It was torture, but I finally learned Chinese
Chinese has overtaken French, Spanish and German to become one of the most lucrative foreign languages for jobseekers in the UK. Research shows graduates in Chinese earn an average yearly salary of £31,000 ( 270,000 yuan ) or more.
For students today, saddled with rising debt, a degree in Chinese promises to set them apart in the workplace.
Chinese students set themselves up for a different university experience from their peers who are taking traditional essay subjects. While an English student may have as little as six hours of contact time a week, those studying Mandarin are in class for most of the day.
'Majorly intense' degree
Hannah Jackson graduated in Chinese Studies from Sheffield University in 2009. She describes her course as "majorly intense". By the second week of her first year, she was expected to know more than someone who had taken Chinese at A-Level.
"The first year was really difficult. Most of my friends admitted at one point to crying in the first week because of the intensity. I was almost told at one point that I might want to reconsider and drop out," she said.
Liberty Timewell, who graduated in Chinese from Cambridge University in 2012, spent at least eight hours a day studying during her degree, which increased to 18 hours a day at times during her finals.
"I found studying Chinese an incredibly hard slog throughout every year. It 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. That's it," she said.
'When I got to China I couldn't speak anything'
For Zak Clements, who achieved firsts in his first two years studying Chinese and Global Studies at Nottingham Trent University, this came as a shock.
"You get to China and think you can speak quite well, but when I got to China I couldn't speak anything. You learn how to get by in class, but when thrown into the deep end it was a struggle. When I got there I couldn't even order some food. It's difficult to get used to at first," he said.
'The slog has paid off'
Liberty earned a place on the Department for International Development graduate scheme a month after finishing her degree, and was earning a salary of over £30,000 within two years.
"The degree was absolutely worth it. The slog has paid off. I like that I can live and work and operate with relative ease in China now. 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," she said.
Zak earned £26,000 in the role, with the potential to earn as much as £50,000 as an account manager if he stayed at the company.
"Studying Chinese definitely makes you more marketable in the workplace. People I studied Chinese with have found it easier to find a job," he said.
Hannah studied Chinese knowing she wanted a job working in business in China. She graduated at the height of the recession and went to look for a job in Shanghai, where she found more employment opportunities.
After working as a project manager for Intralink Group for four years, she set up her own independent consultancy earning £500 a day.
"Some people think they are going to learn Chinese and then be a majorly successful entrepreneur, but I think it's important to be quite realistic about that," she said.
Source: i News
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