Introduction
The Chinese Language Education Center (CLEC) at Providence Catholic University (PU) was established at the direction of the previous President of the University, Dr. Chia-Tong Lee, in the winter semester of 1994. And it was accredited by the Ministry of Education (MOE) on the 15 of November of 1996. It is an affiliate institution under the immediate control of the College of Liberal Arts and belongs to the group of thirty Chinese teaching institutions enjoying by the MOE recognition. CLEC used to be an affiliate institution under the immediate control of the College of Liberal Arts. Recent transition, however, has taken place and CLEC is under the Office of International Affairs beginning the first semester of 2011. CLEC is located in Shalu, the west of Taichung, and is said to have the best weather conditions on the island. Temples and old houses scattered in this small town will definitely lead you to investigate more about its history. CLEC aims to provide interested students with the best possible opportunity to learn Mandarin Chinese and to study various aspects of Chinese culture. The center’s instructors are all native Mandarin speakers and most of them are able to speak English and other foreign languages. Instructors are able to offer bilingual instruction to beginners and entirely Chinese instruction to advanced students. They have all received rigorous training in Chinese and foreign languages, linguistics, literature, history and philosophy.

CLEC Mission: To uphold Chinese culture and promote International student exchange.

CLEC Goal: To provide Chinese Mandarin language and cultural classes to all foreign students.

Teachers
CLEC, at the present, has 24 full-time and part-time instructors. Teachers are holders of master’s or bachelor’s degree with professional experience in Chinese language instruction. Our teachers have been trained by CLEC, National Teacher Normal University, Taipei Language Institute, and Chinese Department and the Graduate School of Western Language and Literature. The teacher/student ratio is kept at 1:7.

Students
At the present, there are foreign students from 40 countries studying Chinese in CLEC. They are from Japan, Korea, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Israel, Vietnam, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India, Turkey, Jordan, Malaysia (Asia), America, Canada, Brazil, Valenzuela, Columbia, Peru, Prague (America), Germany, England, Ireland, Hungry, France, Swiss, Netherlands, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Belgium (Europe), South Africa, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria (Africa), Australia and New Zealand (Oceania).

Characteristic
* Small classes
* Professional in teaching
* Many extra-curricular activities
* Clean environment
* Free use the equipment of school, like library, swimming pool, video center., etc.

Exchange Agreements with Forein Institutions
The CLEC of Providence University admits exchange students from sister' institutions, namely Victoria University of Technology (Australia), Australian Catholic University, the University of Notre Dame (Australia), Kagoshima Immaculate Heart University (Japan), Fukuhara Gakuen University (Japan), Seisen University (Japan), Shirayuri College (Japan), Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) in Indiana (U.S.A.), Assumption College in Massachusetts (U.S.A.), University of Utah (U.S.A.), the University of Montana (U.S.A.), University of Northern Colorado(USA), the University of Texas at San Antonio (U.S.A.), Assumption University in Bangkok (Thailand), Bournemouth University (UK), the University of Northumbria at Newcastle (UK), St. Mary's College (UK), La Universidad de Salamanca (Spain), La Universidad de Valladolid (Spain), Pazmany Peter Katolikus Egyetem (Hungry), Universidad of Santo Tomas (Chile), Universidad Catolica de Honduras Nuestra Senora Reina de la Paz, (Honduras), Universidad Santo Tomas de Oriente y Mediodia, Granada (Nicaragua), The Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana Seccional Bucaramanga (Colombia), Phillips Exeter Academy in Massachusetts (U.S.A.) and Association of Christian Universities and Colleges in Asia Member Institutions.