[minji]

I'm currently thinking about declaring my major as Chinese. However, I only knew a bit of Chinese and I was trying to decide if I should learn Chinese or Japanese. I'm aware that Japan is highly successful right now, but China is a strong, growing country.

Which language would be more beneficial to me right now? I'm planning to minor in Korean and I would love to be a translator. I'm worried I won't be financially stable trying to find a job, and if I do, will it support me? Sorry if this was confusing... Any feedbacks, suggestions would be greatly appreciated=]

[jinjin<3]

Hi there,
I can't give you much feedback about Japanese and Korean because I've never taken a straight Japanese or Korean course. I have taken an East Asian Studies course though (it talks about China, Japan, and Korea), and all 3 cultures are VERY interesting.

I'm actually in the Chinese Studies Honours Program at my university. I'm planning to become a professor with it. Recently, I had consulted the undergraduate advisor, and he told me that a lot of people that graduate with a major in Chinese tend to go on and become a prof, into law or get a MBA. It depends on what you'd like to do in the future. Some people even become police officers. Usually if you're planning to teach Chinese, you have to be able to teach both language and literature. The advice commonly given to people born in Western countries (it doesn't matter if you are of Chinese origin) is that you complete your degree and study in China for a year.

I think it's great if you do a major and minor, but I've always heard that if you do honours (meaning that there's usually no minor), it'll look better when you apply for grad school because in honours, people tend to take at least 6 more courses.

As for your worries of instability, I always think that unless you go into a program that is mostly technical (e.g. engineering, nursing, food sciences), there really is no guarantee. I always go with the fact that if you love something, you should do great in it. Academia is really competitive.

[rachilde]

Study Chinese; China is a steadily growing country and I know many classmates who have gone to China for business opportunities straight out of college. China will pay well and it needs bilingual people. In addition: PLEASE TRANSLATE SOME CONTEMPORARY CHINESE NOVELS IN A HALF-DECENT MANNER if you are going to become a translator. Frankly, China does a crap job of translating its contemporary Chinese authors and, as an avid reader, it infuriates me that Japan's Haruki Murakami can have a splendid translation of his work while Chinese authors are left crippled by inept translations.

[Black.cherry]

Be a teacher cos thats what people i know who major in chinese do.You can do quite alot even going into business admin,finance,translators etc.

[dwc]

If you get translation qualifications with it, translation/interpreting is pretty big (in courts, airports, the UN, etc.)

Many jobs that require language skills, or deal with international markets, (to any degree) would be more inclined to take you.

There is a lot of potential for Chinese majors

[SHARK]

Either do a double major or do this as a minor. You're always going to want a back-up incase things don't work out. Language isn't exactly the biggest job market alone, but if you combine it with a simple skill like say, Accounting, then your job-market for Accounting would be pretty much doubled.

[marryu<3]

Study Chinese; China is a steadily growing country and I know many classmates who have gone to China for business opportunities straight out of college. China will pay well and it needs bilingual people. In addition: PLEASE TRANSLATE SOME CONTEMPORARY CHINESE NOVELS IN A HALF-DECENT MANNER if you are going to become a translator. Frankly, China does a crap job of translating its contemporary Chinese authors and, as an avid reader, it infuriates me that Japan's Haruki Murakami can have a splendid translation of his work while Chinese authors are left crippled by inept translations.

I totally agee with this. For some odd reason, it's hard to find good translations for Chinese texts. I did a class on Lu Xun, the father of modern Chinse literature, and I didn't totally agree on the translators' translations. Part of translation involves interpretation.

I'd recommend going into double honors or do a double major.

[Sweetraindrops]

lool... whyy go honor and major china... you get payy liike nothing..

[allatonce]

I'm currently thinking about declaring my major as Chinese. However, I only knew a bit of Chinese and I was trying to decide if I should learn Chinese or Japanese. I'm aware that Japan is highly successful right now, but China is a strong, growing country.

Which language would be more beneficial to me right now? I'm planning to minor in Korean and I would love to be a translator. I'm worried I won't be financially stable trying to find a job, and if I do, will it support me? Sorry if this was confusing... Any feedbacks, suggestions would be greatly appreciated=]

Majoring in Chinese would be great if you plan to work in China in the future. With the advancements China has made in the last decade, it is safe to say you would be better off with a degree in Chinese. If you're into business you can get your MBA and/or start a business in China? imo of course!

[apple_]

i have this problem too, but im planning to minor in either japanese or chinese.i cant decide.... I like both languages, and it seems like China's just getting bigger and bigger, but at the same time Japan's always been doing pretty well.

One good thing about chinese is that you can use it in many different places, like Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore etc. More opinion and advice please thanks!

[marryu<3]

lool... whyy go honor and major china... you get payy liike nothing..

Maybe because pay isn't the only thing that is important

[LUX.]

Hmm, I went onto this one aspect of collegeboard.com called myroad and looked up a major in a foreign language and this is what came up:

http://myroad.collegeboard.com/myroad/navi...foreignl-107954

I'm not sure if you'll be able to view it. You need a collegeboard account, which you probably have.

If you click on the different tabs with titles of degrees, it'll tell you what type of job you can get w/ a degree in a foreign language depending on the distinction of said degree.

Good luck!

[GO!zilla]

you can go into business or international relations...
but i guess u'll have to further ur studies.

china is one of the biggest economies now so it'll be good if you did know chinese.

[baobao_chan]

I reckon you better think about your interest as top priority. If you have no interest on this major, how can you take a good result and even boost your career. For me, interest is more important than prospects.

[Sweetraindrops]

Maybe because pay isn't the only thing that is important

good luck tryda move out..

[marryu<3]

good luck tryda move out..

Chinese majors do move out. You must have been misinformed.

[Sweetraindrops]

Chinese majors do move out. You must have been misinformed.

any major you can move.. but the question is..

you gonna have enough to have a family..

[JJ no Baka]

with majoring in chinese, you can do international business. [that is, if you take business as a double with your chinese major]. my friend is doing business double major with japanese. he plans to travel to japan and do business there.

[jinjin<3]

any major you can move.. but the question is..

you gonna have enough to have a family..

Sorry to interrupt the *kinda* heated discussion, but I'm going to have to say yes, you will earn enough money to have a family. It just depends on what you want to do with the major. A degree as a Chinese major is the same as a science degree, which is also the degree you need to achieve first before you can become a doctor. You may need it as a stepping stone to achieve your dreams. I want to be a prof in Chinese studies, but I can't be a Chinese language and literature prof without becoming a Chinese major first.

[nyssnisa]

hi,there..
IMO, i think what matters is your interest n other things comes later..in my case, i really like to study language, so what i did was i take TESL, and i'm currently in my 2nd sem for bachelor..in my programme, we have to take third language in our 3rd sem & that's it..but i do'nt want it to be just 3, so i take my own initiative & take Mandarin classes.. what you can do here is that even though you finally decided to major in chinese, you can always learn Japanese & korean at your free time, n find the ones with certificates so i'll be easier for you to find jobs...i think all of the 3 languages have a lot of work opportunities, but if i were you, i think i'll major in Japanese, but that's what i'm interested in..you should ask yourself that question..have a nice day then...