learning chinese

[Scoobyqueen]

I don't think that this is the case anymore. They are fiercely competitive across the board nowadays

I wouldnt rate Oxford for engineering...but I am biased

[jiangping]

Can't remember his name. Was he a judge in 珍视明2007国际大学群英辩论会?

My previous posting wasn't intended to be critical of Cambridge, just some randomness. Too bad you got the wrong idea.

But then, that professor I mentioned obviously spoke horrible Chinese. I however agree with you that to be a good sinologist, one isn't necessarily required to possess a good command of Chinese.

Correction: Cambridge couldn't make into the final list. It was Oxford I was supposedly referring to all the way through.

A video of their performance can be watched through the link.

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTQ2NzI3ODQ=.html

My post can also be taken generally. Though as it turns out it was good I replied because you had "named and shamed" completely the wrong university:P

I just watched the link and I don't think the Oxford team did particularly well. That said, the audience looked pretty damn intimidating and they were obviously quite nervous, so they probably didn't manage to show their best Chinese. Also, there was no sign of any Oxford professors or heads of departments on the panel of judges or elsewhere. Maybe it was in a different episode?

[kurii]

The Oxford professor could be heard speaking in the interview and in the grand final in which he was one of the judges. Technically he was in the audience in the link; he was the only bald man if you look closely.

Every contestant was put in the same contest environment. The Korean girls who gained numerous admirations however could pull it off no matter what. What a shame I can’t find a video of them. Never been to the Northeast, somehow they spoke in a funny northeastern accent. They even performed the famously/infamously hilarious 二人传 created by 赵本山.

[zhen_shuai]

A major in Chinese is academic, not practical.

I wonder how accurate this is going to be in the future. My university has a similar option, I think they call it 'Asian Studies' or something like that. It seems like this is based on the assumption that very few Westerners reach a near-native level, and those that do go into academia instead of business. On the other hand, it seems like if I was doing business in China I would hire the fluent Mandarin speaker over someone with a generic 'Asian studies' degree. And my perception is that the number of Chinese speaking Westerners has increased in the last 30+ years and will continue to increase in the future.

I would say a major in Chinese is incredibly practical if you actually learn to speak the language, too.

[sukitc]

Regarding Asian Studies offered at Western Universities, my first experience of formal Chinese language education was at the Oriental Studies Department of the University of Sydney more than 20 years ago. I tend to agree that the department's key objectives were to produce sinologists rather than graduates who are fluent in modern Chinese. That's why we only had one hour per week of conversation class (if memory serves me correct) and no specific classes on Chinese modern literature, drama or media. We also hit Classical Chinese very early--in our second year.

This however is not a criticism and certainly does not distract from the quality of the academics there (Dr Mabel Lee, Dr Raymond Hsu, et. al.) for whom I will always be grateful.

[OneEye]

My point wasn't that you don't learn the language very well by majoring in Chinese. My point was that learning the language isn't the sole goal of a major in Chinese. Yes, you learn Chinese quite well with a major in Chinese. At U of Texas for example, you're reading 魯迅, 張愛玲, etc., and discussing the texts in Chinese, by the end of the major. But you don't pick Chinese as a major if your only purpose is to learn the language. You can take a certificate program if that's what you want, and spend a lot less money. A major in Chinese is more than learning just the language, although you do that very well if the program you're in is worth anything. It isn't like