Chinese/Mandarin Degree by Distance/Online

[A Williams]

Hello,

I am trying to find a bachelors degree in Chinese/Chinese Studies (Mandarin/putonghua) that can

be completed by distance/online. I am an absolute beginner in Chinese and would require the

material/instruction to be in English, or maybe German. My goal is to both earn a degree, and

learn Mandarin while doing so.

I have found several, but they are usually either unaffordable for me as an international student

(~US$50,000), or don't appear like they're rigorous enough in teaching Mandarin to a beginner like me.

Here is what I've found, perhaps it will be useful for others:

University of New England (Australia)

http://www.une.edu.au/study/chinese/

Massey University (New Zealand)

http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/learning/programme-course-paper/programme.cfm?major_code=2203&prog_id=93118

Macquarie University (Australia)

Not entirely sure that international students can do the Chinese Studies degree by distance.

http://www.arts.mq.edu.au/undergraduate_programs/degrees_by_name/bachelor_of_arts

Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU)

A little questionable regarding quality and value of the degree.

http://www.eblcu.net/learning/course_toCourseList.jspr?table=xl

Griffith University via Open Universities Australia

Not very focused on Chinese, and only a few courses teaching Mandarin.

http://www.open.edu.au/public/courses-and-units/arts/course-grf_art_deg-2011

Open University (UK)

No program in Chinese, and only one beginners course.

http://www.open.ac.uk/education-and-languages/modules_and_qualifications/our_modules_and_qualifications/chinese.php

If anyone has any other suggestions I would be most appreciative, thanks!

[HedgePig]

The University of South Africa (UNISA) which is entirely focused on distance learning has Mandarin as a major. I took their first year course 17 years ago. I was impressed with it, given all the limitations of learning a language through a correspondence course.

However, my feeling is that the overall academic rigour of a UNISA degree is not very high, so if this is important I'm not sure I'd recommend them. I'm also not sure how internet-savvy they are.

No problem taking their courses anywhere in the world, as far as I am aware. I don't remember costs but they weren't outrageously high.

http://www.unisa.ac.za/default.asp?Cmd=ViewContent&ContentID=1784