• Empowering the Future of Cantonese at UC Berkeley

    Join the movement to expand Cantonese education and cultural preservation

  • About the Campaign

    Cantonese at UC Berkeley is a growing and essential program that supports heritage speakers and introduces new learners to one of the world’s most vibrant languages. UC Berkeley houses North America's premier East Asian language study center, but Cantonese remains a fledgling program within it, needing additional resources to achieve parity with its peer languages.

     

    Save Cantonese is proud to collaborate with UC Berkeley to transform the university into a center of academic and cultural excellence for Cantonese studies. Our vision extends beyond Cantonese, aiming to support Taiwanese and other underrepresented Sinitic languages. Together, we can ensure these programs flourish.

     

    Read more here: English, 粵語, one pager

    Cantonese Expansion at UC Berkeley

    Be part of the Cantonese expansion at UC Berkeley!

    • Donate directly to support the Cantonese program: Support UC Berkeley Cantonese Program
    • Help us establish a second Cantonese lecturer position, extending the one-year program to a three-year program.

    Cantonese is the most widely spoken non-English language in the Bay Area, and Berkeley is one of the few universities in the region that offers Cantonese. Classes consistently reach and exceed capacity, underscoring the urgent need to expand the program. Your contributions will enable Cantonese to grow its wings and reach more students locally and globally.

    Our Goals

    • Create a second lecturer position to expand the Cantonese program to three years
    • Elevate Cantonese to a thriving program comparable to other East Asian languages
    • Grow the program to benefit Cantonese diasporas and enrich cultural diversity

    Why This Matters

    Cultural Connection: Preserve Cantonese as a vital heritage language.

    Global Impact: Cantonese speakers worldwide rely on educational hubs like UC Berkeley for cultural and linguistic preservation.

    Student Demand: Cantonese classes consistently exceed capacity, demonstrating strong interest and growth potential.

    Key Highlights

    From the UC Berkeley Division of Arts & Humanities:

    • Over 20 of the 60 languages taught at Berkeley are Asian languages
    • Cantonese is one of only six languages offered through the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures (EALC)
    • Berkeley’s library houses 1+ million print volumes in Asian languages, the largest collection in the U.S. outside the Library of Congress

    The newly created Cantonese & Regional Sinitic Languages Fund will allow UC Berkeley to provide a broader and more inclusive curriculum. Reaching the goal of $800,000 will:

    • Hire one lecturer to teach five courses annually for six years (up to 600 students)
    • Fund two additional lecturers for three years
    • Support programming to meet growing demand for Cantonese instruction

    We were also featured in this article highlighting our efforts, where our key volunteers Ryan and Sam were quoted.

    Support the Campaign

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