Good Master's Programs in China?

[msteve60]

Hello everyone,

 

I am interested in getting a master's degree in China but I can't decide where or what I should study. My main reason for doing a master's in China is simply because it will allow me to live in China and improve my Chinese skills. The degree itself isn't all that important to me. However, if I were able to do a master's program that carried some prestige and would actually help me find a job in China after graduating, that would obviously be great. But from what I've gathered from my research, it seems unlikely that any Chinese master's degree will actually be helpful for finding a job here. Also, I plan on applying for the CSC scholarship, so I would prefer to find a program that is eligible for this scholarship.

 

I am currently considering either studying Chinese Modern Literature at Sichuan University or doing the China Studies program at Zhejiang University. I really love Chengdu and Sichuan University as I have studied there before, but I am a bit worried that doing a Chinese Modern Literature course designed for Chinese students may be too difficult (I have been studying Chinese for about five years and it's decent, but I still think I will definitely struggle with a master's in Chinese literature). What I like about the China Studies program at Zhejiang University is that in addition to the English-taught program, it also offers a Chinese-taught program that is geared toward international students (or so I've read, can anyone confirm this?) so I wouldn't have the stress of studying alongside native Chinese speakers. 

 

So I guess my actual questions are these:

 

Considering my goals, which of the above two options seems like a better idea?

 

Do you think studying Contemporary Chinese Literature would be too difficult for a non-native speaker of Chinese (I would be at HSK 6 level Chinese before starting)?

 

Does anyone know of any master's programs in Chengdu (as this is where I ideally want to live) suitable for foreigners wishing to master Chinese?

 

Do you know of any other master's programs in China that are taught in Chinese, but geared toward international students such as the China Studies program at Zhejiang University?

 

Are there any master's programs in China that would actually give me a reasonable shot at finding employment in China after graduating?

 

Any other recommendations for good master's programs in China for someone who wants to master the Chinese language and ideally find employment in China after graduating or at some point in the future?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me, it is greatly appreciated.

[Angelina]

Hangzhou is a very nice place. I would love to help you get a job or find some other way to learn Chinese in China. 

 

HOWEVER

 

Quote

The degree itself isn't all that important to me. 
 

 

 

 

Please don't do it. If the degree is not important to you, what is the point?

Chinese universities are selective, Chinese students have to study hard to get here. You have no idea how competetive it is for them. Please don't ruin their attempts to make Chinese education more international. 

I have met too many international students who feel the same way you feel and I have to say it makes my experience at school worse than what it might have been if other international students did care about their studies. 

It is the people that make the place.

Of course, it is not that bad, one student graduating this year with a master's (not China Studies but still Zhejiang) got accepted by Stanford (PhD). 

 

 

You should see if employment or improving your Chinese is more important to you. 

 

 

My suggestion is to find an entry-level position in China. Is this possible? What kind of experience do you have? Internships? Maybe try both Chinese and foreign companies in China. How about starting your own small business in China. Is China open for this?

 

[Angelina]

In case you are interested, a master's degree might be a good idea. Certainly good for getting a work visa without any previous relevant full-time work experience. You can look this up.

 

 

I still can't talk about the challenges of a Chinese-taught program, for example, writing, if you see writing as something to get over with as soon as possible. 

 

 

[Homni]

You can do a master taught in English and still the work visa in the end. You will have Chinese language as a subject from your master.

[艾墨本]

7 hours ago, Angelina said:

Please don't do it. If the degree is not important to you, what is the point?

Chinese universities are selective, Chinese students have to study hard to get here. You have no idea how competetive it is for them. Please don't ruin their attempts to make Chinese education more international. 

I have met too many international students who feel the same way you feel and I have to say it makes my experience at school worse than what it might have been if other international students did care about their studies. 

It is the people that make the place.

I think this is a poor reason not to go for a masters degree. It his not his job to make Chinese educational system more international. You are making the international students out to be scapegoats in a system that has problems. It's great you care about the growth and development of China.

 

@msteve60 If you have something to gain from a master's degree in China, even if it isn't in line with @Angelina's value system, do it. 

 

As to your original question, sorry because I don't have first-hand experience with a master's degree in China. That said, seeing as your primary interest is the language itself, considering doing something that is language centered. Your suggestion of studying literature is a great idea, but talking with my previous teachers who studied literature in China, the Chinese approach to literature studies has a significantly reduced emphasis on interpreting the text for yourself (e.g. close reading). I don't know what it would emphasize instead, though. You might find it worthwhile to research what a literature degree entails in China before pursuing it.

 

I have another friend in a similar boat to you that has decided to study traditional Chinese. While this involves learning 文言文／古代汉语 (which is a major interest of his as well), the process of learning it is through Chinese. From the sound of things, your Chinese level is at a similar place as his.

 

If you want something geared toward foreigners, many of the 汉语国际教育 programs have master's degree programs directed toward foreign nationals. This is also a marketable major. 

[abcdefg]

 

18 hours ago, msteve60 said:

Are there any master's programs in China that would actually give me a reasonable shot at finding employment in China after graduating?

 

Will a degree in modern literature be helpful in a job search? I would think it would not be highly marketable.

[msteve60]

Thanks everyone for your replies so far.

 

9 hours ago, Angelina said:

Please don't do it. If the degree is not important to you, what is the point?

 

Well the point is to improve my Chinese as I explained in my OP. And the reason the degree would not be important to me is because I feel like it would simply be useless in helping me find a job. But the experience would be important to me, so just because I don't really care about the degree itself doesn't mean I wouldn't put in any effort. Otherwise the whole experience would be useless.

 

9 hours ago, Angelina said:

Chinese universities are selective, Chinese students have to study hard to get here. You have no idea how competetive it is for them. Please don't ruin their attempts to make Chinese education more international. 

I have met too many international students who feel the same way you feel and I have to say it makes my experience at school worse than what it might have been if other international students did care about their studies. 

It is the people that make the place.

 

Honestly you're making a lot of assumptions about me. If I were to attend a Chinese university I would work hard.

 

10 hours ago, Angelina said:

My suggestion is to find an entry-level position in China. Is this possible? What kind of experience do you have? Internships? Maybe try both Chinese and foreign companies in China. How about starting your own small business in China. Is China open for this?

 

I've looked into this and aside from teaching, there just doesn't seem to be much available. I suppose I could keep searching though.

 

7 hours ago, Homni said:

 

You can do a master taught in English and still the work visa in the end.

 

 

So a master's degree can translate directly into a work visa or something? Would you mind elaborating on that? Thanks.

 

1 hour ago, 艾墨本 said:

If you want something geared toward foreigners, many of the 汉语国际教育 programs have master's degree programs directed toward foreign nationals. This is also a marketable major. 

 

This sounds interesting. Can you perhaps give me some more info on what exactly 汉语国际教育 is? Maybe a link to a university's webpage for it or something? I would be interested in reading more about this.

 

Again, thanks everyone for your advice so far.

[Homni]

This link explain it better

http://shanghaiist.com/2017/01/17/international_graduates_visa_change.php

 

You still need to get an offer, and do good at uni. But before it was harder to get a work visa, now all you need is to graduate, and find a job (after all they wont allow you to stay doing nothing).

 

If you can go to a top university, https://www.topuniversities.com/where-to-study/asia/china/guide.

Most have master that are taught in english, and they still teach you chinese language. So you are able to keep high marks (due to not losing on the language) but still practice and learn chinese skills.

 

You are looking for CSC scholarships, but also look for provincial ones. Shanghai has its on scholarship for example. And universities have partial scholarships as well.

[Angelina]

Yes, the thing with the work visa is really good. With a master's degree from a Chinese university you can get a work visa after graduation, there is no need for previous work experience. 

 

I am personally interested in starting a company in China. How would that work for someone with a master's degree from a Chinese university? Especially with an alternative business model. 

 

When it comes to your dilemma, I did not say you won't be dedicated, or you won't be good at it, or anything about potential benefits in the future. A master's degree in China is good, you will improve your Chinese. It will probably be a good idea. I am about to find out. 

 

I personally won't do anything I am not passionate about doing. Not sure if this is a good parallel to make, but it is a bit like marriage. You don't have to marry for love, I can't force you to. You can marry without love and still be a good wife. There are plenty of people doing that.

Lack of love in a marriage does not mean there would be domestic violence, lack of passion for your degree does not mean there would be academic misconduct. One thing does not always lead to the other. 

 

Anyway. The main difference between the two programs at Zhejiang University a) China Studies taught in English and b) China Studies taught in Chinese is the background of the students. English: mostly Western Europe, Chinese: mostly Eastern Europe. There is diversity, but I definitely noticed that big difference between the two programs. Not sure how this is going to affect your decision. At the moment we are speaking, the one taught in English is based at Haining 海宁, the one taught in Chinese is based at Zijingang Campus 紫金港校区 in Hangzhou, the students (those students, from the degree taught in Chinese, who are staying near Zijingang) visit Haining if they have classes there. This might change by the time you arrive, if you choose to apply. About the quality, I can't comment on that because I am not attending that program. A friend of mine is working for a company from her country, after a China Studies master's degree taught in Chinese. It did prove it was good for her, this is a company with a long tradition and she is the only person representing them in China. I guess this means success. 

 

I would say, for regular programs taught in Chinese, and regular students from China, it is a good university, the quality of programs might vary slightly, always check the specific degree program. 

[msteve60]

@Homni Thanks for the link, that's great news.

 

@AngelinaThanks for the info. I'm curious, what are you currently studying at Zhejiang University?

[msteve60]

@AngelinaYou said in another thread (https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/53583-do-graduate-programs-really-separate-the-wheat-from-the-chaff/#comment-410305) that you were offered a government position in China. I'm curious what kind of job this was and how you managed to get offered a position by them?

 

You also posted in that thread that getting a job in China was easy if you got a master's degree here and that you knew people who got jobs here after graduating. Can you go into more detail about this? What did they study? What kinds of jobs did they get?

[Angelina]

Yes, I am currently a master's degree student. Are you interested in linguistics? 

I was offered to work for a think tank that is connected with the 一带一路 project, I am not that interested in that. They look for people from that area. 

 

Other students who graduated already seem to be doing fine. Most of the people I had classes with were Chinese, they are ok too. 

Some really bright students, I have posted a video before. 

 

I mean, it is good, but you have to be interested. At least be honest when applying. If your goal is to work or to learn Chinese, you don't want to do something you are not passionate about.  

 

I told you about my friend who has a degree in China Studies, the company she works for is awesome. 

I have seen too many students coming to China looking for opportunities and their heart is simply not at school. Those who graduated, they did get jobs, but the age of getting hired because of your cultural insight, or language skills, might be over soon, and you don't want to end up with no job and a degree you did not want.  

 

It is good. I ran into some Chinese people I know this evening, they have some ideas for personalised healthcare. There is a lot of money in Zhejiang. Maybe being in China is good for your career. Still, think about whether or not you care about the degree. 

 

[Lu]

On 22-6-2017 at 10:35 AM, msteve60 said:

Do you think studying Contemporary Chinese Literature would be too difficult for a non-native speaker of Chinese (I would be at HSK 6 level Chinese before starting)?

I think you will have two problems: your background knowledge and your reading speed.

 

Your fellow students will have a solid knowledge of classical literature and poetry (whether they like it or not), which you won't have, or to a much smaller degree. This will be important in your studies and you will miss things. Your reading speed will be much slower than that of your fellow students. I assume you'll have to read a lot, both literature and texts for class, and it will take you twice as long as your classmates.

[Angelina]

Your reading speed and your writing speed. 

[Jabri]

@Angelina This, 一带一路 sounds interesting to me. When you mentioned linguistics, do you mean doing any master degree related to Chinese languages ? 

[Angelina]

Not really my cup of tea, maybe intelligence, not sure what is happening with the 一带一路.

http://www.cseds.org/CN/xiangmuhezuo/2015050529.html

 

 

Linguistics, the science.

[Kherith]

Hi,

I dont know if I should restart a topic but I was thinking it's kind of the same. Right now I am studying chinese at the university (only took one semester, so I have the HSK3 level) and I will study chinese for two more semesters. As I have a bachelor degree and I didnt know before that holding a master's degree from a chinese university allows you to get a visa without any experience, I am now really considering about getting a master's degree here. I have a bachelor of marketing, and I have studied a master of marketing (but did not complete it cause too lazy and too stupid at that time...). Have a few questions :

- I heave read Angelina saying it is quite easy to get a job in China after completing a Master's degree in a chinese university. What are your thoughts, guys ?

- As I have done marketing studies, I was thinking of doing something I really like instead. My first thought was studying chinese at a master's level, but for what... ? Except for translation, is there any other opportunity ?

- My second thought was studying Chinese History, because I know it would really passionate me. What kind of job can you expect ? I was thinking about tourism but I am not sure it will be easy to find a job, though I think I would really like doing this.

- My third thought was teaching French in China. But there is no master degree for that here, right ? Can I find a job in teaching french with another master ? I think I would need two years of experience first.

- Finally, do you know any sector of activity in which I could easily find a job here ? Wanna know if this is something I would have interest in doing (not teaching English, please )

Thanks.

[Angelina]

Ok so here is one opportunity if you choose to study in China. 

I have talked about campus recruitment before, you can search older posts at the forums. 

 

https://campus.alibaba.com/positionList.htm?from=singlemessage

[Luxi]

On 7/1/2017 at 3:28 PM, Kherith said:

- My third thought was teaching French in China. But there is no master degree for that here, right ?

 

Kherith, I think teaching French in China would be a good way in, there isn't so much competition compared to English and I can imagine there is good demand. Combined with a Masters degree in Chinese or any China-related subject from a Chinese Uni and your degree in marketing, you'd be in a very good position. 

Can't you get an FLE (Français langue étrangère) before going to China? 

 

[msteve60]

@AngelinaBut I am assuming the jobs in that link you posted are aimed at Chinese graduates, not foreigners, right? Because it is a Chinese website, everything is posted in Chinese, and I don't see any mention of hiring foreigners on that page.