Need to study Chinese to do Undergraduate Accounting degree

[swordmaster]

Hi guys,

I recently got a scholarship from CSC to study accounting at undergraduate level in china.

I was just wondering is it easy to learn/write chinese in one(1) year? and then go to do your undergraduate degree hassle free of not being able to desifer what the professor teaching you in chinese is saying.

What i am simply asking is one year of studying chinese enough to go do an undergraduate degree in Accounting in Chinese?

Thx for help guys!

[katyjo]

I think it would be very difficult for a person with one year of Chinese training to understand a fully Chinese Accounting class. A few months ago I attended a talk about a American program call Flagship that sends college kids to China and have them attend college level courses. This program takes people with some or no Chinese background. These visitors are are paired up with Chinese speakers in China. The speakers told me that it is difficult for the visitors. Students in China surpass American in math that there is no way that an American can keep up. There is no way a wanna be engineer is able to be in an engineering program in China. Perhaps you there is an Chinese accounting dictionary. I know that Cheng and Tsui has a Chinese business dictionary.

[anonymoose]

If you're starting from nothing, then I'd say very difficult. Of course, some people have an amazing talent for this kind of thing, but for most people, I think you'd be looking at at least 2 years (just as a very rough estimate) to build up enough writing skill and vocabulary. And then there's also the question of your listening ability, which I think would be difficult to achieve in one year, especially if you're not in a Chinese environment.

[gato]

It would be easier if you already know the basics of accounting before you start the accounting courses in Chinese. So if you are serious about it, you'd best start reading accounting books in English first.

[yonglin]

If you're hard-working, I don't think it's at all impossible to get, say, a HSK level 6 with one year's of study in China. This will be sufficient to meet the formal requirements and give you a basic understanding of Chinese, although you'll probably have difficulties understanding what is said in class or written in your textbooks.

Then, in your first year, get all your textbooks in English as well as Chinese (business textbooks tend to be direct translations of their American counterparts), and make sure you actually learn the material, at the same time as picking up technical vocabulary. Get someone to take notes for you in class, since your handwriting is unlikely to be sufficiently fast. First year examinations will most probably not involve lengthy essay writing (for accounting, my bet is calculations, multiple-choice and possibly regurgitation of class notes): you will probably pass, both because they're likely to be lenient to the foreigner and because it's quite difficult to fail.

Then, after two years, I think you will be able to follow classes fairly well.

Wish you best of luck.

[swordmaster]

Thx for replies guys,

I'm really scared that i wont be able to cope with only one year of chinese.

Hope that i can do it!

[HashiriKata]

swordmaster, if your CSC scholarship consists of 1 year of Chinese plus the time for the degree proper, then you can do it. I don't think the people who offer these scholarships would set up the impossible to waste their money on.

[swordmaster]

I'm thinking that i'm gonna get one year to study chinese as they give one year for science courses.

Don't definetly know how many years though, as i've just been informed by the MOE in my country that i got the scholarship. (should be notified in the folowing week)

Any guys in this forum studying undergraduate accounting? some info on how you coped should be nice:help

[skylee]

Does the scholarship require you to study in Mainland China and that the course be conducted in Chinese?

[swordmaster]

Yeah it does require you to study in mainland china

It also does require u to study in chinese.

[HashiriKata]

Hope that this will ease a bit of your anxiety: even after your Chinese language year and while you're doing your science subject, most places will give you the option of continuing going to Chinese language classes to improve your Chinese, and that is normally part of the scheme.

[swordmaster]

@HashiriKata : Thats great to hear:D as this will help me master my chinese.

Hopefully by the end of the year when starting my course i will be able to understand what the professor is saying:)

[BrandeX]

Is it not required to study Chinese for 2 years first? (I am not familiar with this any myself).

From CSC website:

- General scholar candidates must have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies and be under the age of 45, may study all majors besides Chinese language.

[mpallard]

I was an accounting major in university and my third year was spent on exchange studying accounting in Hong Kong (in English).

I don't know how it works on the Mainland but the Hong Kong students all studied accounting in high school which gave them a massive head start. I worked my ass off and barely passed the courses.

Later I studied 3 years of Mandarin in Taiwan.

One year is not sufficient to get your Chinese to the level where you will be able to understand what is going on in class or even to sustain any sort of in depth conversation. I think you need at least two years of hard study to get to that point.

Also accounting is not an easy major and it will be difficult to learn both Chinese and accounting at the same time. I don't think you will have time to go to language class and keep up with an undergraduate accounting program.

However, you have been given an incredible opportunity and you should take advantage of it. If you work hard I can't see the professors not passing you even if you are not at the level of the other students. So in the end you will end up with a degree, I'm just worried that by taking on too much you will spend 5-6 years over there and end up with both mediocre acounting and Chinese skills.

See if there is anyway you can get an extra year of Chinese classes before you enter Uni.

If something can't be worked out before hand you should still go and continue to try to convince them to give you another year while you're at the language center.

If there is any way you can pull off getting three years of language study before going into Uni I will be incredibly jealous.

Lastly, if you are going to start in September get there a few weeks early and focus on learning the sounds and working on your pronounciation.

[leeyah]

You've been given excellent advice already, but I'd just like to add: believe in yourself and you will see that with the right motivation, nothing is impossible.

I started learning Chinese with great love and was able to take notes in Classical Chinese class after only 1.5 years of study at my home Uni (the lecturer was a Shanghainese PhD who didn't speak a single word of English, so there was no other option) and believe me, translating from Classical to modern Chinese requires a lot of brain exercise.

You, on the other hand, have the advantage of studying in a Chinese speaking environment, which I didn't have at the time, and I think if you put your heart into it, you should be alright. And yes, I agree that you should arrive a bit earlier, it will give you some breathing space to adjust your 'inner clock' to the new environment, which is very important. So, just relax & enjoy it.

[imron]

if you are going to start in September get there a few weeks early

But not too early! If you are coming over on an X visa, regulations require that you need to get your residence permit within 30 days of entry. You cannot get this until you have registered with the school so if you come too early you will not be able to do this. See this thread for more discussion.

[zerolife]

Depending which university you are going, you may find some classes to be in English or some professors may allow you to take exams in English. Often, you are also able to find an English version of the textbook. I think your Chinese alone is not going to kill you. However, I think your bigger problem is whether you can keep up with your Chinese classmate. Highschool in the US is like Kindergarden in China (unless you took lots of AP classes). I assume math is quite important for a major like accounting and I can guarantee you that their math is going to far surpass yours unless you were a math genius in high school. It's simply because they weren't fooling around in their high school years, especially those who intend to go to a four year university.

Also, why do you want to get an undergraduate degree in accounting in China? I'm not sure where you are from but if it's the US, I doubt anyone will accept your Chinese degree when you come back... of course you might decide to stay in China ... but then, you might want to make sure your university is top ranked. I know Chinese care a lot more about university ranking than in the US or Europe.

[swordmaster]

@Zerolife:

1)I am from an african country(Chinese Decendant but no langauge prior). As far as my Math goes, i did Cambrigde International A-level Mathematics. Is that ok?

2)As for why i am going to a chineese university. I have been given a chance for free so i went for it:D (Cannot afford to pay for UNI) and also not forgetting the wonderful things i herd about china:mrgreen:

i'm going to Zhejiang Normal University. Is that a good university?

Swordy

[gato]

Zhejiang Normal is pretty far behind in the rankings.

See here for a couple of rankings of Chinese universities:

http://www.absolutechinatours.com/china-travel/Top-Ten-China-Universities.html

Top-Ten China Universities

http://www.wikio.com/article/87981663

2009 China First-class University Ranking

[renzhe]

I was just wondering is it easy to learn/write chinese in one(1) year? and then go to do your undergraduate degree hassle free of not being able to desifer what the professor teaching you in chinese is saying.

No.

You can get very far in a year, like many people have stated, but it will be hard work, and you can forget the "hassle-free" part.