Through the Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) Staff Engagement portfolio, twelve (12) staff members across various departments participated in an Introduction to Mandarin course dubbed ‘Survival Chinese’. The course was launched on November 8, 2022 and was delivered over four weeks through weekly 1-hour face to face and 1-hour online sessions. In addressing the importance of pursuing the course, Prof. Tannecia Stephenson (Deputy Dean, FST) with responsibility for staff engagement noted, “the course aimed to expose staff to the Chinese language and culture to broaden our experiences, help us to be conversant at a very basic level and to improve our appreciation of the cultures that are part of Jamaica’s rich history and heritage.” Ms. Trudy Brown, a Technical staff in the Department of Life Sciences said she found the course to be comprehensive as in addition to learning the language, she was exposed to the history and popular culture. She further encourages other colleagues to make use of similar opportunities.

Survival Chinese was offered in partnership with the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, Faculty of Humanities and Education, The UWI Mona and the Chinese Embassy.

Follow the Faculty of Science and Technology on Instagram @uwimona_fst and on Facebook at @ The Faculty of Science and Technology, The UWI Mona. For enquiries, WhatsApp us at 1-876 552-4691, call us at 1-876-977-1785 or email us at fst@uwimona.edu.jm.