Literature M.A. at Beida?

[magnusgren]

Hi,

I have studied Chinese for 1 year at a university in Sweden, and will go to Beida to study Chinese for one year, starting this autumn. I will have a BA in Comparative Literature from my Swedish university next year and have been thinking about pursuing an MA degree in Chinese literature at Beida. Did anyone do this, or something similar to it? Is it too optimistic to hope to reach the language requirements by studying Chinese for 2 years + summer courses? Granted that the language requirements are met, how difficult is it to get accepted for this kind of MA program at Beida?

Thank you

/Magnus

[<<恒心>>]

I did my BAs in Chinese and Chinese history at the U. of Minnesota (3rd year Chinese summer intensive program at Nankai in Tianjin) then postponed graduation to become and exchange student at Beida. Along with the study at Nankai, I had one very intensive and thorough year of classical Chinese under my belt already (of 36 students, 3 survived the full year-- I was one of them).

So I felt very good about my proficiency, but only tested into class 6 (of 17 total-- 17 being the highest). Needless to say, I did not feel too happy about this, but I persisted, and the next semester I tested into class 14. The following semester (my last) I tested out of the then-named 对外汉语中心 and into the History department at the graduate level. While there I studied the history of Sino-Japanese foreign relations, and while I was able to follow the lectures fairly well, I still spent most of my time out of class scouring the dictionary and reviewing as much as humanly possible.

I guess it all depends on your ability-- the above is just my personal experience-- you might have the ability to breeze through. But I would say that if you test into Beida and they place you in the Chinese (for foreigners) department for remedial classes, take them and don't worry about it. Just get the most out of that time, and once you're ready, jtest into the Lit. department. Once you've gotten into Beida and proven yourself, it should be fairly easy to move around. Enter as a student of Chinese, then start climbing the ladder from within.

One other thing-- once you do get in, attend every lecture and take copious notes. Borrow notes from classmates and copy them down. If Beida is still like it was when I was there ('99-2000) then the final exams are probably just an exercise in regurgitating everything the prof. wrote on the blackboard all semester.

Good luck!

[zarathustra]

I also plan to go to graduate school at Beida. For literary majors, an HSK 9 is required. I'm hoping to do that in one year. From how my classes are going, I understand that I need much more exposure to Chinese than what I'll get from class. That means finding as many chinese friends as possible. There's only so much you talk about in class; plus I think too much time is spent on the book and not enough on speaking or writing about what we want to write about.

[kdavid]

Zarathustra, I've been thinking about attending Beida in the future to study Chinese literature as well. You mentioned an HSK level 9--which test is this from (intermediate or advanced)? I'm not real familiar with the HSK test's scoring procedure.

Also, do you have any links that you could list that would provide some information about Beida's programs? I've tried googling a few, but I can only seem to find the Chinese versions, and my character count is only just above 1000, so I'm still pretty useless in regards to reading.

[heifeng]

Advanced HSK info is here

(But the HSK exams are going through some reforms this year...I think that's discussed somewhere in the HSK thread...)

[imron]

This page has info regarding programs available for international student at Beida.

[kdavid]

I must be a moron because I can't find a link to the Literature Department...

[imron]

What specific information are you looking for? Just Chinese language requirements, or a breakdown of all the subjects on offer?

If you're just looking for the former, it depends what sort of study you are interested in doing - Bachelors, Masters, or just general study.

If you're doing a Bachelors, you have to sit specific entrance exams for Chinese, English, Mathematics and Chinese History/Overview (see this document for more info).

For a Masters you need to have an HSK of 8 or above to study humanities (see this document for more info)

For general non-degree studying, you take Beida's own Chinese proficiency test after enrolling. If your Chinese is good enough, you're allowed to study normal undergrad classes. If you have an HSK 7 or above you don't need to take the proficiency test, and can directly take undergrad classes (see this page for more info). Otherwise you have to take classes with the Chinese as a second language department.

The literature department has its own webpage, unfortunately, the "English" link seems to be for display purposes only. A list of subjects available, can be found in Chinese here (sorry, can't find an English version).

[kdavid]

Yeah, I found the Literature link to be broken as well.

I'm interested in studying for an M.A. before applying for PhD programs back home. My BA is in English Literature and I'd like to have my PhD in East Asian Languages and Literature. Since I "don't come from" East Asian Studies, I figure an MA from the country of specialty would help "prove" myself to admissions at future PhD universities.

imron, thanks a ton for the links!

[imron]

You could also have a hunt around Beida's website for graduate studies. It might contain some useful information.

[magnusgren]

Thanks for the replies. I understand from them that it will not be an easy thing to enter the literature MA at Beida, so I will go there this autumn and keep studying the language until I reach a higher level. After a year or two I will consider again whether preparing for a Chinese graduate program would be worth the effort.

By the way, does anyone know what the possibilites are to join regular undergraduate courses at a Chinese university? If I study Mandarin for a year at Beida, could I join a Chinese Literature class for one year after that (I intend to be a registered student, not only attend lectures)?