Hi All,
Throughout the year,
we receive many questions from prospective students. In today’s post, I’d like
to address a frequently asked question: “Is my Chinese good enough?”
Let’s start by
setting the premise: academic Chinese is different from colloquial Chinese. The
vocabulary used in HNC classes includes words that even regular Chinese people
are unfamiliar with (e.g. classes on Islamic Fundamentalism, Comparative
US-China Foreign Investment Law). In other words, the level of a student’s
language skill isn’t solely judged by their vocabulary base. Coursework at the
HNC requires students to adapt and expand their vocabulary at a rapid pace. Thus,
the admissions committee is looking for an ability to overcome a steep learning
curve.
Now that we’ve set
the premise, let’s move on to exactly what Chinese classroom instruction
entails.
Listening
Comprehension: Unless at the request of the class, professors will not lecture
at a pace lower than they would to Chinese students. This Microeconomics
Lecture on Youtube reflects
the ballpark level of HNC’s Chinese lectures. It’s normal, if not expected,
that students are initially unable to understand the entire lecture. Students
are encouraged to study the lecture slides to supplement and strengthen their
understanding of lectures.
Reading
Comprehension: A quick search on Google Scholar turns up a journal article by Professor Li Lifeng (affiliated with Nanjing
University and the HNC). This article is a good example of the level of reading
being assigned in classes. If you find this piece to be a piece of cake, great!
However, it is not abnormal for a student to spend 30 minutes per page during
their first week of classes. Once the vocabulary for each course has been
established, the pace of reading increases dramatically (5~10 minutes/page).
Oral Participation: Students
are typically asked to contribute through class discussions and presentations.
Professors will focus on what students are trying to convey, not on the language
they use to convey it. For example:
Option 1: “…让中国和日本的关系越来越不好” = “… letting the relationship between China and Japan get worse
and worse”
Versus
Option 2: “…使中日关系进一步恶化” = “… causing Sino-Japan relations to further deteriorate”
Both sentences
deliver the same message. Professors will focus on what the student cites as
the cause for deteriorating relations, not whether the state of deterioration
is eloquently articulated.
Writing Ability: Just
as the emphasis in oral participation is on comprehension, not delivery, written
assignments are also evaluated primarily by content. That being said, students
are expected to deliver papers free of typos and grammatical errors. Resources
such as a student-run writing center are available to aid in the writing
process. In the beginning of the semester, a 1000-character essay will appear
tough. By the end of the year, students will find themselves having to cut
thousands of characters to fit their final papers within the 3000-character limits.
If this post has not
alleviated anyone’s language-related anxiety, feel free to email us at nanjing@jhu.edu, and we are happy to answer your questions!
Cheers,
Nanfei
Written by Nanfei Yan, HNC Certificate/SAIS MA Student
