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Studying a language at uni. with prior knowledge

Hello everyone.
I am 15 years old - currently in Year 11. I love to learn languages at home with whatever resources I can find. At the moment, my intense language studies are focused on Mandarin and Korean. I decided the other day that I will read Chinese (joined with something else) at uni. However, it took me a while to come to that decision, because by the time I get to uni, I will have studied these languages for three years. I'm thinking, is there a point in paying all that money to go over the same stuff I've will have been learning for three years?

Sorry, tl;dr moment. My real question is: if I already have prior knowledge of a language (not fluency, of course, just up to ..intermediate level?), will I learn the same stuff again for the first year of the course? Or can you somehow customise your lessons, or listen to what you want to? I understand that it will be good practise to go over the same stuff, but I don't want to, for example, waste however many weeks it takes for them to teach it, going over the radicals in Chinese, because I already understand those.

Also, is anyone on here reading Chinese at uni.? Single honour or a joint degree? What did you combine it with? I would like to combine Chinese with Korean, but only a few universities in the UK provide Korean studies. So I thought linguistics, perhaps..

:smile: Person-shift ftw.
Hi there, I study chinese at leeds university and I started it from scratch, and tbh I wouldn't really worry - points like the radicals arent really taught you are really just expected to pick them up. We are one senester in at the moment and I would say the course is very intensive, I did some self study for a few months before the course and we are so far beyond the level I reached. Also most unis will offer a placement test at the start of the course and if you pass it they will put you into an intermediate class, however the people taking it from scratch are expected to of caught up after 1 year. If you have any other questions about what it's like studying chinese feel free to ask!!
Original post by Squaresquirrel
Hi there, I study chinese at leeds university and I started it from scratch, and tbh I wouldn't really worry - points like the radicals arent really taught you are really just expected to pick them up. We are one senester in at the moment and I would say the course is very intensive, I did some self study for a few months before the course and we are so far beyond the level I reached. Also most unis will offer a placement test at the start of the course and if you pass it they will put you into an intermediate class, however the people taking it from scratch are expected to of caught up after 1 year. If you have any other questions about what it's like studying chinese feel free to ask!!


Wow I hadn't realised uni courses were that intensive :ahee: Thank you for this info. What resources are you required to have for the course?
How many people are in a class, and roughly how many people altogether study Chinese where you're at?
And lastly, how different is the teaching compared to a language at GCSE or A-level? I mean, I presume it's more intense..but do the lessons always rely on the textbook?
Sorry, one more - what are the lectures like, if you have any?
Original post by besarlalluvia
Wow I hadn't realised uni courses were that intensive :ahee: Thank you for this info. What resources are you required to have for the course?
How many people are in a class, and roughly how many people altogether study Chinese where you're at?
And lastly, how different is the teaching compared to a language at GCSE or A-level? I mean, I presume it's more intense..but do the lessons always rely on the textbook?
Sorry, one more - what are the lectures like, if you have any?


Resources wise we have 2 textbooks, a sort of make your own flashcard kit which I dont really use, and then several workbooks to use in class. We also get given sheets and things to work through weeklyish.

there are about 50-70ish people on the course i would estimate. We all take core lectures together and then we are split into groups for practicals, aurals and drills which is where we consolidate grammar and sentence structure that was introduced in the core lecture. The groups consist of about 10-15 people.
I only took german up to gcse but the teaching is so different. There are no spelling tests or anything of the sort - you are expected to pick up and practice new vocab in your own time - and from what I can remember of gcse it was very much like copying things out of a textbook and learnign from corrections the teacher made, at uni (well leeds at least) they really encourage you to think about the language and how to use it rather than just saying "this is wrong it should be this" they are more like "this is wrong, heres why, now what should it be?" which in my opinion is a much better way of doing things.

We have 2 core elctures a week the expand on the grammar points brought up in the textbook.

Hope I helped! Anyother questions just ask away!!:biggrin:
Original post by Squaresquirrel
Resources wise we have 2 textbooks, a sort of make your own flashcard kit which I dont really use, and then several workbooks to use in class. We also get given sheets and things to work through weeklyish.

there are about 50-70ish people on the course i would estimate. We all take core lectures together and then we are split into groups for practicals, aurals and drills which is where we consolidate grammar and sentence structure that was introduced in the core lecture. The groups consist of about 10-15 people.
I only took german up to gcse but the teaching is so different. There are no spelling tests or anything of the sort - you are expected to pick up and practice new vocab in your own time - and from what I can remember of gcse it was very much like copying things out of a textbook and learnign from corrections the teacher made, at uni (well leeds at least) they really encourage you to think about the language and how to use it rather than just saying "this is wrong it should be this" they are more like "this is wrong, heres why, now what should it be?" which in my opinion is a much better way of doing things.

We have 2 core elctures a week the expand on the grammar points brought up in the textbook.

Hope I helped! Anyother questions just ask away!!:biggrin:


Oh yes, that sounds much better. I'm learning Spanish and French and GCSE atm. I find it really slow and dumbed-down and I get so annoyed. I want it to be more challenging, you know? This led me to not even want to take a language at uni., to 'hate the school system' and whatnot. Aah you've shone a light in my brain :biggrin: Thank you for you're response. I defo. want to do Chinese at uni. :smile:

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