Fluent in Chinese...NOW WHAT CAN I DO???

[danier11]

Hello,

Question Part A

I'm not fluent in Chinese but I was wondering what peoples plans are after they reach oral fluency in Chinese after they attend school in China. What types of jobs will you take? Where will you go after you study in China? Will you go back to graduate school? Find a job? What will you do?

Question Part B

I basically have finished undergraduate school and am going to go to Beijing for 6 months to work on speaking Chinese. But after that I plan on going to graduate school in the USA where I am from. Any suggestions in gradaute programs? I like studying languages and want to study Korean in the future also. Teaching is something I want to do in the future in addition to learning languages.... so with all this said...Does anyone have any suggestions in a graduate program that they know is really good where I can study Chinese and Korean that is in the USA.

If so, what are some good ways to get into that school? Is it in a big city? With the degree what kind of jobs can you get?

[Xiao Kui]

Hi danier11!

Question Part A

I'm not fluent in Chinese but I was wondering what peoples plans are after they reach oral fluency in Chinese after they attend school in China. What types of jobs will you take? Where will you go after you study in China? Will you go back to graduate school? Find a job? What will you do?

Please check out this thread, with a discussion related to your Question A

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/10-is-chinese-grammar-easy-dont-you-just-love-chinese-words073&highlight=ikea

As for me, I'm hoping to get started as a freelance translator. No,don't know anything abt it yet, but hoping to get my feet wet when I return to SW China, and eventually do it in Beijing, Taipei, or NYC. From what I gather, translating is a pretty portable job.

I don't know what's the best as far as East Asian Language grad programs go, but I'm a fan of Columbia's http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ealac

Lots of other grad program links here:

http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/classics/chinese/graduate.html

Some people are doing theirs in Taipei, where you can get scholarships from the gov. to do your Master's in Chinese - maybe not the same prestige, but heck of a lot cheaper than an Ivy league school, and more Mandarin exposure - wouldn't study Korean there, though.

[Long Zhiren]

...just wondering.

I've had a lot of employers overlook my foreign language skills because so many others overstate their foreign language skills on their resumes. "The last few people who said they were fluent..."

Does fluent mean:

1) You can confidently pick up a telephone and talk to anyone...

2) Read any book off the shelf...

3) Go listen to a stand-up comic and understand everything...

4) Get on stage and successfully perform as a stand-up comic in the given language...

5) Translate real-time on the spot...

6) Negotiate business deals...

7) Have a couple high school level classes under one's belt...

Get yourself into tons of trouble...

9) Get yourself out of tons of trouble...

10) ????

[xiaoxiajenny]

I am wondering too.

[imron]

4, 5 and 6 no, because these also involve specialist skills and are not necessarily things a native speaker could do well, even though they are fluent in the language.

If you have a look at the Interagency Language Roundtable Language Skill Level Descriptions, my own personal opinion would be to say that a person begins to be fluent around level 3, and by level 4 I would be fully fluent.

[heifeng]

There's also the ACTFL standards

http://www.languagetesting.com/scale_acad.htm

I had to undergo this sort of speaking exam testing before, so I try to use this if I need "proof" of proficiency in the US at least. However to actually acheive "superior", which is what I would personally consider fluent, it is significantly more difficult to improve than to improve on the lower levels. I think that anything less than superior, at most is just proficient or highly proficient because when you get into certain more specialized, away from everyday life subjects, it is more challenging to communicate effectively, or at least express yourself as a native speaker would

Also, I believe that in Chinese language fluency is potentially more challenging for an English native speaker to reach since there is a super dose of culture/chengyu/dialects and such involved. PLUS, people use to dealing with foreigners may understand every word you say, but others may not if your pronounciation, tones, and intonation isn't quite on mark....plus there is always the listening part of communicating too....so....anyway, I don't know if this helps....

Also, note in China, it has been my experience, sometimes to get a better understanding of your depths of proficiency the "interviews" will be extended into lunch or dinner to give you more of an opportunity to chat with the big boss...so they will find out pretty quickly how well you can communicate soon enough...

[danier11]

Hello,

I had a feeling people would want to talk about "fluency". Does anyone else have any comments about what they are going to do once they are fluent? Fluent, meaning no problem speaking the language in the situations that you are in. So, what will you do after you reach this fluency? What are some good graduate programs in America that you have attended? Anyone that can talk about this would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[Long Zhiren]

So, what will you do after you reach this fluency?

Keep maintaining and growing the skill.

Go work part time in a Chinese restaurant and start messing with people...

When I went to Purdue University, Chinese language was not yet offered. I had to study it on my own, using Stanford textbooks (I believe Stanford is good.) and bugging every Chinese graduate student wandering about. Then I tested into courses in Taiwan and took some. I'm not sure if I'll ever use Chinese for work. Because I'm ethnically Chinese but still a foreigner, there are barriers to my working in China. I use Chinese mostly for talking to relatives, for travelling, for keeping up with international news with non-Western biases, for discussing doctrinal issues with religious people, and for ordering food in restaurants.

If you have an option, take the courses overseas...not in the US. There's no substitute for total immersion.

[kudra]

If you live in Chicago, go to

www.craigslist.com

select Chicago under cities

select jobs

type in mandarin

There are 25 listings for Chicago.

Of course you can try other cities, not just US ones.

You might come across something interesting. Of course there are a lot of people looking for nannies so their kids can learn Mandarin. Not sure that would interest you after graduate school. I don't mean to dis nannies, it just might not match your interests after graduate school.

[td36285n]

Q1:

I think there are many opportunities for Americans with the ability to communicate in Chinese. After getting back from China, I've had two employers who were interested in the "Chinese(Cantonese, Mandarin)" section of my resume.

There's a Chinese 成 语 that goes something like "Climbing a cow in order to find the horse". At this point, I'm interested in just about any jobs that can give me the opportunities to be stationed in China within a few years. Imagine earning an American salary in China.

______________________________________________________________

Q2:

You might want to check out "The John Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American studies". Classes are held in Nanjing, but you'll get a dual M.A. degree from both university upon graduation. The admission process is suppose to be pretty competitive, but the program offers a lot. Unfortunately, they do not have Korean courses.

[Sinta]

Last April I went travelling to 3 major cities in China: Xiamen, Nanjing, and Beijing with my boss. He can speak Chinese but was not familiar enough with China so he asked me to go with him. I have been in China for at least a year and eventhough my Chinese is still in intermediate level, I can assist him during the meeting.

When we visited Xiamen University, there were a lot of university's president there as the response of XMU's 80th Anniversary invitation. Most of the presidents had at least an assistant/person in charge who can speak not only English but also Chinese. The assistant is not secretary, but as he can speak Chinese and understand the culture well, he can establish a representative office in China. That phenomenon reminds me how Chinese will be an advantage if we can speak it fluently.

Most universities now have (at least) someone who can speak Chinese to be placed in the Foreign Affairs and Cooperation office. Many universities overseas are interested to have more mutual agreement and cooperation with any universities in China.

When I visited Northeast University in Nanjing, I was amazed by their new campuses. So huge!! One of their strength is their scientific research and publication. Walking around their campus made me wondering, how great China's impact in the years ahead.

So, if you can speak Chinese fluently, do not worry about the future. It is not just about having more opportunities in your future, but also the excitement of having more creative ways to express yourself in different culture and language

We sometimes just don't know why, how, what, when or where, but our experience and skill will meet the opportunities someday.