The Student Room Group

Chinese studies!

Hey everyone!

New to thestudentroom soo,

I'm currently in my first year of my A-levels and I really want to read Chinese studies at university! Is there any one here who either studies it, or like me, is planning to? :smile:
I really want to! I'll be applying for uni this autumn and hope to be starting a course in Chinese (and hopefully another language) in 2015 :biggrin:
Me too! I'm applying for entry in 2015, where are you thinking of applying etc? And do you study Chinese at the moment?:smile:
Original post by afterallthistime
Hey everyone!

New to thestudentroom soo,

I'm currently in my first year of my A-levels and I really want to read Chinese studies at university! Is there any one here who either studies it, or like me, is planning to? :smile:



Original post by kawaiibeans
I really want to! I'll be applying for uni this autumn and hope to be starting a course in Chinese (and hopefully another language) in 2015 :biggrin:


Hi guys

I'm a current 2nd year at Sheffield doing Chinese with Japanese, so if you have any questions, feel free :smile:
Original post by super_kawaii
Hi guys

I'm a current 2nd year at Sheffield doing Chinese with Japanese, so if you have any questions, feel free :smile:


How is the course at Sheffield, and whats the teaching style? Like is it primarily huge lectures? And did you study Chinese before hand, like for A-level?
And I guess about Sheffield, is it campus or city etc? And whats the place like, i've never been! And what was your offer to study Chinese with Japanese?
Haha sorry for all the questions!:s-smilie:
Original post by afterallthistime
Me too! I'm applying for entry in 2015, where are you thinking of applying etc? And do you study Chinese at the moment?:smile:


I don't but I'm teaching myself Korean :smile:
I'm thinking...
SOAS - Chinese and Korean
Sheffield - Chinese with Japanese
Leeds - Chinese and Japanese
Edinburgh/Durham/Newcastle - Chinese Studies
Original post by afterallthistime
How is the course at Sheffield, and whats the teaching style? Like is it primarily huge lectures? And did you study Chinese before hand, like for A-level?
And I guess about Sheffield, is it campus or city etc? And whats the place like, i've never been! And what was your offer to study Chinese with Japanese?
Haha sorry for all the questions!:s-smilie:


Honestly, don't worry about all the questions.

Teaching is mainly done in small groups. Even though my year's quite small (only about 16 of us), for some classes like speaking and grammar, we're split in half, whereas for listening, it's all of us in one group. Chinese is never that big a class, so you don't have to worry about massive lectures. The teacher's really get to know you and you get lots of contact time seeing as there are so few people taking the course.

I hadn't formally learnt Chinese before-I don't have an A Level in it, although I had self taught a bit before hand. It's very rare that people have an A Level in Chinese-in my year only one guy had an A Level when we started, although you get to the equivalent level by Christmas in first year so it is quite fast paced.

Sheffield's officially a city university, although the main hub of uni's often referred to as 'campus' due to the fact all the uni buildings are so close together. Here's a map if you want to have a quick look http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.356816!/file/campus-map-az.gif

As a city, Sheffield's absolutely amazing. It's not overwhelmingly large like London, although there's still everything you want. There are plenty of bars and clubs near uni, Meadowhall shopping centre (which also has a massive food hall and a cinema), concerts and sports fixtures at the Don Valley stadium and Hillsborough stadium, performances at City Hall and Laser quest, cinema and lots of restaurants at Valley Centertainment, just to name a few. Sheffield's also a really cheap city as well-a taxi from Endcliffe or Ranmoor to any of the clubs is roughly £7 one way, which isn't bad at all, especially when you split it between a group of you. Student bus tickets have just gone up to £1 though. When I started they were only 60p! :fuhrer:

My offer for Chinese with Japanese was ABB although I got in with AAC

Hope this helps!
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by super_kawaii
Hi guys

I'm a current 2nd year at Sheffield doing Chinese with Japanese, so if you have any questions, feel free :smile:


That's awesome, I wanna apply for this course! Thanks for posting :biggrin:
So are you on your year abroad atm? I guess I'm curious as to how you have found doing two languages~ I would be picking up both Chinese and Japanese from scratch so I wondered what it might be like. I spoke to a student doing French and Italian at Manchester and she said while it was the same amount of work as single honours because it was the same amount of credits, she had double the exams~ have you found anything similar?
How would you say your fluency level is now in each language compared to when you started the course?
And what was/is your timetable like in the first/current year?
I'm so sorry for all this ahahah thank you!
Oh yeah and what subjects did you do for A-levels?:smile:
Original post by kawaiibeans
That's awesome, I wanna apply for this course! Thanks for posting :biggrin:
So are you on your year abroad atm? I guess I'm curious as to how you have found doing two languages~ I would be picking up both Chinese and Japanese from scratch so I wondered what it might be like. I spoke to a student doing French and Italian at Manchester and she said while it was the same amount of work as single honours because it was the same amount of credits, she had double the exams~ have you found anything similar?
How would you say your fluency level is now in each language compared to when you started the course?
And what was/is your timetable like in the first/current year?
I'm so sorry for all this ahahah thank you!


Yeah, I'm on my year abroad in Nanjing at the moment and absolutely loving it! If you want any info about it, just ask :smile:

I don't really know how the split is at Manchester, although for Chinese with Japanese at Sheffield, you get a total of 120 credits a year, 40 of which are for Japanese (so 20 credits a term). The rest of the credits are devoted to Chinese. In first year, all your modules are completely taken up with language (both Chinese and Japanese) although in 3rd and 4th year, you can chose cultural modules as well. With regards to exams, in first year, you'll have three for Chinese (speaking, listening, and a reading/writing paper), whereas for Japanese you only have 2, a 'conversation' style exam with your teacher (listening/speaking) and a reading and writing paper. If you work hard and revise well, you shouldn't have any problems excelling, especially if you're really into the languages.

In first year, I had 4 hours of Japanese a week, whereas for Chinese I had 8 hours a week. They expect you to do a lot of practise outside of class, hence the few contact hours. Watch Chinese films and TV, listen to the news and review all the work you've been set-even though you may not understand everything, it'll definitely help for when you go to China in 2nd year.

My Chinese has definitely got a lot better since I've been in China. All classes are conducted in Chinese, so you really get used to hearing and speaking it all the time. When you first get to China, you will think "Why am I here? I can't speak Chinese at all!!", but honestly, you just have to get out there and talk to people. You will notice a massive difference, although you get out what you put in.

Personally I think the course at Sheffield is really good (no bias :tongue:) as they really push you, although all the lecturers are very open and welcoming and are always happy to answer any questions or clear up any problems with grammar you have. Don't be afraid of them-they want you to do well!

Don't worry about all the questions-having someone do Chinese with Japanese is actually quite rare :teeth:
Original post by afterallthistime
Oh yeah and what subjects did you do for A-levels?:smile:


I did French, German and Politics to A2 and Geography for AS
Reply 11
Original post by kawaiibeans
That's awesome, I wanna apply for this course! Thanks for posting :biggrin:
So are you on your year abroad atm? I guess I'm curious as to how you have found doing two languages~ I would be picking up both Chinese and Japanese from scratch so I wondered what it might be like. I spoke to a student doing French and Italian at Manchester and she said while it was the same amount of work as single honours because it was the same amount of credits, she had double the exams~ have you found anything similar?
How would you say your fluency level is now in each language compared to when you started the course?
And what was/is your timetable like in the first/current year?
I'm so sorry for all this ahahah thank you!


Hey, I'm in my first year studying Business and Japanese at Manchester :smile: I've lived in China and I study Mandarin here as well, outside my degree.
I'm not sure about single honours European languages but the students who do single honours Japanese definitely have less credits than joint honours students. I believe they have 100 compulsory credits while we have 120 (which is also the maximum). It's a lot of work anyway, but yeah, they do have less hours and exams.

Manchester does have a BA Chinese and Japanese as well, I know a few people doing it and they're very happy about it.
If you have any question about it, I'd do my best to answer them. Good luck with your application :smile:
Original post by Bambirina
Hey, I'm in my first year studying Business and Japanese at Manchester :smile: I've lived in China and I study Mandarin here as well, outside my degree.
I'm not sure about single honours European languages but the students who do single honours Japanese definitely have less credits than joint honours students. I believe they have 100 compulsory credits while we have 120 (which is also the maximum). It's a lot of work anyway, but yeah, they do have less hours and exams.

Manchester does have a BA Chinese and Japanese as well, I know a few people doing it and they're very happy about it.
If you have any question about it, I'd do my best to answer them. Good luck with your application :smile:


Ah thanks for clearing that up ^^ I love Manchester as a city and I'd apply to the uni because it seems really good but I actually go to college 10 mins down the road from the uni! I go past the uni buildings everyday on the bus haha~ I feel like I want to experience something new :P
I wanted to take some language classes at the uni but if you're not a student then you have to pay and the prices are a little out of my range atm! Plus I think I'll devote my time to my A-levels first for now :smile:

Is your timetable pretty full then if you do joint honours? What's a typical week like for you, contact hours-wise?
Reply 13
Original post by kawaiibeans
Ah thanks for clearing that up ^^ I love Manchester as a city and I'd apply to the uni because it seems really good but I actually go to college 10 mins down the road from the uni! I go past the uni buildings everyday on the bus haha~ I feel like I want to experience something new :P
I wanted to take some language classes at the uni but if you're not a student then you have to pay and the prices are a little out of my range atm! Plus I think I'll devote my time to my A-levels first for now :smile:

Is your timetable pretty full then if you do joint honours? What's a typical week like for you, contact hours-wise?


Yes I do have a pretty busy schedule.
Last semester I was doing 10 hours of Japanese and 9 hours of business a week.
This semester I have 10 hours of Japanese and 6 hours of business.
When I'm not in class, I'm usually studying either in the library or at the computer cluster. There's lot of reading and personal work to do. SO MUCH personal work.
On top of that, I'm an active member of the pole fitness society (I train 4 to 5 times a week in pole fitness/aerial arts/general flexibility, etc..) and of the ski&snowboard club (we have socials every week and we're going on a ski trip to Andorra in about 20 days, aahh!).

So yeah, I'm very busy but I love what I do :smile:
Original post by kawaiibeans
Ah thanks for clearing that up ^^ I love Manchester as a city and I'd apply to the uni because it seems really good but I actually go to college 10 mins down the road from the uni! I go past the uni buildings everyday on the bus haha~ I feel like I want to experience something new :P
I wanted to take some language classes at the uni but if you're not a student then you have to pay and the prices are a little out of my range atm! Plus I think I'll devote my time to my A-levels first for now :smile:

Is your timetable pretty full then if you do joint honours? What's a typical week like for you, contact hours-wise?


I also think Manchester requires an A Level in Chinese or Japanese for the Chinese and Japanese course. At least it did when I applied for 2012 entry.

Definitely take advantage of your free time to take an active part in societies-that's one thing I regret not doing in first year.

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