The Student Room Group
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>

Undergraduate Chinese Studies Applicants 2021

Trying to make a thread of people studying Chinese in September at university!
Some general questions for everyone:

What universities have you applied to:
Where do you think you will firm:
Are you studying Chinese with anything else:
Did you take it at A Level:

My Answers in case anyone is interested!

What universities have you applied to: Durham, Edinburgh, Cambridge, Exeter and Manchester
Where do you think you will firm: No idea!
Are you studying Chinese with anything else: Spanish if I go to Exeter
Did you take it at A Level: Nope!

Scroll to see replies

Hi everyone! My name is Fin and I'm also going to study Chinese for my BA starting in 2021.
- I've applied to Birmingham, Exeter, Warwick, Oxford, and SOAS London.
- I don't know which one I'll firm yet! Maybe SOAS.
- I would study German with Chinese at Birmingham, Exeter, and Warwick.
- I didn't take it for GCSE or A-Level.
dont firm SOAS
Original post by IWOZHERE4U
dont firm SOAS

Why? Any particular reason?
Original post by finmcbride
Why? Any particular reason?

ok.

1. The language department has undergone a massive reshuffle where a lot of the modules for chinese have been canned.
2. Originally SOAS had its own material which although was dated was far more practical/usefull than the rubbish they are using now (新实用汉语课本） 《------- thats the name of the book being used
3. Hours for advanced students cut. I now only get 3 hours a week.
4. The exams are a joke. They are way to easy. Now you may be wondering why is that a bad thing. Let me explain, with the exam being soo easy people skills don't measure up with the later levels. I (as a result of previous experince) was put in level 3 at year one. im now in level 4 at year 2. Bear in mind level 5 is the highest. There are people in my class that cannot communicate in chinese, they cannot understand basic instructions in Chinese despite being one level away from the top. At Chinese 4 you would expect the entire class to be conducted in Chinese. My teacher constantly has to switch to english.

In a nutshell , if you want to leave university being actually able to communicate in chinese stay away from SOAS. If you want to be mediocre, or want to do it as an open module and don't really care if you don't get anywhere near fluent, or even communicative then by all means firm away.
Original post by IWOZHERE4U
ok.

1. The language department has undergone a massive reshuffle where a lot of the modules for chinese have been canned.
2. Originally SOAS had its own material which although was dated was far more practical/usefull than the rubbish they are using now (新实用汉语课本） 《------- thats the name of the book being used
3. Hours for advanced students cut. I now only get 3 hours a week.
4. The exams are a joke. They are way to easy. Now you may be wondering why is that a bad thing. Let me explain, with the exam being soo easy people skills don't measure up with the later levels. I (as a result of previous experince) was put in level 3 at year one. im now in level 4 at year 2. Bear in mind level 5 is the highest. There are people in my class that cannot communicate in chinese, they cannot understand basic instructions in Chinese despite being one level away from the top. At Chinese 4 you would expect the entire class to be conducted in Chinese. My teacher constantly has to switch to english.

In a nutshell , if you want to leave university being actually able to communicate in chinese stay away from SOAS. If you want to be mediocre, or want to do it as an open module and don't really care if you don't get anywhere near fluent, or even communicative then by all means firm away.

I take issue with number 4

but he/she is def on the money in regards to 1-3
Original post by gencrush
Trying to make a thread of people studying Chinese in September at university!
Some general questions for everyone:

What universities have you applied to:
Where do you think you will firm:
Are you studying Chinese with anything else:
Did you take it at A Level:

My Answers in case anyone is interested!

What universities have you applied to: Durham, Edinburgh, Cambridge, Exeter and Manchester
Where do you think you will firm: No idea!
Are you studying Chinese with anything else: Spanish if I go to Exeter
Did you take it at A Level: Nope!


Been looking for a chinese thread!

What universities have you applied to: SOAS, Westminster, Manchester, Warwick, Hull
Where do you think you will firm: Still not suree
Are you studying Chinese with anything else: Linguistics!
Did you take it at A Level: nope, never done it at school, only self study :smile:
Hi All,

I am a third year Chinese Studies Student at Hull. If anyone has any questions, about the course here or the University in general, please don't hesitate to get in touch!

Good luck

Chris
University of Hull Student Rep
Original post by Uni of Hull Students
Hi All,

I am a third year Chinese Studies Student at Hull. If anyone has any questions, about the course here or the University in general, please don't hesitate to get in touch!

Good luck

Chris
University of Hull Student Rep

They discontinued Chinese studies at Hull, I got an offer but they discontinued it :frown: (i got other offers tho :smile:)
Original post by somsom2333
Been looking for a chinese thread!

What universities have you applied to: SOAS, Westminster, Manchester, Warwick, Hull
Where do you think you will firm: Still not suree
Are you studying Chinese with anything else: Linguistics!
Did you take it at A Level: nope, never done it at school, only self study :smile:

So exciting to see another person looking at Chinese, as you probably know it’s so hard to find people doing it. I was curious what your thoughts on SOAS are? I’m not sure if I’m going to firm it or not, so it’s just interesting to get another perspective
Original post by finmcbride
So exciting to see another person looking at Chinese, as you probably know it’s so hard to find people doing it. I was curious what your thoughts on SOAS are? I’m not sure if I’m going to firm it or not, so it’s just interesting to get another perspective

I study chinese at SOAS
Original post by Stumpy1001
I study chinese at SOAS

Thoughts on the course and uni?
Original post by finmcbride
Thoughts on the course and uni?

i like the course , although I wasn’t a beginner when I started so I can’t testify to the beginners aspect , but the higher levels are decent .
I like the uni , it’s small and friendly . Anything in particular you want to know ?
Original post by Stumpy1001
i like the course , although I wasn’t a beginner when I started so I can’t testify to the beginners aspect , but the higher levels are decent .
I like the uni , it’s small and friendly . Anything in particular you want to know ?

Thanks. I have a some questions...
1. How fluent do you get? /do you attest to the previous comment about soas not being great at getting you good at Chinese?
2. Is soas like everyone says? As in, too political, poor, mismanaged etc.
3. If you’ve done the year abroad, how was it managed? And how well or badly?
4. General experience of studying in London?
Original post by finmcbride
Thanks. I have a some questions...
1. How fluent do you get? /do you attest to the previous comment about soas not being great at getting you good at Chinese?
2. Is soas like everyone says? As in, too political, poor, mismanaged etc.
3. If you’ve done the year abroad, how was it managed? And how well or badly?
4. General experience of studying in London?

1. While i do agree that soas own content seems harder/more beneficial that that course material they are using now, it is by no means rubbish. As for fluency it depends on all on you . There is a student I study with ( I won’t name or even say the gender) but you can tell
This person does the bare minimum. It shows in their communicative ability. So I agree with the other other commenter. I study chinese everyday , even if it’s only for an hour . I also outside of the unis materials find and use my own . Basically how quick you improve is down to you , thee tools opportunities are at the uni but I am surprised by the amount of student who just don’t use them .

2. SOAS is very political. I have ( for being a conservative ) butted heads with a few people for my beliefs. But it’s never been malicious . We just end up agreeing to disagree and acknowledge we won’t be attending each others birthday parties . There are far more conservative thinkers in SOAS than you are lead to belief, I met quite a few , they just keep
It to themselves for an easy life.

3.I should of went this year but it was cancelled . It’s been moved to year three now for me( and all new students here in out ) so I can’t comment on it. But speaking to those who have done so they seemed to enjoy it . The general view I got was not dissimilar to what I mentored about the course at SOAS , ie if you go all out on your year abroad you will improve drastically.

4. I’m a Londoner , born here. Left at 18 and came back at 32 ( I’m a mature student ) I love living in London. I despite numerous advice turned down Durham to attend SOAS . Because after visiting Durham from my albeit limited Time there,( I stayed for the weekend to explore because I had to do a test as part of the application process ) I then and still do think for practising chinese London is a far greater place to do that . You can do all the classroom learning you want , but at some point you are going to have to use it in the real world. Trust me on this if you think being able to understand your chinese teacher is indication of your listening ability you are in for a rude awakening. London has many universities , all have chinese students , your have China town , chinese tourists etc ( granted maybe not so many now because of COVID ) so lots of opportunity to use it outside of the classroom and get real and tremendously valuable experience at using the language .
(edited 3 years ago)
Original post by finmcbride
So exciting to see another person looking at Chinese, as you probably know it’s so hard to find people doing it. I was curious what your thoughts on SOAS are? I’m not sure if I’m going to firm it or not, so it’s just interesting to get another perspective


Ive heard a lot abour SOAS, i realllyyy wanted to go there before, but then I heard a lot fo bad things about it (relating to chniese in particular) but im not sure ahaha I dont know why but ages ago i just suddenly didnt want to go there anymore, i think ill consider my other options, but regarding the bad things i heard, it was actually people who study chinese at SOAS ( this has nothingt to do with why I chnaged my mind as I changed it before hearing abou this) :smile: where are u thinking of firming !!!
Original post by somsom2333
Ive heard a lot abour SOAS, i realllyyy wanted to go there before, but then I heard a lot fo bad things about it (relating to chniese in particular) but im not sure ahaha I dont know why but ages ago i just suddenly didnt want to go there anymore, i think ill consider my other options, but regarding the bad things i heard, it was actually people who study chinese at SOAS ( this has nothingt to do with why I chnaged my mind as I changed it before hearing abou this) :smile: where are u thinking of firming !!!

I firmed soas aha x
Hey is anyone taking the Edexcel A LEVEL Chinese?? I have some questions regarding how the exams work(basic structure and how to prepare) and really need someone to help with it(I will pay xx) Please let me know if you could help or if I can get help somewhere!! xx
Original post by giorgipollock
Hey is anyone taking the Edexcel A LEVEL Chinese?? I have some questions regarding how the exams work(basic structure and how to prepare) and really need someone to help with it(I will pay xx) Please let me know if you could help or if I can get help somewhere!! xx

i don’t have the answer but I’m pretty sure they should be like any other official exam , ie you should be able to find past examination papers that would give you the exact layout.
hi!

what universities have you applied to: edinburgh, bath, birmingham, warwick, exeter
where do you think you will firm: still between exeter and edinburgh!!
are you studying Chinese with anything else: spanish
did you take it at A Level: nope!


i'm really stuck between edi and exeter atm because i loved the city of edi much more and the fact they have such a large language department, but exeter has a better course and is closer to me! any advice would be amazing as it's a huge head vs heart decision for me :smile:

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you