CSC and language years spent not studying language

[simplet]

Hey everyone,

 

I'm currently in China studying the second year of my master of translation and interpretation at the BLCU and everything is going fine, but I've been considering doing a phd in China and I have some interrogations.

 

The best way to apply for a CSC scholarship is to do it from your country of origin and be sponsored by your university at home. It just so happens that as I finish my master in China I'm also finishing a degree in linguistics in France (I only need to defend my master's thesis this year). I have great grades in China and France and my chinese is now pretty good, so if my university in France accepts to sponsor my application everything should go very smoothly, the only problem is that I want to do a phd in cognitive science (especially in the field of language acquisition)...

 

Linguistics is (or can be) an important part of cognitive science, but I'm not deluded enough to think I can start doing research in this field right away in Chinese without any background in brain biochemistry, math or computer science. Is there any way I could convince the Scholarship Council to give me one or two years of "chinese study" and spend them in my university (Beijing Normal University) preparing for the start of my degree? I could always explain that I don't have any of the required chinese vocabulary (in chemistry or anatomy for example), but with a master in interpretation I'm not sure how this is going to go down... 

 

Has anyone heard of similar-ish experiences?

[shuoshuo]

I suggest applying for a postgraduate certification instead. I think it is also a form of 进修 certification. It's basically one year of study, where you get to take modules of the degree, in this case doctorate degree but the criteria isn't as high and it's more laid back. This ceritication would be much better than a language year.