Chinese & International Business

insafehands

Hey,

Anyone doing this? Unfo I fu*ked up some of my exams in the Leaving Cert big style and commerce is now more or less unattainable.

I'd have an interest in learning such a massively spoken language as well as benefiting form the business side.

Is this a good course? Could I do an MBA after it or would I have to do something else?

Regards,
ish.

strychnine

Have to say i see your point about wanting to learn chinese, the way things are going we'll all be heading to china to learn chinese instead of them coming here to learn english.

On a serious note, i dont know anything about the course but id imagine learning chinese along with a business degree would open up a lot of doors and oppurtunities. At the same time though i think theres a lot of hot air about how great business oppurtunities are in china. Wages are still very low, a salary of $3000 would be considered middle class there.

mateo

It's my first choice!

FunkZ

My second and my mates first. First choice is IB with Italian.

kawaii

my 5th...

pprendeville

out of curiosity did anyone do this course? im presently doing it and it would be nice to hear from graduates to find out how they got on.

jaydoxx

Hate to hijack threads, but this is also gonna be my first choice this year. I was wondering do we get to cover any traditional hanzi? I ask because Taiwan is an option for the third year and I'd like to know whether I'll have to study them myself seperately. I probably will, I know it's not feasible to teach traditional characters when most people won't even want to but it'd be nice if there were some resources in class to help me:)

pprendeville

jaydoxx wrote: »

Hate to hijack threads, but this is also gonna be my first choice this year. I was wondering do we get to cover any traditional hanzi? I ask because Taiwan is an option for the third year and I'd like to know whether I'll have to study them myself seperately. I probably will, I know it's not feasible to teach traditional characters when most people won't even want to but it'd be nice if there were some resources in class to help me:)

Ya you have a choice as to whether you want to do trad or simplified. You can books that specialise in both. We use Integrated Chinese mainly along with 2 others. One of the other books is exclusively in trad characters so no probs there.

jaydoxx

Thanks for the info!:)
Just how much self directed learning is expected in regards of reading & writing hanzi? Do we have set goals? Or even specific characters we must know? How long is pinyin used as a crutch? Or is it always used?

Sorry for all the questions, I don't want to wreck the heads of all the students during the open day:L

pprendeville

jaydoxx wrote: »

Thanks for the info!:)
Just how much self directed learning is expected in regards of reading & writing hanzi? Do we have set goals? Or even specific characters we must know? How long is pinyin used as a crutch? Or is it always used?

Sorry for all the questions, I don't want to wreck the heads of all the students during the open day:L

There is about 10-12 hours of class learning and you are expected to have prepped in advance. Always good to be 2 chapters ahead (not that I ever am as I have 3 small kids and precious little time). College is really all about self-directed learning if you ask me. They don't hand you things on a plate like leaving certificate. There are no set goals as such. Again, you can push yourself as hard or as easy as you like but you're wasting your time going in there if you're not going to work your ass off which is what most of us are doing.

The Integrated Chinese (听说读书） books will introduce you to about 900 characters and these are reinforced with another book called Colloqial Chinese （汉语口语）by the same publishers. We also use a traditional charcter book called Passport China (有没有护照）which is pretty tough but manageable if you put in the work. It is up to yourself how long you use pinyin as a crutch. I dropped it after 2 months and it was right for me. If you've no experience with chinese then maybe not such a good idea. Everyone is different. It is not in in 汉语口语或者有没有护照 and is dropped from 听说读书 after the first series of books.

If you're in Dublin, I'd have no probs meeting you or if you want to give me a call if you've more Q's. I don't have time to be scribing on this thing much. Just PM me.

jaydoxx

Yeah that'd be great. I'm heading to the Open day anyway when it comes, but the more information I can get the better.
Which DIT locations are you at? I assume it's a different building for the business side and the language and culture side, yes?

I'm in dublin, yes but I'm quite busy with assignments at the moment, I'll send you a PM shortly!
And thanks a million!

pprendeville

As it turns out I'm going be helping out with open day on Fri week sound you're around ill be able to answer any questions you might have. Think it will be on in DIT Aungier St campus.

jaydoxx

God is it next week already? I'll be up there so. Any idea how long the open day is?

DITALUMNI77

I am a graduate of this course. I think in terms of career prospects, international business and Chinese is a great couse to do. China a has growing economy, does lots of business with Ireland and is home to 1.3 billion people who speak the language. By enrolling in this course you will have an amazing opportunity in third year to go to China/Taiwan on erasmus. However, I would also like to warn anybody thinking of doing this course that the Chinese language teaching in DIT (so for 1st 2nd and 4th year) is terrible. I was constantly frustrated by their teaching methods and so were my classmates. So, dont expect much!

The business course is average, some of the teachers are quite good! But to be honest, in general, I think the international business and languages department is very unorganised and unprofessional. Not many students left the course very satisfied.

It's great to have more and more Irish student learning Chinese! But I think, in the case of DIT, its important to let the new students know what they're getting themselves into. Commerce and Chinese in UCD may be a good alternative. Or if you are really serious about learning business and Chinese, I would suggest doing your bachelors in Taiwan or China. There are currently many opportunities for foreign students!

pprendeville

DITALUMNI77 wrote: »

I am a graduate of this course. I think in terms of career prospects, international business and Chinese is a great couse to do. China a has growing economy, does lots of business with Ireland and is home to 1.3 billion people who speak the language. By enrolling in this course you will have an amazing opportunity in third year to go to China/Taiwan on erasmus. However, I would also like to warn anybody thinking of doing this course that the Chinese language teaching in DIT (so for 1st 2nd and 4th year) is terrible. I was constantly frustrated by their teaching methods and so were my classmates. So, dont expect much!

The business course is average, some of the teachers are quite good! But to be honest, in general, I think the international business and languages department is very unorganised and unprofessional. Not many students left the course very satisfied.

It's great to have more and more Irish student learning Chinese! But I think, in the case of DIT, its important to let the new students know what they're getting themselves into. Commerce and Chinese in UCD may be a good alternative. Or if you are really serious about learning business and Chinese, I would suggest doing your bachelors in Taiwan or China. There are currently many opportunities for foreign students!

Very valid points there. only thing i would say is that the student is responsible for their own learning to a large extent. it wont be handed on a plate to you cooked and ready to eat. a lot of foundation work to be done. Nice to hear from a graduate. What are you doing now?

jaydoxx

Sorry pprendeville I completely forgot the open day was on Friday, thank god it was also on Saturday and I got talking to a second year in Chinese & International Business and a lecturer Jun Ni I think her name was? I also went to a lecture with the head of languages and I had all my questions answered. Definitely going to be my number 1 choice on the CAO

@DITALUMNI77: What about the Commerce in Cork do you think is better? I heard DIT teaches the most hours per week of language in Ireland, and I think the more exposure the better so that's what attracts me the most. I will go to UCC's open day too but I'd like to know why you think so highly of UCC's offering?

pprendeville

Ya I was in there on Friday. Asked a lad was he talking to me on boards and he didn't have a clue what I was talking about. Think that was Chris u were talking to (beard?). He was in Shanghai working for a couple of years. Anyway let us know how you get on regardless of which course u go for.

jaydoxx

Yeah that was Chris :P

Maria, the head of the languages department was saying how you should be thinking of where you wanna go in third year from the offset, how exactly does that process work? Do you apply in advance of going in first year?

Also how much character recognition would be the average in your class at the moment? And how many people are in your class?

Chris told me about the partner you get from a chinese university who you can practise with. Is this in all years or just second year?

Cheers

pprendeville

Sorry was up the walls with family and exams. The reason it's good to have an idea of where you want to go is because in Taiwan they use traditional characters and on the mainland they use simplified. Traditional, also called full form, are more complex to write while simplified do exactly what they say on the tin - easier to write. My advice, pick one and stick to it although you will be introduced to both during the course. One of the 3 textbooks is completely traditional characters.

You don't pick which uni you go to until 2nd year. I've picked Minzu in Beijing as my first choice as my wife is from near Beijing so don't want to be too far from her and kids for the year. Would prefer to go to Taiwan though.

I can recognise about 1000 characters after 16 months but my study habits were terrible at the beginning and very inefficient. Still, it was good to learn what worked for me and what didn't. It's trial and error really for each person. Character recognition varies per student. Again, it all depends on how hard you work.

The partner thing is up to yourself. We went for a meal with the Chinese students in October and I asked them all to be my language partner. From there then you will hit it off with some and not with others so stick to the ones where it works. It's not really the college that organises it - if you want one and have the balls to ask and follow up its no problem to get one.

I'd be more than happy to meet up with you if you have more questions and I can show you our textbooks. It's hard to discuss learning Chinese on a forum.

Nobler32

DITALUMNI77 wrote: »

I was constantly frustrated by their teaching methods and so were my classmates. So, dont expect much!

The business course is average, some of the teachers are quite good! But to be honest, in general, I think the international business and languages department is very unorganised and unprofessional. Not many students left the course very satisfied.

Spot on. I did this course however I did Spanish, it is very badly managed.

jah718

I am currently in the fourth year of this degree, despite the lack of organisation and good teaching standards, I really enjoy this degree. Chinese is extremely difficult but it is also extremely interesting. The highlight of this course is that you get to go to China or Taiwan (Choose Taiwan, China is a terrible place to live!) and this was by far the best thing I have ever done in my life. This also really helps your Chinese get better as well.

Overall, it is a good course and is much better than the joke Chinese degree in UCD, where you don't even learn to read or write. It will be one of the most frustrating things you will ever do, but it is definitely worth it. And after all, it will help you get rich which is obviously the end game.....;)

haro124

jah718 wrote: »

I am currently in the fourth year of this degree, despite the lack of organisation and good teaching standards, I really enjoy this degree. Chinese is extremely difficult but it is also extremely interesting. The highlight of this course is that you get to go to China or Taiwan (Choose Taiwan, China is a terrible place to live!) and this was by far the best thing I have ever done in my life. This also really helps your Chinese get better as well.

Overall, it is a good course and is much better than the joke Chinese degree in UCD, where you don't even learn to read or write. It will be one of the most frustrating things you will ever do, but it is definitely worth it. And after all, it will help you get rich which is obviously the end game.....;)

Hmm I'm in first year in Ucd and all we do is learn to read and write ! I know in previous years students weren't thought about characters until 2nd year but they've changed the content so that you do way more with regards to characters

jah718

Ah right, sorry, I just knew in previous years that the level of Chinese was quite bad, it was more of a business degree with a bit of Chinese.

pprendeville

haro124 wrote: »

Hmm I'm in first year in Ucd and all we do is learn to read and write ! I know in previous years students weren't thought about characters until 2nd year but they've changed the content so that you do way more with regards to characters

How many hours of Chinese do you do per week and how many characters do you learn in first year? Our lecturer is forever criticising the course in UCD and makes it out to be a joke shop in comparison with DIT.

haro124

pprendeville wrote: »

How many hours of Chinese do you do per week and how many characters do you learn in first year? Our lecturer is forever criticising the course in UCD and makes it out to be a joke shop in comparison with DIT.

I do six hours a week .... Only in first year so not entirely sure what the target is

pprendeville

How many Chinese characters have you learned or do they teach predominantly using pinyin?

DITALUMNI77

The lecturer in the DIT Chinese course always likes to criticise the UCD course. To say that the they don't learn how to read and write in the UCD course is ridiculous. I don't think he knows the reality. He should spend more time teaching and less time speculating and debating irrelevant matters. For example, the amount of hours of class in DIT is often talked about. Actually, a lot of that class time is completely wasted as the language teachers are not very motivated and seem unable to follow any kind of normal class curriculum. Most of the classes involve the students chatting amongst themselves in English. Progress is very slow. Come exam time, the same teachers design the exam papers, tell the students exactly what will come up in the exam, and give high enough grades as to keep everyone happy. Its a farce and its been going on for years. As a result, most students become uninspired and lose any kind of interest in learning Chinese by the time they graduate. Which is probably the biggest shame. It's funny because everyone always talks about how learning Chinese is gonna make them so rich! I don't think the head of the school of languages cares nor has the power to make any changes to the course. You might think this is a very negative statement, but I think its accurate, talk to any other alumni and they'll probably tell you the same. I would recommend preparing for a HSK 汉语水平考试 exam, if you want to make any meaningful progress in Chinese.

haro124

A bit off topic but in UCD you HAVE TO do the HSK tests. First years have to do level 1 or 2 . After you do your year abroad you must pass level 4 I think or you have to repeat the Chinese Modules

Pleco_pirate

I am also a current student on this course and I have to say I find it excellent so far. Yes, it has its problems, mainly the class being on different levels from a language point of view, but all in all I have to say the course is not as bad as its being made out here. The only people I see complaining in the course are the people who don't bother studying... Perhaps there could be more cohesion among all the lecturers but I personally am very happy with the amount of Chinese Language and Culture skills I have picked up in just a year and a half. And on top of that its a lot of fun and I can't wait to go to China next year. Also, I have only ever heard the lecturer say once that they believed UCD had less hours of Chinese each week (which i think is true) but I don't believe it was meant as a sleight on UCD, I happen to know a few people in that course who are more than happy with it and who's Chinese is coming along very well also.

Zai Jian Amigos,

The Pleco Pirate!

haro124

UCD is 6 hours a week language + 3 hours culture/society of China module ( which is optional but most take it ! )

T.Swinburne

DITALUMNI77 wrote: »

The lecturer in the DIT Chinese course always likes to criticise the UCD course. To say that the they don't learn how to read and write in the UCD course is ridiculous. I don't think he knows the reality. He should spend more time teaching and less time speculating and debating irrelevant matters. For example, the amount of hours of class in DIT is often talked about. Actually, a lot of that class time is completely wasted as the language teachers are not very motivated and seem unable to follow any kind of normal class curriculum. Most of the classes involve the students chatting amongst themselves in English. Progress is very slow. Come exam time, the same teachers design the exam papers, tell the students exactly what will come up in the exam, and give high enough grades as to keep everyone happy. Its a farce and its been going on for years. As a result, most students become uninspired and lose any kind of interest in learning Chinese by the time they graduate. Which is probably the biggest shame. It's funny because everyone always talks about how learning Chinese is gonna make them so rich! I don't think the head of the school of languages cares nor has the power to make any changes to the course. You might think this is a very negative statement, but I think its accurate, talk to any other alumni and they'll probably tell you the same. I would recommend preparing for a HSK 汉语水平考试 exam, if you want to make any meaningful progress in Chinese.

To be honest i am in Second Year of this course in DIT and i am doing really well. What the lecturers say isn't useless and has only helped me in my study of chinese and has aided me in finding texts and websites outside my curriculum for further study. It seems more to me like you expect the lecturers to give you some secret to learning Mandarin. It is down to us the students to study and to learn. I am really happy with my course and my level of Chinese and i am 100% sure, courses in UCD and DIT are of a high standard. My advice to anyone doing chinese is 加油加油！！！