Where are the top universities in Europe to study Chinese ?

[Ultimate_Phil]

Hello together,

I'm an ambitious student and very interested in studying Chinese after I've left school. Can you give me an advice where the élite- universities in Europe to study Chinese are ? Important for me is that the courses are not too big and the professors have an international renommée.

What are your favorites ??? It would be nice if you would tell. Thanks !

[geraldc]

In the UK one of the top universities for Chinese would be SOAS. School of Oriental and African Studies. part of the University of London.

[Chappie]

Ive heard there is a nice University in Maastricht (Near Aken/Achen? Koln?). It has a major which is completely focussed on chinese. Oh one more thing There is also an writer teaching chinese there. Her name was ehh.. Lulu Wang?

You should also know that the teaching speed abroad is very low. There was an USA student which has studied 2 years chinese. He continued studying at the ZJU. 2 Years in USA = 1 semester in ZJU.

[Lu]

The one in Maastricht is actually not a university, but a hogeschool, which is one level lower than university. Lulu Wang is also a Dutch/Chinese writer, although I haven't heard of any books of her lately.

The Dutch university where you can study Chinese is Leiden University, it's one of the best in Europe for Chinese. Website is http://tcc.leidenuniv.nl/ Most classes are in Dutch though, so if you don't know any Dutch at all that might be a problem.

Classes are small though, and the professors are quite famous in their fields.

I heard that in Belgium Leuven is good; in Germany Heidelberg is famous, although a student from there told me that it is just famous because it used to be good, but that everyone who was good there moved to Leiden. It's true that there are several teachers and professors in Leiden who used to work in Heidelberg.

About Paris I heard that they have so many students that they have a survival of the fittest-system in the first year. That is, there are more students than there are places in the classes, so if you don't come very early you don't have a class; and to learn some Chinese you'd better organize a language exchange or private teacher because the school won't do much for you. I wouldn't recommend Paris, at least not for the first years of study.

[The Zany Hermit]

I'm a 1st bach student of sinology at the KU Leuven, Belgium.

I can tell you its pretty intensive, we see around 1000 characters (characters, not words) in the first year, not including passive ones. There's also the added advantage that there's a ton of chinese students in Leuven, so you shouldn't have any problem finding a language partner. The course is in Dutch though.

[crazillo]

In Germany, Heidelberg has the best reuputation to study Chinese. I chose Tübingen though. Their programme is very good, but it requires four semesters of Classical Chinese. One of the big advantages is the semester spent at Beida which is included in their programme. Würzburg is pretty good, as well. Heard they are very selective though and you noly study Chinese.

I plan to do my Master in Leiden, although I haven't fully decided yet. Anyone know what the SOAS Master programmes are like?

[JonBI]

Don't know about undergraduate, but there is a major research base in Holland with specialty in contemporary Chinese literature, and the University of Paris supposedly is the place to go for studying Daoism, and I think Chinese philosophy in general.