Chinese has overtaken French, Spanish and German to become one of the most attractive foreign languages for jobseekers in the UK. Research shows graduates in Chinese earn an average yearly salary of 31,000 pounds or more. For students today a degree in Chinese promises to set them apart in the workplace.
Chinese students set themselves up for a different university experience from students major in other subjects. While an English student may have as little as six hours of class a week, those studying Chinese are in class for most of the day.
“I had a lot of friends on other courses who didn’t do much in first or second year. You can’t blag Chinese. You literally have to spend hours and hours writing characters,” says Hannah Jackson, who graduated in Chinese Studies from Sheffield University in 2009. “The first year was really difficult. Most of my friends cried at one point in the first week because of the intensity(强度). I was almost told at one point that I might want to drop out and choose another major.”
Studying Chinese was a challenge—there is no way you can bullshit your way through it. If you don’t put the hours in, then you will fail. So are the evenings spent learning characters while your friends are at the student bar really worth it? “The degree was absolutely worth it. The hard work has paid off. Looking around at people I know who have studied French or Spanish at university, there’s not such a chance to use it in the workplace,” Hannah Jackson said.
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