Undergraduate Degree in Chinese Language with no HSK

[Cgwilliams123]

Hi everybody,

I am hoping to enrol in a university in China this September to study Chinese at Degree level. The issue is I don't have a HSK certificate, and I am trying to avoid doing a 1 year Chinese course before hand and so I am looking for universities in China that will take on beginners, although I can speak some Chinese and read maybe 400 characters so not a total beginner. I know that Liaoning uni in Shenyang, and SCUT in Guangzhou allow people without HSK in, just wondering if anybody knows of any others? Thanks.

[ZC]

If the classes are in Chinese and you can read ~400 words you will seriously struggle (unless I am misunderstanding the nature of the program you hope to attend) depending on your timeframe it’s not unlikely that you should have a chance to obtain a HSK certification depending on where you are currently living. I’m not sure of any other such universities that do not require testing though. I will caution that unless you are seriously prepared to spend most of your time navigating language issues you’re going to have a bad time. I’m presently studying English language courses in China with one Chinese language course set for August and my learning curve for Chinese (albeit because I need to get medical terminology down too) is pretty steep, jumping straight into Chinese courses might be hard. But don’t be discouraged just because I’m a downer, if you are really confident those are both well thought of unis where you will have a ton of opportunities!

 

 

edit: As JS pointed out (and with a little hindsight) I think I had the wrong idea about your goal. Also welcome to the forum!

[js6426]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

 

You can study an undergraduate in Chinese Language and Literature at Harbin Institute of Technology with no HSK.  I'm currently in the first year of the course and I have no HSK certificate.  I think ZC might have misunderstood your post!  You want to do a Bachelor's in Chinese language right, not a degree in a different subject but which is taught in Chinese?  We had people who had practically 0 understanding of the language.  Remember this isn't like doing a science degree in Chinese, you're using Chinese to learn Chinese.  Everything is from scratch, you start out with pinyin and pronunciation.  Of course the classes are all in Chinese, but they are aimed at people with very little understanding of the language, so if you have some of the basics you should be able to understand ok.  Everything is repeated time and time again also to make sure you get it.  The teachers here are incredibly understanding, and they don't rush off ahead if you don't get it.  They don't leave those with less experience behind, and they also make it interesting and challenging for those with a bit more experience. 

 

If you want any more info on HIT then feel free to drop me a message.

[Cgwilliams123]

That's right, I am wanting to study Chinese Language. Thanks js6426! I will have a look at Harbin, dont know if I could survive 4 of their winters though!

[ZC]

If you want any more info in HIT then you can “HIT” js up in the DM’s!

[HuayangAcademy]

How do you find Harbin? I find the spoken language very clear and easy to understand

We also have students that went on to do a Uni degree in Chinese without a HSK

The degree of course being Chinese language 

[js6426]

4 hours ago, HuayangAcademy said:

How do you find Harbin? I find the spoken language very clear and easy to understand

 

I love Harbin.  I think both the place and the people are amazing.  As far as the language goes, I don't have much to compare it to!  I don't find it easy, because, well, it's Chinese, but I imagine I would find other places harder!

[roddy]

21 hours ago, ZC said:

If you want any more info in HIT then you can “HIT” js up in the DM’s!

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

 

Give the HIT topic a bump - that'll mean way more people benefit.

[lakesandrivers]

Personally, I think ~400 characters will drown you in a sea of unknown characters. I am at HSK 4, and I believe I actually know ~2,000 characters.

 

Coincidentally, out of curiosity, I attended two different classes taught in medical Chinese yesterday. There were some unknown characters, and also phrases. Just because one could put three known characters together may not necessarily mean one knows the phrase. 内分泌 makes sense, but only after the fact. Endocrine literally does mean "internal secretion". Had to flip out the almighty CE-DICT dictionary and luckily almost all phrases were found. 

 

The way I look at it, of course there would be unknown characters or phrases. If I knew all there was to know I guess I was wasting my time in the class. But at ~400, you have far to go. As they like to say, "Work harder!" All the best!

[Cgwilliams123]

I actually got into Sichuan University in Chengdu with no HSK (Shanghai University accepted me to) ? just for anyone in the future who stumbles upon this post after googleing the same questions I had.

[js6426]

3 hours ago, lakesandrivers said:

Personally, I think ~400 characters will drown you in a sea of unknown characters. I am at HSK 4, and I believe I actually know ~2,000 characters.

 

I think you have misunderstood this thread also.  This is studying Chinese language, as in the name of the degree is 'Chinese language', not simply the language in which it is taught.  You start out learning pinyin - knowing 400 characters is a good start, and in beginner books you certainly won't find yourself drowning in a sea of unknown characters.

[lakesandrivers]

Then the question becomes why they want potential students to study pre-university one year Chinese prior to studying Chinese from the ground up. Might be related to a university's specific curriculum?

[js6426]

46 minutes ago, lakesandrivers said:

 

Then the question becomes why they want potential students to study pre-university one year Chinese prior to studying Chinese from the ground up. Might be related to a university's specific curriculum?

 

The universities in question don’t require that, which is kind of the point! At my uni you can get into first year with basically no Chinese at all. However, if you have an HSK 5, or have studied a year of Chinese at the university already, you can jump straight into second year. I believe that’s quite common. Obviously this is different to studying a degree in Chinese, alongside Chinese students.

[Eibar]

I have a question. I would like to clarify if by "Chinese degree" you mean a "Chinese Language and Literature Degree"?. I am interested in applying to a non-top university through the CSC scholarship. Is it possible to enter a "Chinese Language and Literature" Degree with a low or zero level of HSK?