Okay, so you've learned Chinese. What's next?

[StChris]

I've just realized that my argument may have come full circle:

Step 1: Learn Chinese to at least a HSK 6 level

Step 2: Use that to study some "hard skill" in both Chinese and English (economics, accounting, science...)

Step 3: Get a job in that profession

 

Of course, the most important factor in getting the job in Step 3 would probably be the "hard skill" you studied in Step 2 rather than the fact that you can speak Chinese, so you could save a lot of time and pain by just skipping Step 1 altogether 

 

I guess Chinese really is just a labor of love after all...

[somethingfunny]

 

 

ZhangKaiRong's Scottish friend might have a HSK 6 pass and a chemistry degree, but can he actually speak and write about chemistry in Chinese as well as he can in English? 

 

I taught Chemistry to Chinese students and this sort of thing is extremely difficult. I would happily take my hat off to anyone who can do something like Chemistry in Chinese.  Most of my students really struggled with it and would have to guess most stuff in quizzes but there was always a group of students who aced every test and it was always very impressive.  

 

The courses I taught didn't cover much Organic Chemistry but I would always do an introduction to Hydrocarbons...

 

"OK, on the board I've drawn the structures of the following functional groups: alkanes, alkenes, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, esters, carboxylic acids, amines and ethers. Now, this is ethanoic acid, but we call it acetic acid, and this is methanoic acid, but we call it formic acid."

 

The looks on their faces... priceless.  I mean, learning all that stuff in my own language was enough of a pain.

[StChris]

Yeah, I had a similar experience trying to teach physics in English. Students with amazing knowledge of physics in Chinese would struggle describing even the most basic concepts (Newton's laws of motion, structure of the atom etc) in English. My own Chinese scientific vocab is almost completely non-existent at the moment. I hope to eventually get the time to read this:

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/46313-review-of-an-elementary-course-in-scientific-chinese-listening-and-speaking-vol-1/

[Aphorisme]

 

I've just realized that my argument may have come full circle:

Step 1: Learn Chinese to at least a HSK 6 level

Step 2: Use that to study some "hard skill" in both Chinese and English (economics, accounting, science...)

Step 3: Get a job in that profession

 

I totally agree with this. I would just add that being proficient in this hard skill is the most important point.

 

---------------------------------

 

My experience seems to be different from many of posts here.

 

I've seen many doors opening because I learnt chinese - I'm still studying, obviously.

 

I'm 21, I live in France and I've been studying business law for already four years. Meanwhile, I've also studied chinese by myself - it's been 8 years already.

 

Chinese has already brought me so much professionally speaking that I don't know where to begin.

 

1) When applying for master's degree, I have been admitted everywhere, and chinese definitely helped. Some of the most selective masters (for instance, only 24-30 out of more than 700 applicants were enrolled) had specific requirements, and it was explicitly written that if an applicant does not meet these requirements, there is no way that he could be admitted, no matter how good his marks are. For two of them I didn't meet these requirements (because I didn't choose the required elective courses), but still I have been admitted. They told me during the interview that the fact that I could speak chinese was the reason why they made an exception (i have good marks too, but it woudn't have been enough).

 

2) My university organized a meeting with chinese law professors from famous chinese law universities (北大，人大，中国政法大学，复旦，among others). I sent an e-mail with my resume to the professor in charge of organizing this meeting. Because I was able to speak chinese, she invited me to attend the meeting. She told me that I was a good opportunity for my university, and that chinese professors will be very pleased to meet a white student who can speak chinese and who is interested in chinese law. Some chinese students who were studying at my university also attended the meeting. Indeed, the chinese professors were really pleased to meet me and to speak chinese with me - while they totally ignored chinese students and overseas chinese who where there. It was clearly because I was white that they were interested. It gave 面子 to my university, and during this meeting I met very famous professors from my university who were so impressed that we exchanged our "business cards" (this virtually never happens between professors and students in french law universities) and they told me that they could easily find me the internship of my dream if I want so - I just have to call them. All these professors still smile at me when they see me, even when I'm among 300 other students in an amphitheater, and even though the meeting took place one year ago.

 

3) Once, when applying for an internship, I was in competition with both chinese students and chinese overseas. The job was in a chinese law firm in Paris, and they were looking for a "bilingual law student". This chinese lawyer, who has been living in France for more than ten years, told us that he was looking for a student who was able to deal with both french and chinese cases, in both french and chinese (50% of his cases were chinese, 50% were french). During my interview, I had to deal with a small case, using chinese. He finally chose me. When he later explained me more in details what he wanted me to do, he also told me that before the interview he didn't plan to hire me, because I was not a native speaker. But then he found me better than the other applicants at solving the case he gave us, even though it was in chinese. Obviously my casual chinese is not native, neither fluent in my opinion, but when it comes to legal chinese, on some areas like contract law, my chinese bears comparison with native. In my opinion, when it comes to "hard skill", non natives can compete with natives, as long as they studied the required vocabulary. In law for instance, the same vocabulary and sentence patterns often appear, so once you mastered it, you can write as a native. It's easier than reaching a native level in casual talks.

 

4) Being able to speak chinese also open doors indirectly, to the extent that people will assume that you are open minded, able to adapt to new situations, and that you are self-disciplined. Even though I personally do not believe that being able to speak chinese proves for sure that one has these qualities, it is what recruiters assume. And this must not be underestimated. I know for sure that the fact that I have studied chinese by myself and only in France, that I never attended a chinese class, contributed to my 1), 2), 3), as it impressed both professors and lawyers. 

 

Bottom line is that I'm sure that combining chinese with a hard skill is a winning choice. As long as you also mastered the specific vocabulary related to your hard skill, you won't fear neither bilingual chinese students, nor overseas Chinese. Potentially, you will have plenty of opportunities ; then you will just need the ability to make them flourish. 

[skylee]

Re #24, shouldn't those be "even though" instead of "even if"?

#24 is very un-Chinese. The Chinese people I know don't write about how successful they are. Perhaps it is different being young.

[Silent]

 

 

Stopping because you lose interest is ok. Stopping because everybody else is better than you, well...

That just depends on your goals. If you start out to learn because you want a certain kind of job and your unable to attain the level needed why continue? If you start doing it as hobby and every ones else is better, who cares...

 

With regard to OP's original question, it is said more often, Chinese in itself is not really a marketable skill, You, as a non-native speaker, are competing with a billion native speakers who know the language and underlying culture better. Things may be different if you combine Chinese language skills with other skills. The obvious one your native language which opens up translation/teaching. With other skills you may open up other opportunities.  

 

Reality is that the more specific skills you want to use in your work the less functions will fit. If your combination of skills is comparatively unique and commercially in demand you may land a well paid job with it. With almost a fifth of the world population speaking Chinese learning Chinese is generally not a great differentiator. Nevertheless, Non-native Chinese skills may open opportunities where the language is not essential but is likely to be usefull. E.g. functions that will be done in English but have contacts with China.

[DachZanz]

I'm glad to see that this topic got some good discussion going.  It sound like the consensus in a nutshell is this:

 

 - Learn Chinese because you love Chinese

 - Chinese might open doors for you professionally, but only stuff relating to your existing skillsets

 - There is no de facto "learned Chinese" endpoint.  (I regret putting that in the title of this thread. I would have preferred to say something like "reached a very high proficiency level" or something like that, but that's still vague)

 

On that note, @Roddy, I'm interested in what you were talking about, traveling theatre companies working who might need translators.  Where could I learn more about that?