After a One-Year Intensive Language Program, What's Next?

[jobm]

Hello, guys! I just want to ask everyone who have studied here in China or anywhere how did you maintain your studying of Chinese? After this semester, I will be leaving China and continue on my bachelors but I am really persistent on how could I ever take my Chinese into the next level.

 

I think maybe after this semester, I could definitely pass HSK 5 but maybe not yet with HSK 6.

 

I am thinking of taking my masters (in linguistics or teaching Chinese as a second language) here in China, in Taiwan, or in the US because I am really interested in Chinese grammar but I think my Chinese proficiency is not yet enough. As I can see, most institutions here in China offer courses up to the HSK 6 level but I think that level of Chinese is not enough to consider myself more or less like a native speaker. Do you guys think studying in Taiwan would be excellent for advanced Chinese language studies? Do schools there really have the advanced courses I am looking for? If I study Chinese in the US, I think I would not get as much progress in my Chinese than I would get in China/Taiwan.

 

I am also thinking about doing a masters on translation/interpretation. Is this a good way to become very knowledgeable in Chinese?

 

Has anyone studied Chinese in Singapore? Hong Kong? How was it?

 

P.S. Is doing the MTCSOL degree here in China worth it? I am thinking of applying to Beida. I am just worried if I proceed elsewhere for a PhD in linguistics it will not be enough

 

Thank you guys for your suggestions and I would like to hear your stories too

[ZhangKaiRong]

How do you assess your skills in Chinese (reading/writing/speaking/listening)? In my view, the main problem with Chinese language programs is that they're mainly focusing on reading and writing, to some extent on listening, and they don't care about actual communication skills. For me, after a semester it was very obvious that I need the latter ones the most, so I started to make a lot of friends from different backgrounds and put into practice my skills polished in reading/writing. Due to this, my communication skills, tones, used phrases started to become very good rapidly, and this is my strongest skill in Chinese (compared to reading/writing that were the strongest after learning Chinese for 2 years in my home country).

 

However, reading your short and mid-term goals, I feel that you'd rather want to pursue an academic career. I'm in the financial sector, so for me speaking and listening are the most important skills, but for you these are less important, as most Sinology related academists are not that good in communication but they are very good at reading and writing. If you've already spent a year in mainland China, you should definitely try out an other Chinese speaking location. Taiwan is a good choice, their MTCSOL programmes are excellent as I heard, there are some members on this board who graduated from there and they had very positive opinions on them. Adding 繁体字 to your studies can open new doors to understand Chinese culture and language deeper.

 

HK and Singapore sounds fun, however the local Chinese diaspore there is mainly Cantonese-speaking (of course, the number of Mandarin-speaking immigrant are increasing gradually) and their universities are famous for their business and economics fields rather than art or linguistics.

[roddy]

Excellent, yet another forums CSC student planning great things!

 

If you're considering Taiwan, read this if you haven't. 

[jobm]

@ZhangKaiRong I agree with what you have said about the kind of education here in China. They are largely based on writing and reading (oh, those tingxie!!!!). I am quite lucky with my teachers in my university here in China since they usually correct our tones and sounds. For me, my goal for now is to really improve my speaking skills because I thinks this will be the hardest skill to develop outside of China. Now, I am just taking and risking whatever it takes for me to get the most of my stay here in China.

 

Yup, you are right. I want to work at the academe and I hope I would be the Chinese language expert in my home university. So, I have been researching graduate programs all this time and considering every pros and cons. (This forum has helped me a lot, thank you guys~)

 

Actually, I am considering Taiwan because 1. for its weather 2. it is near my home country. But, I am just worried about the variety of Chinese I might learn there because I am more used to the variety here in the mainland. But, as much as I can see it, the universities in Taiwan are better than the ones in the mainland. They seem to be more organized and have a different style of teaching compared here in mainland.

 

@roddy HAHAHA, you know what, I really felt Chinese is the one meant for me so I really want to be good at it, if not the best, but it will still go on a long way. Now, I am thinking of numerous ways how to really reach that native-level Chinese and I am quite confident I would learn from you guys who have studied Chinese longer and speak Chinese better than me.

[etm001]

 

 

Actually, I am considering Taiwan because 1. for its weather 2. it is near my home country. But, I am just worried about the variety of Chinese I might learn there because I am more used to the variety here in the mainland

If you want nice weather, don't move to Taipei.

 

I wouldn't worry at all about the differences between standard Taiwanese Mandarin and mainland Mandarin. Yes, there will be differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, etc., but it's all manageable after you become acclimated (it's akin to American and British English). Note: Taiwan of course uses traditional characters, so if you only know simplified then you will have put effort into learning their traditional forms.

[jobm]

Really??? Is it bad? Does it rain often?

 

Hmm, actually I am from a tropical country so I think I would the warm climate (I suppose) there in Taiwan than the freezing winter here in Dongbei.

[jobm]

I am also starting to study more traditional characters this time since the Chinese publications in my country are all in traditional characters :/ My ears right now are  not that comfortable with southern Chinese and Taiwanese accents.

 

Reading the reviews of MTC makes me want to study there )

[etm001]

 

 

Really??? Is it bad? Does it rain often?

It's raining even as I speak, lol. The winter weather isn't that bad (compared to my hometown it's absolutely delightful), but it is wet and dreary. The summers are usually 35-37C, but since you are from a tropical country that will not be a problem for you.

 

 

 

My ears right now are  not that comfortable with southern Chinese and Taiwanese accents.

 

Don't worry about it too much, you will get accustomed to it. If you go to a school like the MTC, then your teachers will speak with a more "標準" Taiwanese Mandarin accent. So for example, you will not hear the shì --> sì pronunciation typical for southern China or Taiwan; on the other hand you won't hear much 兒化 (畫畫兒，待會兒) either.

 

FYI the MTC has stopped using the PAVC books referenced in the MTC thread, and are now using a self-published series of books called "A Modern Course in Chinese". I had a chance to browse through the first book, and overall it looks good, although they could have done a better job with the content layout.

 

加油！

[jobm]

@etm001 35-37 degrees, just like in my home country LOL Very nice, I will really try to go Taiwan after graduation for a language study Ow, I had a soft copy of the PAVC books and I think they are nice, btw. Is it hard to get a scholarship to study there in MTC?  谢谢哦！

[etm001]

 

 

Is it hard to get a scholarship to study there in MTC?

It's not that hard. I know many people who have received scholarships. You do, however, have to apply through the TECO office in your home country. Good luck!

[roddy]

Would be great for future students if MTC questions could go in the MTC topic 

[Angelina]

If you study linguistics in mainland China, you will be forced to learn how to read traditional characters too. 文字學、訓詁學 and similar courses will be taught using traditional characters since there are scholars (a minority but they do exist) on the mainland who use traditional characters most of the time. Not to mention all the books you will have to read. 

 

 

Pay a lot of attention to research interests of faculty before you apply no matter where you go. 

 

Translation/interpreting and MTCSOL are professional degrees. Are you interested in working as a translator or a teacher? Do you think it will be easy for you to find work as a non-native teacher? What about demand in your country? 

I studied interpreting a few years ago, not in China. It was really cool since I managed to learn how to interpret while listening to speeches in the source language. I saw from experience that those students who were not fluent enough in both languages were not able to benefit from the training. However, you have a lot of time left until you actually start your master's, maybe this will motivate you to keep working on your Chinese. 

 

Linguistics is more open than MTCSOL. I chose linguistics because I am interested in other languages too. If you go for teaching Chinese, you will focus on Chinese.

Why do you like grammar? I am trying to find a more efficient way of a learning and teaching Chinese. All those little things you add when speaking deserve more attention. What's the difference between 写上 and 写去来? 

 

The PRC is bigger than Taiwan. I think you need to be more careful when selecting the right program for you in mainland China (as compared to Taiwan/HK where almost all programs are excellent). There are so many schools and programs in China, there might be some variation when it comes to the quality of different programs. Beida is ok. Maybe you can come to Zheda 

 

Don't know what else to say. You have to work on your 写作 skills. You will easily pick up spoken language when you start your studies. However, you will need to put a lot of effort into perfecting your writing. 

 

Bonus: key buzzword in Academese Chinese： 过程. 

[jobm]

@Angelina I was thinking of sending you a message to know how is your program there, but thank you replied!

 

 

Pay a lot of attention to research interests of faculty before you apply no matter where you go

 

Actually this is what my problem with the linguistics programs here in China. Most of what I can see are applied linguistics and the MTCSOL which I think are 差不多. My undergrad is on theoretical linguistics and that is what I want to study. I often find those offered in western universities but I am afraid I am going to use more English there which could hinder my progress in mastering Chinese. Also, I want to pursue East Asian linguistics in UCLA http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/44535-east-asian-linguistics-graduate-studies/ (yeah, I have this in mind already HAHAHA) because I am also interested in other languages in the region and do comparative studies among them )) I like studying linguistics and grammar because I really find them fascinating. For me, those subtle differences in the way we speak, in the way sounds, words, and sentences are there because they convey a certain meaning different with each other. If not, why would there be a reason for the language to form such constructions and why would the speakers choose that certain construction in a certain situation if there is no difference? Everything in language just intrigues me <3 Since the way we present grammar for theoretical studies and for learning languages are a little bit different, I think when it comes to pedagogy, conciseness is the main key. Once, I worked as a tutor of Chinese and was really passionate telling my student why a certain grammatical construction was like that, but it seems that he did not appreciate it and just confused him :/ From my experience also in learning Chinese, it is easier for me to understand a 语法点 if my teacher explains to me why the speaker used that 语法点 and tells me the difference of it with the other similar patterns.

 

Oh, I just want to ask what are your courses there in Zheda? How are your teachers? Do you feel if you proceed to PhD outside China the skills one could learn in your program will suffice? Is your program called 汉语语言学 or something like that? My friends here also told me that if I want to take grad studies here in China, I should really "examine" the school I would like to attend so that I will not regret hahaha.

 

I thought of doing interpretation/translation because I think it is more effective to have a good command of Chinese than studying linguistics for masters and it makes more money LOL. I could still pursue linguistics for PhD anyways.

 

Actually, I really want to work in a university. I want to be an academician, teaching Chinese and researching would be great for me. The demand of Chinese in our country is steadily rising because of the Chinese companies that do business in our country and with local companies. Though we have a large community of overseas Chinese but they do not speak Mandarin. Basically, if you speak another language besides English in our country, you would certainly earn more because most of us only study English.~

 

Thank you for the insights, Angelina! I think writing in Chinese (not only writing characters but the skill itself of writing sensible material) is hard and it saddens me sometimes it is treated less in most Chinese language courses.