26/02/2016
Are you interested about M.A. in Business, Language and Culture (Chinese) in SDU? You can hear about it from Danke's experience.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Which Master did you choose - and why?
I chose the program M.A. in Business, Language and Culture (Chinese) because I wanted to get a better understanding of Chinese culture and business practice. I did a Bachelor in Marketing Management at the Shanghai Business School and decided to focus more on China in my Master’s program in order to be more specialized in the subject area.
What did you gain from the Master and what can you use it for?
When I started the Master’s program at the University of Southern Denmark, my Chinese language skills and understanding of the Chinese culture were still limited. Although I have lived and studied in China before, my Bachelor’s program only contained normal business related classes and when people asked me questions about China and Chinese culture, I often could not fully explain it. When I started this Master’s program, I was having difficulties in the beginning understanding Chinese literature and some of the subjects that are related to Chinese culture and politics. However, I learned very quickly and soon I was able to read the Chinese literature and keep up with my classmates. This made me become a lot more confident about myself and my Chinese skills and abilities. Now, after I have successfully finished this program, I am happy to say that I have a way better understanding of Chinese culture, politics and business practice than any book about China can teach me. I have learned how complex China is and that it is not enough to just read a single book or travel to China. In order to gain a comprehensive understanding about China, it is necessary to thoroughly study the language, culture, politics and business practice and combine this with a longer stay in China. This is exactly what this program offers and I am grateful that I (as a lateral entrant) had the opportunity to be part of this program!
What opportunities do you see and what are your plans for the future?
I think this program is perfect for anyone who is interested in China and wants to work in or with China. Since I have “only” studied marketing management in my Bachelor’s program, I had great fear and anxieties of not finding a good job and I therefore think that this Master’s program was a great enrichment for me and my career. There are thousands of other students out there who also just study marketing, business management or other related subjects. With a specialization on China and comprehension of the Chinese language, you’ll have a significant competitive advantage compared to other job applicants. In my experience, there are many companies who are specifically looking for candidates with such skills and those are hard to find. Personally, I plan to work for a company or non-governmental organization that has relations with China. I do not plan to live in China for the rest of my live, but I wouldn’t mind going there on business trips on a regular basis.
Info about the Master Program
The program consists of 50% humanities and 50% social sciences classes and is therefore a combination of business related classes and classes related to Chinese culture, politics and business practice. Some of the classes are taught in both English and Chinese. In the beginning, I was scared of the classes taught in Chinese because of my limited Chinese language skills. However, I put enough effort into it and must say that it is challenging, but totally doable! The teachers are great and always willing to help and listen to you if you have any problems or difficulties. Also, there is no tuition fee or other costs for EU citizens and health insurance is free, too. Within the program, you’ll have the chance to do an exchange semester or internship abroad. Personally, I ended up staying in China for 1.5 years and combined my exchange semester at Fudan University in Shanghai with a summer school program in Taiwan and an extended stay in Shanghai where I also wrote my Master Thesis.
