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Original post by Twilight_Star
@Grass_mud_horse: Are you entering BA Chinese/Chinese Studies this autumn as well? :smile:


Yeah I am. Can't wait!
School of Oriental and African Studies
London
Original post by grass mud horse
Yeah I am. Can't wait!


Glad to hear that you are! :biggrin: Me too!
Reply 202
Original post by nambagirl
Hi everybody! I have a question, too. I'm gonna start the MA in Japanese Studies and I wanna take a course on the language. How do they place you in a level? Is there a placement test or something?

Thank you!


Hey nambagirl,
Yes they will have a placement test. Just apply for the level you want to take and when you get to SOAS (get there a bit early since this happens virtually on the first day, if not before actually :/) you will have a placement test with other people in the room. If you get lower than 50% or over 70% they might give you another test to see if you can fit better in other classes. Just do the best you can and you'll be alright. It is timed but definitely manageable.
The placement test is written only.

Original post by grass mud horse
Thanks for the detailed and useful answer (and thanks Twilight_Star for asking the questions). I wonder if you could bear to answer a couple more? It probably isn't burned into your memory, but was the speaking exam all in Chinese? I imagine it being like the IELTS test my friend took, where she was asked very basic questions like where do you live, what do you do for a living etc. Can you remember the general subjects that were touched upon (like food or grammar or personal question or whatever)? Thanks again for your help.


Yes, I think it was all in Chinese. Just basic conversation to see what my level was. I remember talking about movies, but I was so nervous my tones were completely wrong and I messed up on a very simple word (said kongpa instead of kongbu.) I got put into the wrong class (elementary) and after about 2 weeks of doing stuff I already knew I went to see the teacher again and asked her if there was any way I could redo my placement test or something. She said that that monday, she would give us (there were 3 of us I think) the exam of the end of the year and if we passed she'd move us up. I studied like crazy for the whole weekend (as in from 5:30 am to 12 pm almost. That was a really difficult weekend.) Took the test on monday and I went on to Special Chinese 3. So even if they put you in the wrong level you can change, do not worry.
(Though because of that I had like 3 weeks of elementary korean to catch up.) T.T'''

Original post by Twilight_Star
@miniteen: Thanks a lot for taking the time to reply to my questions. Your answers were a big help! :smile:
Regarding the Chinese courses I probably shouldn't expect to be spoodfed - I guess it's a good thing there's emphasis on self-study. Glad to hear that the Chinese classes are good though!

Hm! The Korean floaters are intensive you say? :/ Well I'm still thinking about my choices. All the modules seem really interesting! Since the fees are going to be ridiculous it might be better to take a subject that can broaden my knowledge as opposed to a language which I can probably learn in my own time after university (or from friends I make in SOAS possibly). Though I'm still really interested in both Japanese and Korean languages :/


You're welcome.
The problem with the elementary Korean floater is that, despite it being only one unit, you have the same pace as the BA Korean students who take two units in the language (one oral and one written.) The floater concentrates on writing though, there is no oral exam in elementary (there is in intermediate.)
Mh, learning these to a level you can use in a work environment on the side is not easy, I must warn you. Also, if like me you aim high (i.e. a first) you will find yourself in the library until really late every day not very long into the first term. At SOAS, the difference between the amount of work you have to put in to get a 2:1 and the amount of work you have to put in to get a 1st is enormous. Don't think it'll be easy (unless you take courses you know you'll get a first in - as some people do (i.e. take elementary japanese when they already speak it at home.)) These courses really push you. Maybe you could learn the language on the side until you get past elementary and then take it as a floater in intermediate? Higher intermediate Japanese taught me how to read newspaper articles for example, a very useful skill to have, which had I not had an exam in at the end, I probably wouldn't have learned in a period of 9 months. Now I should have the level to pass the JLPT 1 hopefully, and if I do pass in December, then when I graduate I'll have both the HSK 6 and the JLPT 1 on my CV. There is no way I'd have gotten to this level in such a short amount of time had I not taken these courses at university.
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by miniteen
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Hey, I'm a bit confused about the whole placement test thing for Chinese. They based your level on an interview without giving you any test paper or anything? And the second time round you got the chance to do the test paper? That seems a bit unfair to me..

I don't mind working hard at all. I did 8 months in China learning the language and studying characters constantly most nights. It's nothing I'm not used to.

Oh thats really cool. I was also thinking of taking the HSK 3 or 4 sometime since it's recognised in China. Good idea though, I think I might leave the Japanese and Korean for my second and third years. First priority should be Chinese really.

Oh I'd also like to ask a question about the Classical Chinese side of the course. What does it involve and how do they teach it? Was it difficult to grasp the traditional form of the characters?
Reply 204
Hi.
I'll ask you another question, since you are so helpful, and I thank you for your help.
I will attend SOAS for economics L100.
I also want to take an extra language, possibly an asian language.
Do you know if I'll have lectures in both campuses or maybe in just one of the two (that would be quite convenient)
Thanks again for your help.
Original post by Twilight_Star
Glad to hear that you are! :biggrin: Me too!


Cool, hopefully I'll see you there.

Original post by Twilight_Star
I did 8 months in China learning the language and studying characters constantly most nights.


Although it looks like we won't be in the same language class :colondollar:
Original post by grass mud horse
Cool, hopefully I'll see you there.



Although it looks like we won't be in the same language class :colondollar:


Yes!! :biggrin:

Haha well you never know, I could completely flunk the entrance exam and end up in Elementary :P I wouldn't mind consolidating my Chinese actually... but it's just that the 9k fees make me want to cram as much chinese knowledge into my brain while I can.. :P Hence why I would love to be put into higher levels T.T
Reply 207
Original post by Twilight_Star
Hey, I'm a bit confused about the whole placement test thing for Chinese. They based your level on an interview without giving you any test paper or anything? And the second time round you got the chance to do the test paper? That seems a bit unfair to me..

I don't mind working hard at all. I did 8 months in China learning the language and studying characters constantly most nights. It's nothing I'm not used to.

Oh thats really cool. I was also thinking of taking the HSK 3 or 4 sometime since it's recognised in China. Good idea though, I think I might leave the Japanese and Korean for my second and third years. First priority should be Chinese really.

Oh I'd also like to ask a question about the Classical Chinese side of the course. What does it involve and how do they teach it? Was it difficult to grasp the traditional form of the characters?


Yes. I know that had the first interview gone any better, the teacher would have asked me to read in Chinese.

Mh. I'm just saying that you won't have the time to learn these languages on the side with other courses. It's not even a question of working hard, it's about lack of time.

No, you learn traditional first at SOAS anyway. It'll be fine. It's mostly memorization. You will have to learn something very useless in first year: the radicals. Which you will have to learn by heart, in the order, with pinyin, and the meaning. Then you will have some bits of information to learn about Chinese in general, and then in the second semester you will have to properly start translating real Classical.
Original post by miniteen
Yes. I know that had the first interview gone any better, the teacher would have asked me to read in Chinese.

Mh. I'm just saying that you won't have the time to learn these languages on the side with other courses. It's not even a question of working hard, it's about lack of time.

No, you learn traditional first at SOAS anyway. It'll be fine. It's mostly memorization. You will have to learn something very useless in first year: the radicals. Which you will have to learn by heart, in the order, with pinyin, and the meaning. Then you will have some bits of information to learn about Chinese in general, and then in the second semester you will have to properly start translating real Classical.


Oh I see. I'd better make sure my oral Chinese allows me the opportunity to sit an exam then..

And I see..

Wait are the radicals the same as the radicals Simplified Chinese characters use? If that's the case I pretty much know them already. (I was never taught them properly but I did some research and took an interest in them - they really helped me to memorize characters).
Reply 209
Original post by Twilight_Star

Wait are the radicals the same as the radicals Simplified Chinese characters use? If that's the case I pretty much know them already. (I was never taught them properly but I did some research and took an interest in them - they really helped me to memorize characters).


You know all 214 of them? With the pinyin, order (as in their number), meaning, and variants?
Original post by miniteen
You know all 214 of them? With the pinyin, order (as in their number), meaning, and variants?


Oh! On second thoughts I don't I guess. Was a bit silly of me to assume I knew ALL of them -sorry!

Anyway, thanks a lot for answering my questions. I'm looking forward to starting in October! :smile:
Reply 211
just found this page, looks amazing! can't wait!

sayitaintsoas.tumblr.com
Reply 212
Hi!

Majorly awesome thread you got here, it's really helpful when you're stuck with stupid questions.

I'm an international student (Denmark) hoping to enter SOAS in 2013. I have a bunch of worries however!

1) Danish schools do not provide students with "predicted grades". As far as I've understood - not being very well-wandered into the British schoolsystem - those are required to apply for British universities. What the .... am I supposed to do?

2) I am not sure I will be able to achieve the average mark required to enter SOAS (students from Denmark are supposed to have an average mark of 10, mine probably ending up around 9.something). Can I still give SOAS a shot, or should I decide to become a stripper instead?

3) Is there any place I can contact to help me applying through UCAS? It confuses the life out of me, asking me for a bunch of weird stuff that I have no idea what is.
(my entire family and almost everyone around me are about just as able to help me as a sock would be)

4) I'm hoping to take a joint degree in Japanese and Korean, probably focusing on Japanese. I already hold the JLPT lvl 2 taken after a year of exchange in 2009. Will they recognize it, and how will that place me?

- will I be able to enter directly into year 2, and how would that affect me socially? I'd be pretty bummed if everyone were already bffs and I'd be forever alone.

- I'm sure my spoken Japanese would suffice to the lvl 2 still, but I'm not a 100% sure about the written part, while almost positive that I'd be bored to death with oral lessons of year 1....? Any advise or anyone I can contact to ask about this?

5) Is it possible to enter SOAS as an international student without having taken a TOEFL or any English test of the likes? I'm more or less fluent in the language and have only ever received A+ in English lessons my entire school life. The test is EXPENSIVE. Any way around it?

6) I'm not a hippie, have no idea about politics and do not practice religion. I am however quite an outsider around here, being mostly interested in Asian cultures, languages and so on. I feel extremely at home in Asian countries (China, Japan), will I be forever alone at SOAS?

Hope you can help me out! (>.<)

Thanks.
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by sayapinky
Hi!

Majorly awesome thread you got here, it's really helpful when you're stuck with stupid questions.

I'm an international student (Denmark) hoping to enter SOAS in 2013. I have a bunch of worries however!

1) Danish schools do not provide students with "predicted grades". As far as I've understood - not being very well-wandered into the British schoolsystem - those are required to apply for British universities. What the .... am I supposed to do?

2) I am not sure I will be able to achieve the average mark required to enter SOAS (students from Denmark are supposed to have an average mark of 10, mine probably ending up around 9.something). Can I still give SOAS a shot, or should I decide to become a stripper instead?

3) Is there any place I can contact to help me applying through UCAS? It confuses the life out of me, asking me for a bunch of weird stuff that I have no idea what is.
(my entire family and almost everyone around me are about just as able to help me as a sock would be)

4) I'm hoping to take a joint degree in Japanese and Korean, probably focusing on Japanese. I already hold the JLPT lvl 2 taken after a year of exchange in 2009. Will they recognize it, and how will that place me?

- will I be able to enter directly into year 2, and how would that affect me socially? I'd be pretty bummed if everyone were already bffs and I'd be forever alone.

- I'm sure my spoken Japanese would suffice to the lvl 2 still, but I'm not a 100% sure about the written part, while almost positive that I'd be bored to death with oral lessons of year 1....? Any advise or anyone I can contact to ask about this?

5) Is it possible to enter SOAS as an international student without having taken a TOEFL or any English test of the likes? I'm more or less fluent in the language and have only ever received A+ in English lessons my entire school life. The test is EXPENSIVE. Any way around it?

6) I'm not a hippie, have no idea about politics and do not practice religion. I am however quite an outsider around here, being mostly interested in Asian cultures, languages and so on. I feel extremely at home in Asian countries (China, Japan), will I be forever alone at SOAS?

Hope you can help me out! (>.<)

Thanks.


1. Be bara din handledare alt. alla lärare att 'gissa' vad du kommer i betyg :wink:

2. Always try. Do you have any other relevant exp other than the grades? They look at way more than just the grades, specially when it comes to the 'international students'.

3. If you are more or less fluent in Swedish I can direct you to a whole UCAS flashback thread with people who both study and work at universities as Oxbridge and Imperial and such. They know about everything you need to know about the UCAS process. Just PM and I'll give you a link :smile:

4. Sorry, have no idea.

5. I have MVG in English A, B and C (Swedish gymnasiet) which was just enough. They have not asked me for any additional proof of English than they. I remember hearing something about rules being different for Swedes than most International Students, and I think it's Scandinavians in general, not just the Swedes.

6. The Japan society seems to be quite massive at SOAS as far as I've noticed :biggrin: I'm quite sure you won't be a loner :biggrin:
Reply 214
Original post by sayapinky
4) I'm hoping to take a joint degree in Japanese and Korean, probably focusing on Japanese. I already hold the JLPT lvl 2 taken after a year of exchange in 2009. Will they recognize it, and how will that place me?

- will I be able to enter directly into year 2, and how would that affect me socially? I'd be pretty bummed if everyone were already bffs and I'd be forever alone.

- I'm sure my spoken Japanese would suffice to the lvl 2 still, but I'm not a 100% sure about the written part, while almost positive that I'd be bored to death with oral lessons of year 1....? Any advise or anyone I can contact to ask about this?

6) I'm not a hippie, have no idea about politics and do not practice religion. I am however quite an outsider around here, being mostly interested in Asian cultures, languages and so on. I feel extremely at home in Asian countries (China, Japan), will I be forever alone at SOAS?

Thanks.


I'll answer these because they're the ones I know the answers to.

Yes. You will be able to enter directly into second year. I'm not sure you'll be allowed on the BA Japanese course though. You might be asked to take BA Japanese Studies (which is meant for people who want to focus less on the language and more on the Cultural aspects.) Your level of Japanese is already higher than second year students' I think.

You will fit in fine. I'm more or less exactly like you. I'm a 4th year BA Chinese student.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 215
Thank you so much for your answers!

But what do you mean they'd have me take BA Japanese Studies instead of BA Japanese?
I want to go to SOAS because they have the intense language courses, as I'm more interested in studying the languages than the cultures (long story short), otherwise I'd be able to take similar courses in my homecountry (.. for free, even).
Reply 216
Original post by sayapinky
Thank you so much for your answers!

But what do you mean they'd have me take BA Japanese Studies instead of BA Japanese?
I want to go to SOAS because they have the intense language courses, as I'm more interested in studying the languages than the cultures (long story short), otherwise I'd be able to take similar courses in my homecountry (.. for free, even).


Well, you have to understand that BA Japanese is originally meant for people who have never done the language. Sure, there are possibilities for those who have done the language, but if your level exceeds that of second year BA Japanese students, I wonder if there would be a point in taking BA Japanese at all. I am not a 100% sure that this would be your case, but it might be. I'm just explaining something that might happen, and please don't take my word for it. I'm also talking from my experience in the Chinese department, where we also have a BA Chinese and a BA Chinese Studies, the latter being originally meant for people who are overqualified for the program. The Japanese department might be a bit different, but I am not too sure about that.

The reason I am telling you this is that I learned all too late about the fact that the level of language they can give you (be it at SOAS or anywhere else) is limited. By the end of 2nd year (my year abroad) I had the HSK 6, the equivalent of the JLPT 1. When I got back for my third year, I took fourth year classes but those too were a lot more simple than what I had done in China. And now this year I am required to take more courses of the same level, because that is all they can offer. The Japanese department too is very limited past a certain level. I took a higher intermediate Japanese floater course in the Japanese department last year, and asked what my options were if I wanted to continue it. They said the only available course to me if I wanted to study more language was a course on which I'd be required to write a very long essay in Japanese, and that was it.

In any case, all I'm saying is maybe you will be asked to take something else than BA Japanese. I know that with JLPT 2, you could qualify for the Higher Intermediate course I took last year, and since that is the equivalent of the end of 2nd year Japanese, and bridging the way to fourth year level courses (for those who aren't going on the year abroad) you might be overqualified for the course taught on BA Japanese. If this is the case, you may be asked to take either BA Japanese Studies (which would allow you to take courses that suit your level better) or do a joint degree.

Again, let me reiterate. I am not a Japanese teacher. So I am not sure this will be asked of you. But I have known others in the past for whom this was the case, so be prepared.

EDIT: Taking BA Japanese and Korean will definitely help though.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 217
Original post by mrcvita
Hi.
I'll ask you another question, since you are so helpful, and I thank you for your help.
I will attend SOAS for economics L100.
I also want to take an extra language, possibly an asian language.
Do you know if I'll have lectures in both campuses or maybe in just one of the two (that would be quite convenient)
Thanks again for your help.


you will have toturials for the language, not lectures. And yes, on both campus. Do not worry tho, everyone has lessons on both campus, they just 15 minute walk away from the each other.
What's SOAS fresher's like?
Reply 219
whats the ratio of hippies to non hippies :colonhash:

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