Foreign Languages

The College of Foreign Languages and Cultures of Sichuan University was born from two mergers. First, Sichuan University's famous century-old Department of Foreign Languages and Literature (founded in 1896) was merged with the Foreign Language Department of the former Chengdu University of Science and Technology (CUST).  Shortly thereafter, the new combined department was merged with the Foreign Language Department of the West China University of Medical Sciences (WCUMS).

The College consists of five teaching divisions: the departments of (1) English, (2) Japanese, (3) Russian, (4) French and German, and (5) Foreign Languages for Non-language Majors. 

It also includes a number of research and foreign service institutions.  These are the Centres for (1) Language Training, (2) International Testing, (3) American Studies, (4) Canadian Studies, (5) European Studies, (6) Japanese Language and Literature, (7) French Cultural Research, (8) Russian Cultural Research, (9) Multimedia Teaching, (10)  Modern Teaching, Technology, and Research, and (11) the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Institute.

The College has an excellent faculty and a well-developed educational program.  It has one doctoral program for students in the following fields:  British and American literature, Theories of culture and literary criticism, Translation theory and practice, and Linguistic philosophy. 

It has three postgraduate programs for students of English, Japanese, and Russian.  These are:  English language and literature, Foreign linguistics and Applied linguistics, and Japanese language and literature.  

It also has four undergraduate specialties: English (which includes liberal arts and science students), Japanese, Russian, and French. 

Currently the College has 249 staff members. Among these are over 200 professional teachers, including over 90 professors and associate professors; 410 doctoral and postgraduate students and about 1,000 undergraduate students.

The College is equipped with advanced teaching and research facilities.  At present, the college has several computerized voice labs and multimedia language labs accommodating a total of 1,200 students. These labs are equipped with advanced audio-visual equipment and abundant visual aids.

The College has two libraries: the Basic Depository Library, with a Staff Reading Room and a Student Reading Room, and the Inukai Library, with 50,000 books, magazines, and journals - in Chinese, English, Russian, Japanese, German, Spanish and Esperanto. 

For many years, the College has been responsible for the university's foreign language teaching of undergraduates, postgraduates and doctoral candidates in the liberal arts, science, engineering, and medicine.   In recent years, the faculty of the College has published nearly 100 academic monographs, over 600 academic papers and regular academic publications in a number of respected journals.  These include Foreign Language Teaching and Research, Collections of Essays on Foreign Languages, Literature and Cultures, Collections of Essays on American Studies, and Collections of Essays on Foreign Language Teaching and Research..

The College has always believed in the cultivation of comprehensive qualities in its students.  It insists on intensive study, high professional ethics, the synchronization of teaching and research, and the all-round development of general knowledge with basic skills.

Students of the College have always actively participated in national and local foreign language competitions and have received many awards.  Our students have won the first and second prizes for the "21st Century Cup" Speech Contest; two first prizes (in succession) in the National English Contests for College Students (NECCS); third prize, and best debater prize in the FLTRP Cup English Debating Competition; "Best Impromptu Speech" and the "Audience's Choice Award" in the "CCTV Cup” National English Speech Contest; first prize in the Russian Language and Cultural Knowledge Contest, held in Southern China; and first prize in the Sichuan Provincial College Students Japanese Speech Contest.  Many of our award winners have gained opportunities for short-term academic visits or for financed long-term study abroad.

The College has hosted frequent academic exchanges with renowned international universities and research institutions, including those in Hong Kong and Taiwan.  Each year, celebrated experts and professors come from America, Britain, Canada, Australia, Russia, Japan, France, Germany and Korea to teach or give lectures to students and faculty.  The Japanese Department and French and German Department have developed student exchange programs with renowned Japanese and French universities. 

The teachers of the College have received financial support from a number of overseas organizations and institutions.  As a result, many of its members have had the chance to lecture, visit, or pursue advanced study abroad.

The College has also been approved by the State's Ministry of Education (MOE) to have cooperative education with the French government.  The specialization of English language and literature of the College is a provincial key discipline.