Xiamen University of Technology (XUT) has announced a new major course on southern Fujian dialect, or Minnan, starting this fall, Xiamen Daily reports.

It will become the first university in Xiamen to do so, and plans to enroll six students for the first year, according to Guo Xiaohua, dean of the school of digital creativity, adding that previously Minnan was commonly arranged as an optional course among Xiamen’s colleges.

“From the standpoint of cross-Straits communications, and given that Xiamen is so close to Taiwan geographically, we think it is time to elevate Minnan’s role and make it a specialized course,” he said.

Candidates applying for the course will have to take an additional Minnan test prior to their enrollment. The test will include pronunciation, self-introduction and free talks in Minnan.

Students majoring in Minnan will mainly polish their broadcasting and hosting skills.

Huang Wanbin, a teacher with 18 years experience working as a Minnan-language anchor who will give lessons in the language, admitted that Minnan is a declining cultural heritage.

“Minnan contains comprehensive messages and lots of intriguing idioms and folk songs. But we’ve seen a decline in young people who grasp it well,” she said.

To put students in an authentic teaching environment, Huang said that she plans to arrange for them to visit elderly people at communities. In addition to fixed curriculums of broadcasting and hosting, she will also promote iconic cultures such as tea and Minnan cuisine.

Furthermore, Minnan majors will spend their senior year in Taiwan based on agreements between XUT and colleges in Taiwan.

Dubbed “a living fossil of ancient Chinese language”, Minnan can trace its roots through the Tang Dynasty (618-907). There are about 60 million Minnan speakers across the world today, mainly from Xiamen, Zhangzhou, and Quanzhou in Fujian province, Taiwan, Chaoshan and Leizhou Peninsula of Guangdong province, parts of Hainan Island, and some in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province.