Frequently Asked Questions

Since Chinese is a tonal language, you may find Chinese pronunciation a little difficult in the beginning, but you will get used to it very quickly. Chinese grammar is actually quite logical and simple. The Chinese writing system is the most different aspect of the language from European languages, because it consists of characters instead of the alphabet system.

Learning to recognize and write Chinese characters is not as difficult as what people generally think. You may have heard people say that writing Chinese characters is like drawing a picture. This is quite wrong. There are only less than 6% of pictograph characters, i.e. characters that were created in a primitive way and resemble real things. The majority of Chinese characters are semi-phonic which means a character consists of two parts, i.e. one part (radical) stands for the meaning, the other part stands for the sound. You may want to consider a character as a lego item by putting together some pre-shaped pieces.

By introducing the structure of characters and their radicals, we will walk you through the initial stage of learning characters. By the end of the first year, you will grasp over 500 characters which is more than half of the number of character covering 95% of daily writings. Starting from second year, you will be able to type Chinese on a computer which makes the writing even easier.

We recommend starting your Chinese language study as early as possible, preferably, starting from your freshman year. Then, after one year of study, attend the Princeton in Beijing summer Chinese language program during your first summer break. By doing so, you can complete the two-year language requirement before the start of sophomore year.  If you continue into 3^rd year Chinese during your sophomore year, you will reach an advanced level before junior year, which is oftentimes a student’s busiest year, and achieve the proficiency level that enables you to work with original sources in Chinese, if you choose to write a paper on a China-related topic.

Start your language study at Princeton as early as possible and take advantage of our world-renowned program while you are here. If, for any reason, you can’t take Chinese in your freshman year, you are more than welcome to join anytime during your undergraduate or graduate years.

There is no simple answer to this question because each program has a different teaching style and pace of instruction. It also depends on how much material an individual has absorbed from the instruction provided before entering university. It is common for students who studied Chinese for a few years before coming to Princeton to take CHI 101 (Elementary Chinese I) or CHI 105 (Intermediate Chinese I) to solidify their foundations.

If you are a true beginner, you will reach intermediate-advanced level in three years (six semesters). You will be able to speak and write in a graceful way with idiomatic phrases and have a basic understanding of Chinese news broadcasts and Chinese newspapers. If you take Chinese for four years at Princeton, you can reach the high advanced level so that Chinese is a true working language. This process can be shortened if you choose to attend the Princeton in Beijing Summer Study Abroad Program. The course load of the PiB 8-week summer study is equivalent to one academic year of language study at Princeton.

Learning Chinese opens up enormous opportunities for your career development, establishes a channel to a culture that has thousands of years of history, and enables you to communicate with over one billion people around the world, which is about one fifth of the global population.  The usefulness and application of Chinese language in international business and affairs have only been increasing year after year. As the most populous nation and the second largest economy, China plays more and more of an important role on the world stage.

A proficiency in Chinese has become an increasingly useful asset for a job seeker, especially for those who are interested in working in Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and in any China-related international institutions. Princeton graduates who study Chinese during their undergraduate years work in a variety of professions, such as business, media, government, education, etc. To know more about “How and Why Language Learning is Useful in China Careers”, see https://pib.princeton.edu/sponsored-events

We are learning Mandarin, i.e. Putonghua, the standard Chinese language spoken by a community of more than one billion people. Cantonese, by contrast, is one of the major dialects, spoken by people from Guangdong province, Hong Kong and in some overseas Chinese communities.

The so called “simplified characters” is the current writing system used by people in mainland China and Singapore, and is what we use in class at Princeton. The traditional, or old, writing system is still used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and some other overseas Chinese communities. In the first-year course, you will learn only simplified characters, however, we do not discourage you from learning traditional characters on your own.

Generally speaking, a computer (PC or Mac) is Chinese-ready if the OS was released after 2010. Go to the control panel and add the Chinese input method. If you need to install additional software, you may consult your Chinese instructors. There are also many free tools online, including English-Chinese and Chinese-English dictionaries.

A Chinese placement test will ultimately determine which class is the most appropriate for you. If you are fluent in Chinese or have near-native proficiency, you may consider taking advanced level courses based on your own interest.  These courses are amalgamations of language and content, such as CHI/EAS 411 Readings in Modern Chinese Intellectual History, CHI/EAS 412 Readings in Classic Chinese Short Stories, CHI 418 Advanced Chinese: Contemporary Literature and Film, CHI 301/302 Introduction to Classical Chinese. For more information, see the section on curriculum.