What can you do?

[L-F-J]

I'm just wondering what you can do if you decide to study Chinese in college. When you finish, what is there? What work can you get or what other things can you do with a College education in Chinese? Maybe someone who has done it can reply or someone who's studying Chinese in college now. What are your plans?

[L-F-J]

How about a non-Chinese teaching Chinese as a foreign language? I've seen plenty foreign people in US Universities teaching English as a foreign language. Why would they want that? Those people have gone through the learning process before their students, so they can probably add a different view on learning than someone who just grew up knowing it.

[PaoYu]

There are lots of people much more qualified than me to answer this question (of which I am also interested to hear the answer), but I'd like to set something straight.

wannabeafreak: It is a common misconception that the sole purpose of a Chinese degree is to speak Chinese. The line of thought "why not just employ a Chinese person?" is completely wrong. There are very few degrees that equip students with a vocational knowledge of the job that they are going to go into. What degrees provide are "transferable skills" which can be applied to any situation. Why, for example, do you think people study Classics, Philosophy, History or Politics? Because they enjoy it. Only a low percentage of graduates actually use the knowledge that they gained from their undergraduate degree.

A degree in Chinese provides a rigorous academic study. Just like any other academic degree; and you get the added bonus that you can speak Chinese at the end of it. As with anything it depends on the individual, but you certainly won't be disadvantaged by it.

In case you are wondering, I will be studying Chinese starting this year. Thus, I know more than your average Joe in the street; but less than most guys on this board. So take this with a pinch of salt! I am also looking forward to replies from others.

[gato]

Philosophy, History or Politics? Because they enjoy it. Only a low percentage of graduates actually use the knowledge that they gained from their undergraduate degree.

Don't know about the classics (I suppose that's like majoring in Greek or Latin), but when you major in philosophy, history, or politics, you will be working on your writing and analytical skills (and possibly public speaking skills). If you major in a foreign language (whether in Chinese or some other), much of your time will be spent on mastering the basics. You should also supplement your language classes with other subjects to get the kind of training that your classmates in other departments might be getting.

Learning a foreign language does exercise the mind, but it's not a very difficult exercise. It's only the first step. Toddlers do it when they first learn to talk. Millions of immigrants to the West do it, many of them without any college education. Putting a language to use in analyzing something or explaining a solution to a complex problem is much more challenging.

[Xiao Kui]

to be realistic, why would someone employ you when they can get a native chinese person?

Sorry, but that's not necessarily the case, especially when it comes to translation from Chinese to English. Although a native speaker of Chinese maybe able to read and understand Chinese more quickly or easily than a foreigner who's fluent in Chinese, the native speaker of English has the advantage when it comes to translating the Chinese into English because he/she can usually write better in the target language. Many Chinese who have studied English for years still find writing good English prose to be very challenging.

[PaoYu]

Don't know about the classics (I suppose that's like majoring in Greek or Latin), but when you major in philosophy, history, or politics, you will be working on your writing and analytical skills (and possibly public speaking skills).

A large part of Chinese degrees consists of studying the history and culture; this builds up analytical skills (which fall under the transferable skills group mentioned in my post).

Toddlers do it when they first learn to talk. Millions of immigrants to the West do it, many of them without any college education.

Toddlers think cognitively differently to adults. It is much easier for them to pick up languages. And immigrants... well, I don't know what to say!

Perhaps it depends what kind of degree you do. There are some that teach only functional modern Chinese and comptemporary issues, which are probably better if one wanted to go into translation. But there are also degrees which intensively study the history and classical elements of Chinese too, which are academically rigorous.

My point being that "Chinese degrees are rubbish and won't get you a job" isn't true. I'm sure there are some rubbish Chinese degrees out there; but there are also some good ones. Same for any subject.

[mlomker]

I got my bachelors in general business and I've never been a manager. I earn more than an entry-level lawyer in the IT field, though. I'd agree that one shouldn't be too concerned about the subject that your bachelor degree is in unless you're entering fields that have a specific requirement (i.e., becoming a CPA or entering the medical fields).

Someone with a bachelors in Chinese could go on to obtain a masters that leads to teaching licensure, an MBA, or a law degree. I'd agree that a bachelors in Chinese isn't a practical terminal degree the way that an engineering degree might be, but few degrees are these days. You almost need a graduate degree to differentiate yourself anymore...

[bhchao]

If you have a law degree and are also fluent in Mandarin, you could become very marketable in China because of the growing importance of intellectual property protection rights and environmental compliance there.

Consider the rampant commercial piracy and lack of strong intellectual property rights in China. People are more prone to imitate and plagiarize others when there are weak intellectual property regulations. This helps stifle innovation and creativity. So someone with a law degree in a specialty like environmental or intellectual property law would be in big demand in a country like China, provided that he or she is also fluent in Mandarin.

This is just one example of pursuing a degree in a field that provides you with specialized knowledge that helps you solve real-world problems, while simultaneously utilizing your Mandarin skills.

You would become more marketable that way. I love Chinese history and East Asian history in particular, but personally I would not major in it unless I am enthusiastic about teaching it as a university professor.

[Lu]

Jobs that people I know (of) got after studying Chinese:

• In an insurance firm
  
• Teacher of Chinese, either in college, private, in high school or other classes
  
• Boss of IKEA China
  
• Journalist in China
  
• At the International Office of the university (helping out foreign students with problems)
  
• In the Chinese library
  
• In a company that ships things from China
  
• For the promotion team of the uni, trying to get Chinese and Taiwanese students to Holland
  
• English teacher in Nepal
  
• Ambassador to China
  
• Import & export with China
  
• Translator
  

Those are some jobs that people I know (of), all graduates in Sinology, are doing. Some people don't use their Chinese anymore after graduating, many do. I know many people who are working on their MA thesis and don't really have any idea what they want to do after graduating, but so far everybody I know found a job, and many of these jobs had something to do with China or Chinese.