HKU and my future...

[Street Fighter]

Hiya, long time lurker, first time poster... I figured I would ask you kind, knowledgeable people of the forum for advice on my latest dilemma.

I am 17 (last year of high school) and am a Canadian citizen. I study kung fu, and have always dreamed of living/studying in China, and am also interested in Chinese language/culture. I am particularly interested in Hong Kong. That being said, I am really in need of some opinions, or advice on my choice of education. I have been toying with a scenario recently, that I feel would be nearly ideal...

I attend a Canadian university for 1 year majoring in Chinese language; meeting the "1 year of post-secondary education" requirement mentioned on HKU's website, and giving me basic knowledge of Chinese language to work with. Then, if I am accepted into HKU (which I hear isn't too difficult for foreign students... ???), I move there and shoot for a B.A. I would then major in Asian studies with emphasis on Chinese/Japanese (I speak fairly good Japanese). Then after I graduate, I think I would really like to teach some english over there for a couple years. All the while I would be studying kung fu like mad ^_^.

Now my questions here are... Does HKU even have an Asian studies program? Since my goal is simply fluency, would I be better off taking courses outside HKU, and majoring in another of my interests? With a B.A from HKU, will I have trouble finding an ESL teaching job? Do they prefer it if I get a degree from a North American school?

Another scenario I have been playing with is... Getting my B.A in Canada majoring in Asian Studies (hopefully achieving near fluency in Chinese), then going over to HK and teaching English. Would this be better? (The only reason this isn't my first choice is, I really want to do quality kung fu, and the sooner the better. Also the B.A takes 4 years, and I need to go to HK still at that point, and I've got other plans, and I'm gonna be too old )

Yeah, sorry it was so frantic and full of questions. Its just that now is the time I should be making decisions, and I'm freaking out. Thank you for any responses. Just follow the question marks, and feel free to elaborate .

[Street Fighter]

woops, no edit. I sound like an idiot... I was really rushed, I did not intend for it to sound like HKU is the only HK university I was considering. I just need to research, I know there are more out there (CUHK right?), and maybe one that would be more benificial. Any suggestions here would also be welcome. yeah:lol:

[trevelyan]

An option you may not have thought of is to go through the provincial application rigamarole and simply defer your acceptance once you are into a Canadian college/university you are happy with. UofT or UBC would both be good choices.

A deferral gives you 365 days to travel in China and begin to learn the language. Assuming you actually study the language reasonably well you will probably be ready to skip your first two years of university study, and you will be able to see HKU in person to decide if you want to transfer, etc.. Or you might hate China and return

Also.... there is no reason to get hung up about Asian studies just because you want to learn Chinese. If you're really into martial arts, maybe you should look at studying physical education professionally. Or geography. Or oceanography, etc.

[Street Fighter]

No, I didn't think of that. That is a very good idea, but I don't think my parents would really want me to do that, nor do I think I am really ready for that, as lame as it sounds:oops: . I'm not going to rule anything out though. I really never would have thought of that, cool. Btw, the Canadian university I really want to go to is UBC.

[imron]

The other thing to consider is that if you're learning Chinese at university, you're unlikely to be learning Cantonese, which is what they mostly speak in HK. Also, just going to China doesn't guarantee you'll be able to find a good Kungfu teacher. There are plenty of bad ones here too, including plenty who are more than happy to charge unsuspecting foreigners large amounts of money, for very little in the way of decent martial arts training.

I'm sure it's possible to find good Kungfu in Canada also, and if you can find a good instructor there, it's quite likely that they will have links back to someone in Greater China, meaning that if/when you do come to China you will have an introduction to a decent teacher, and less chance of being ripped off.

[yonitabonita]

Hey,

Here's the link to the list of faculties and departments at HKU

http://www.hku.hk/faculties/

I can't get through, but why don't you have a browse yourself?

Y

[skylee]

Do you have a HK background so you are interested in HK? Like the previous poster says in HK we speak Cantonese (which may or may not be what you want). But of course you can still study Mandarin here. It is still a Chinese environment but you won't have as much chance practise it as if you study in the Mainland.

[Street Fighter]

Thank you thank you thank you thank you. I was worried I wouldn't get any replies ^_^. Imron, you needn't worry about the kung fu aspect so much. I have a couple good teachers in mind that are in HK, and I know about all the crap in China (especially the mainland where just about everything has been 'modern wushuized'). I chose Hong Kong, because I really want to train Hung Gar (I already do some), and the greatest masters all live there (The Lam family, Lau family now and Mark Ho etc). I also have always wanted to go to hong kong because I really like big, modern cities, and it is naturally appealing to me. So, I didn't just pick HK at random, I have put a little thought into this.

Yes, I did just recently put it together that the majority of HKers speak cantonese... I have no particular attachment to learning Mandarin, and this may just mean I focus on Cantonese (first) because my intentions all are leading me to HK over the mainland at this time. I have no HK background, and I'm actually white(sh) .

Thank you for reading my stupid post. Please, if you have the time, respond to some of my original questions ^_^.

[Jive Turkey]

With an Asian Studies degree, finding gainful employment teaching English will be difficult. To teach in a local primary or secondary school, you need at least an English degree to get in the door, and very few schools will consider you if you don't have a Post-graduate Diploma in Education or equivalent teaching qualification. You may be able to find work in tutorial centers, but it doesn't pay well and most won't be able or willing to get a work visa for someone with no language teaching quaifications.

Financing studies through English teaching can work in Taiwan or the mainland, but I don't really know anybody who does that in HK. The cost of living and the qualifications demanded by the market make HK a not so good place for the novice English teacher who's doing it just to cover his costs while studying Chinese, or in your case, kung fu.

If you are interested in learning Cantonese, CUHK would probably be the best choice. Their Cantonese program is better than anything offered at other unis. HKU would be a poor choice for any Chinese study. Relative to other HK unis, HKU has a stronger English speaking campus culture and the CSL program there is a joke.

[Street Fighter]

hmm. Thank you for the info. I was begining to suspect as much from HKU after checking out there asian studies page.

I've been thinking now, that maybe after a year of uni in Canada (hopefully UBC) I would be able to go on exchange to CUHK/HKU (which are both options) for a year. That may be a better choice... But in regards to staying in HK further down the road, what sort of jobs might I be able to get, outside teaching English? Just out of curiousity, what kind of qualifications does one need for translation? Is there a Chinese language proficiency test like Japanese?

Thank you

[imron]

Yes there is, it's called the HSK. However this test is focused on Mandarin Chinese as spoken on Mainland China, and so it uses Simplified Chinese Characters. Hong Kong use Traditional Chinese Characters, and so obtaining a high score on the HSK might not actually help you that much if you're going to live and work in Hong Kong.

[Jive Turkey]

It takes a very long time build up a client base big enough to do freelance translation full-time. In order to keep your head above water, you've got to give clients very quick turnaround. That requires excellent Chinese. Most freelancers I know took at least five years to get to the point where they could do it full-time. These people already had near-native Chinese skills before they even gave part-time freelancing a go. You have got to love language and be pretty driven to make it in the translation business.

Hong Kong is not a good place for a non-Chinese translator to build a client base. Most translators here work two ways (C>E/E>C), which is a huge no-no in the west for a language pair with such a big linguistic distance. Most people who pay for translation here just don't care that much about the quality of C>E work. They are not native users of English and they usually have a strong prejudice against non-Chinese translators. The English as L1 translators I know get most of their business in N America or other English speaking places.

I would forget about translation. There are opportunities here in trade and finance, but you really need good Chinese skills. You would either need experience in your home country in these fields or very good Chinese skills in order to be competitive against a local applicant.

[Street Fighter]

Oh, I figured as much. Its like translation in any language, I was just curious. I do love language, and feel I have a nack for it, but I wasn't thinking that was a possibility, so no worries. Man, you guys are really know alot... In response to the HSK. Ah, you'll have to forgive me on this one, what is the difference between traditional characters and simplified? Which one is Japanese kanji? And there isn't a standardized test for Cantonese?

And Jive Turkey, so people don't pay for there learning in HK with English teaching, or any kind of translation... What DO people do over there? Is there any opportunity at all? Or do you have to have a link from a company from your own country?

So what about Taiwan? I understand they speak mainly Mandarin, and use traditional characters right? How about fueling studies by teaching English there? What are the general requirements?

Thanks alot

[imron]

Simplified characters were the result of a movement to simplify the way Chinese characters were written, by reducing the number of strokes it took to write a given character. Many of the simplifications were based on common simplifications that already existed in everyday handwriting, and the bulk of the simplifications took place during the 50's and 60's of last century.

As an example of the difference between the two, "simplfied characters" is written in traditional Chinese as 簡體字, and written in simplified Chinese as 简体字.

Not all the characters were changed so there is still a lot of overlap, and if you have a good understanding of one set of characters, then once you understand what simplifications were made, it's not too difficult to read the other set.

Which type a person decides to learn should be based largely on where they plan to use their Chinese skills. Hong Kong and Taiwan use traditional characters, and mainland China uses simplified characters.

Japanese Kanji are based on traditional Chinese characters, however they have also made their own simplifications over time.

Using teaching to fund living in Taiwan is very possible, but if you're just looking for funding, you might want to look into scholarships. The Taiwanese government expends a reasonable amount of resources every year funding non-Chinese to go and learn Chinese in Taiwan. The scholarships usually cover tuition, living expenses etc. This way, you'd be able to devote time to learning Chinese as well as martial arts, which might not be so possible if you were also teaching 20-40 hours a week English (there are only so many hours in a day).