Chinese Studies - Best Uni?

I've applied for Chinese at:

Edinburgh
Leeds (Offer - Unconditional)
Sheffield (Offer - Unconditional)
Newcastle
Manchester
SOAS

Which out of these is the best? My first choice has been Edinburgh, but I've heard that their course is more classically focussed, is this true?

Reply 1

Nutter

I don't know about the difference in the programmes offered by the various institutions but SOAS is certainly one that you should give extensive consideration to - it's great for such subjects.

Reply 2

Piers-

hey,

they're all good unis, though i'm not sure about manchester (they only started chinese this year, right?), and newcastle offer it only in combination with cultural studies, not as a single subject (not a bad thing, but of course you'd have to want to do cultural studies as half your degree).

i study chinese at soas, so feel free to ask anything about that. (theoretically) half of our first year is dedicated to history and classical chinese, but we have to learn a ridiculous amount of modern chinese, so much of the time it takes a back seat. keep in mind, though, that it isn't really a "language" degree here. also, we have to learn simplified, traditional and classical characters -- not everyone's cup of tea:P

Reply 3

tax.man

I've applied for Chinese at almost the same unis as you (I applied to Nottingham instead of Edinburgh). From all my research I've generally found the following to be true:

Best for literature based Chinese courses - 1. Oxbridge 2. Edinburgh
Best for Modern Chinese - 1.Leeds 2.Sheffield
Best for overall (Modern and Classical) - SOAS

Feel free to correct me anyone if I'm wrong.

Reply 4

stewe

Piers-

keep in mind, though, that it isn't really a "language" degree here. also, we have to learn simplified, traditional and classical characters -- not everyone's cup of tea:P

What do you mean by it's not really a language degree? Is it more focussed on other things?

Reply 5

pharmakos

tax.man

SOAS--rather than Oxford and Cambridge--is the best in Chinese literature--esp., modern Chinese lit. Oxford is best in Chinese religious studies and Cambridge in ancient Chinese science and civilisation.

http://jds.cass.cn/Article/20050919104312.asp

Reply 6

Piers-

stewe

What do you mean by it's not really a language degree? Is it more focussed on other things?

as far as im aware the degree at SOAS is viewed more as an "academic" degree (i.e. loads of history, including ancient philosophy, art, literature, etc, and learning classical chinese) but with a strong modern language content; and sheffield/leeds etc focus a lot more on the modern language. In terms of modern language fluency I've no idea which university is best; i think it's more to do with your own motivation and effort than anything else. saying that, though, i can see the very small class sizes at oxford/cambridge helping considerably with speaking and listening, but they spend less time in China compared to other unis.

Reply 7

tax.man

Another thing with Leeds/Sheffield/Manchester you can do some Chinese business modules and quite a bit of economics based around the region (the latter SOAS is also excellent at). Chinese at Manchester/Leeds/Sheffield is very modern focused.

So to answer you're original question, as others have hinted, it depends on your interests. If you're into literature, classical chinese and all that jazz Oxbridge/SOAS are the best. If you're into Modern China and Modern Chinese I would go with Leeds or Sheffield personally. For pure language I would think SOAS, Sheffield and Leeds are the best due to the whole year in China, which, I imagine, is when you pick it up the most.

Reply 8

Leonardo85

tax.man

what about Edinburgh?

Reply 9

tax.man

Leonardo85

what about Edinburgh?

Yeah, sorry, forgot about Edinburgh. As far as I know Edinburgh is a great place to study Chinese if you're interested mainly in literature. If I remember correctly you spend a full year in China as well there so the language proficiency at the end would be very good.

I just didn't apply to Edinburgh, same reason I didn't apply to Oxbridge, because I'm not very interested in literature and the more classical side of Chinese.

Reply 10

ic1male

Come to Sheffield, Stewe! You can keep me company! LOL.

Reply 11

Banana Blossom

I wouldn't write Edinburgh off just on the opinion of other people! It would probably be best if you could come and actually visit for yourself, have a look around and talk to the staff etc, you never know you might end up really liking it!

Reply 12

moose3333

what about Nottingham? personally I'm more into contemporary stuff as opposed to classical...

Reply 13

jonathan67

Im wondering out of all the unis that teach Chinese which one you think is best..?

Should I do it with another subject>?? Chinese on its own maybe not that useful.

I have been checking the jobs offered and they seem like managing, accounting, some kind of skill WITH chinese. Jobs just requiring chinese do not exist unless you do translation and there isnt much money in that.

Any ideas or from students who are studying now...?

Many thanks
Jon.

Reply 14

Lady_L

Original post by jonathan67

I'm thinking of studying Chinese - not Chinese studies. However, SOAS, Sheffield, Durham, Edinburgh are all respectful universities that offer Chinese and Chinese studies. I've been told that SOAS is the best uni if you want to be able to speak fluently etc. I don't want to study in London so I'm looking elsewhere.

Nottingham and Manchester have lots of combinations to read with Chinese - as does SOAS. I haven't looked into the reputation of the Chinese department in Nottingham and Manchester though...

Reply 15

rmiles23

Hello,

I'm interested in studying Chinese studies at SOAS. However, the lack of activities and societies is rather worrying. Would you still consider student life at SOAS to be a good one? or is it highly focused on academics (more so that other universities)?

Rachel

(I realise you are now probably well out of university by now as this post is from 2006)

Reply 16

Z212

This is kind of off topic, but does anyone know of any Chinese summer exchange programs for UK a-level students? All the ones I find are for American students