “We usually only saw them when we went to sites with tourists. Otherwise, we were in a part of Beijing with a small foreign presence.”

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Despite these issues, Beijing will be safer and cleaner than ever, Chou said. With the athletes in such close proximity, security will be tight. Measures are already being taken in China to limit air pollution, including restricting vehicular traffic in the city.

“Some of the sights that were closed for renovation when I was there will probably be open,” Hu noted.

“It’ll be a very good summer actually, but it will be crowded,” Chou said.

Students at the program may have little chance to attend Olympic events, both because of the difficulty of obtaining tickets and the intense workload of PiB.

“The program is organized in such a way that you are in class from 7:30 [a.m.] to mid-afternoon with tests every day, learning one week’s worth of [material you would learn at] Princeton every day,” Folkerts explained. “I doubt there are many people who are going to see the Olympics.”

Despite the demands of PiB, Folkerts has already purchased a ticket to the games, though she added that evening events are not as good.

“Although not as exciting as women’s gymnastics, I will be attending a handball match,” she said, laughing. “I’ve already bought my Roots U.S. Olympic gear.”