Getting ready to start a Master’s Degree in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages

This morning I saw the Confucius Institute Scholarship’s results on their website. I was almost sure that they wouldn’t be updating anything during the weekend, but I still had to continue my daily habit of checking the results site. And there it was!

申请进度：“奖学金资格评审中”- 授予奖学金
(意见：授予2014年度孔子学院奖学金，请学校及时联系推荐机构或申请人办理相关手续)2014年度获得全额奖学金。
接收院校：中山大学

I was awarded a full scholarship for Master’s Degree in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages aka MTCSOL! I knew that my chances were good as I graduated from the same Sun Yat-Sen University last December and had both good grades and good relationships with the teachers. But I couldn’t believe it not until I saw it in writing this morning.

So what does this degree actually hold in it? Lets take a look at the courses that I will be studying for the next two years. Usually all the courses are planned for the first year, the second year is mostly reserved for internship and thesis writing.

Teaching Chinese courses

At my university’s website I found a course plan from 2011, that lays out what kind of courses will be studied and their course credits. Of course the syllabus might have been changed after this, but in general it gives and idea of the structure of my courses.

According to my understanding, almost all courses foreign students will study together with Chinese students.

Core courses 18 credits

• Degree public courses 6 credits

1. Survey of Contemporary China
2. Advanced Chinese
3. Chinese Linguistics

• Degree core courses 12 credits

1. Teaching Chinese as a Second Language
2. Second Language Acquisition
3. Case Study of Classroom Teaching and Practices
4. Survey of Chinese Culture
5. Cross-cultural Communication

Expand courses 10 credits

• Chinese teaching courses 4 credits

1. Linguistic Elements in Chinese Teaching
2. Skills in Chinese Teaching
3. Comparative Studies of Chinese and Foreign Languages and Error Analysis

• Chinese Culture and Intercultural Communication 2 credits

1. Classics of Chinese Culture
2. Comparative Studies of Chinese and Foreign Cultures

• Education and Teaching Management

1. Foreign Language Education Psychology
2. Teaching Design and Management
3. Survey of Chinese Teaching in Different Countries

Training courses 4 credits

1. Application of Modern Technology for Education
2. Resources & Application for Chinese Teaching
3. Teaching Assessment and Evaluation Design
4. Demonstration of Chinese Culture

Seminar 1 credit

1. Language, Culture and Education

Getting ready for the master’s degree

It’s been half a year since I finished undergraduate degree, a year since I’ve taken classes. Now it’s the time to get ready and take a head start for a very challenging year ahead!

First of all I have already started working on finally getting my tones right and improving my pronunciation.

Secondly I want to find out which books we will be using on the courses the following year so I can start reading them now. I need to get more used to reading in Chinese, that’s includes reading speed and taking notes in Chinese. I want to review what I learned during my undergrad, as that knowledge will surely be helpful during my master’s degree studies.

Thirdly I’m looking for students in Guangzhou (perhaps online as well) to teach Chinese to. I want to get more experience in teaching, especially in teaching beginner and elementary Mandarin Chinese. If you want to learn Chinese, you can contact me through email.

 

The only way is up!

I’m ready for the challenge!

I’m looking forward these two years to improve my Chinese overall level, learn more about teaching and make plans to teach as a career after my graduation.

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