Since offering its first Chinese language courses in 1957-1958, the Chinese language program in the Department of Asian Studies receives over 2000 individual registrations annually, making it the largest, most comprehensive program for Chinese Studies in North America.
Curriculum
The Chinese language program offers courses in traditional and simplified Chinese as well as in Chinese Literature. A key strength of the intensive program is its division into two tracks, one for heritage learners and the other for non-heritage learners. This allows our faculty and staff to better accommodate to each students’ academic needs.
Our heritage track is designed for students with a strong background in understanding spoken Chinese but who have weaker reading and writing skills. Our non-heritage track is for foreign language learners with no prior exposure to the Chinese language and therefore need to develop four key skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Placement Procedure
ALL incoming students who wish to take ANY CHIN, CNTO, or CLCH courses are required to complete the placement procedure every session whether you’re a new or continuing student. Students who do not follow the placement procedure will be removed from the course.
NOTE: If you joined the Faculty of Arts in the 2024 Winter session, you cannot waive the language requirement through a proficiency test. Please see the UBC Vancouver Calendar for more information.
To be exempted for Chinese Language Proficiency, students must take the HSK exam. For the new HSK test, you must attain a Level 3. For the information about HSK test schedule, please visit: http://www.chinesetest.cn/getkdinfo.do?id=817428
If you need more information about the HSK test, please contact them directly via email, to either of
Cicoquitlam@gmail.com or winseychoi@hotmail.com
If you think the placement does not accurately reflect your language level, please sign up for a placement interview. If you have further questions concerning the placement, you can email Chinese.Placement@ubc.ca. Please follow the proper email format found here.
