As a major university directly under the Chinese Ministry of  Education, Beijing Foreign Studies University(BFSU) is the oldest of its kind in the country, offering more foreign language programs than any other school to students of all levels. With 72 foreign languages taught at the university, BFSU has exchange programs with 330 institutions of higher education and academic research from 83 countries and regions and is now running 22 overseas Confucius Institutes all over the world.

The School of Chinese Language and Literature (SCLL) is an institution of teaching and research,focusing on the education of both Chinese and international students. The School was the first in the country to recruit and teach overseas students, and was also one of the earliest schools to provide under- and postgraduate programs teaching Chinese as a second language. SCLL boasts a team of qualified teachers of various disciplines with rich experience and professionalism. There are about 70 full-time and 70 part-time teachers, of whom 50 % are associate or full professors and 52% have a PhD degree. Most of the teachers have overseas working or teaching experience.

SCLL is a highly international school, made up of three parts, namely, Department of Chinese, Department of Chinese as a Foreign Language, and Chinese Training Center. All the programs in the School are open to international students and students of Hanban’s the Confucius China Studies Program. SCLL provides a platform of cross-cultural exchange for international and Chinese students so that they can study in the same school and same classroom, strengthening their learning ability and cross-cultural communication skills. The School now has over 1,500 students,with over 500 Chinese and over 1,000 from overseas.

Postgraduate Degree Programs for International Students

The School of Chinese Language and Literature has two PhD programs, namely,Comparative Literature and Cross-cultural Studies, and Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language; five MA programs, namely, Comparative Literature and World Literature, Chinese Ancient Literature, Linguistics and Applied Linguistics,Chinese Language and Philology, and Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language.

Program Features

1.   Course Design: Compulsory and selective courses,with some modules focusing on basic theories and others on practical application, aiming to produce quality inter-disciplinary and international personnel with high proficiency in the Chinese language and culture.

2.    Learning Environment: International students from about 50 countries and regions, Chinese students from all over the country, studying in the same school and the same classroom; a highly international environment and a broad platform for cross-cultural exchange for enhancing the learning experience and cross-cultural communication skills.

3.    System of Reward: Various awards for excellence in learning and character.

Documents needed for application

1.        Photocopy of the photopage of the passport

2.        Three recent photos forpassport

3.        Application form

4.        Guardian’s letter ofguarantee

5.        HSK result sheet

6.        Academicresults(photocopied)

7.        Graduation certificateor diploma (photocopied)

8.        Personal statement

9.        Two recommendationletters

10.      Resume

11.      Interview

Undergraduate Degree Programs for International Students

The 4-year undergraduate programs of the School of Chinese Language and Literature aim to train qualified personnel with high proficiency in the Chinese language and culture, enrolling international students every spring and autumn. Now there are about 500 undergraduate students in the School.

Introduced in 1992，SCLL’s undergraduate programs have seen a steady improvement in  curriculum design, teaching methodology,syllabus planning, assessment system, course management, etc. Importance is attachednot only to systematic learning, but also to the development of the students’communicative competence. Five programs are available, namely, Chinese Language, Literature and Culture, Business, Translation from and into Chinese,and Chinese Language Teaching—all based on Chinese language learning.

The School has long carried out cooperation with foreign universities in double-degree undergraduate education, in the forms of 2+2 (students studying in their home country for two years and in SCLL for another two years) and 3+1 (students studying in their home country for three years and in SCLL for one year), in which two degrees are conferred upon graduation, one by the home school and the other by SCLL.The School is running such projects in collaboration with Sapienza Universityof Rome, Italy; Kansai University, Japan; Daito Bunka University, Japan; Pusan University of Foreign Studies, Korea; the Woosong University, Korea, etc.

SCLL has cooperation with Malaysia and other south Asian countries in training teachers of Chinese. In 2007, BFSU signed the agreement with the Malaysian Ministry of Education and MARA Group to train teachers of Chinese,according to which outstanding senior high graduates are recruited to study in SCLL for five years, one year for preparatory course and four for undergraduate programs. So far altogether 355 Malaysian students have come in eight batches to study on the teacher-training scholarship, of whom 152 have already graduated. To promote the localization of Chinese-teaching personnel in south Asia, SCLL has undertaken the project of training teachers of Chinese for the south Asian countries under the Headquarters of Confucius Institute and Hanban. The first South Asian teacher-training class was open in September 2016, of which the students study for five years, one for preparatory course and four for the undergraduate program.

Up till now,about 2,000 international students have graduated from the School, who are now playing an active role all over the world in various fields such as education,culture, trade, diplomacy, etc., contributing to the cooperation andcommunication between China and other countries.

Program Features

1.        Program Selection: With no specialized courses in the first two years, the undergraduate students can choose a specialized program in their third year according to their interest from Chinese Language, Business, Literature and Culture, Chinese LanguageTeaching, etc.

2.        Course Design: There are compulsory courses and selective courses;specialized and general optional courses;many courses of interest; and various foreign language courses, such as English, Japanese, Arabic, etc.

3.       Fourth-year Field Trip：To broaden the students’horizon, field trips to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, etc.are organized in the first semester of the fourth year so that they know more about the country and its cultural,political and economic conditions.

4.        Graduation Thesis: Academic writing course is offered to the senior students, who will write their thesis under the guidance of their supervisors.

5.        System of Reward: There are various national and Confucius Institute scholarships for excellence in learning and character. Moreover, SCLL also grant various awards for excellent students, monitors, graduation thesis, and full attendance.

Documentsneeded for application

1.        Photocopy of the photopage of the passport

2.        Three recent photos for passport

3.        Application form

4.        Guardian’s letter of guarantee

5.        HSK result sheet

Non-Degree Programs for International Students

     Non-degree programs for international students include general, special and short-term courses,offering Chinese training lasting from one week to one year.

General Training

General training programs forinternational students open at the beginning of spring and autumn semesters every year, with 18 weeks of classes each semester. The trainees are classified according to their Chinese proficiency into ten grades at basic, intermediateor advanced levels, catering for learners from zero to proficient level with avocabulary over 8,000.Students are taught in small classes of about 15,focusing on training in listening and speaking. Every semester, the Chinese Training Center offers 2 to 3 compulsory courses and 20 selective courses for students of all levels.

Special Training Projects

In special training projects forinternational students,the training length, focus and organization areadjustable to meet different needs. SCLL has carried out the following projects:China-EU Junior Managers Training program,China-EU Legal Chinese Training Program,Chinese Language Training of EU Science and Technology Fellowship Program,MBA Training Program of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania,USA, Business Chinese Training Program of the Deutscher Akademische Austausch Dient (DAAD),Chinese-Japanese Simultaneous Interpreting Training Program, Chinese Training Program for Law Enforcement Liaison Officers, Chinese Training Program of the Sapienza University of Rome,etc. Special training projects are tailored individually to meet the needs ofthe organizations, schools and individuals from different parts of the world.

Short-term Training Courses

Short-term training courses last from one to eight weeks, open mostly during summer and winter vacations for international students who want to learn Chinese on their tour to China.Now there are about 20 short-term training classes each vacation.The practical training, with its flexible teaching methods and abundantcultural activities, has attracted international students of all ages and from all walks of life. We provide short-term Chinese language training on regular basis to students sent by well-known universities such as University of Pennsylvania, University of Louisville, Virginia Common wealth University,Lancaster University, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, Daito Bunka University, Kobe University, Nagoya University of Foreign Studies, the University of Shimane, University of Bunkyo, Seoul National University, Hanyang University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and Pusan National University.

Program Features

1.   The general training programs offer various types of courses with a comprehensive curriculum. The ten grades from zero to advanced level enable learners of different proficiency to improve their Chinese in a short period.

2.   Specifically designed according to the requirements of the organizers and needs of the students, the special training projects in corporate special teaching and managing methods for the best result.

3.     Over 20 selective courses are provided for students to choose from according to their individualneeds.

4.   Taking the advantage of BFSU’s strength in foreign language teaching, the School of Chinese Language and Literature cooperates with the students’ union in using its language pal platform, which enables international students to find a suitable pal for language practice. Besides, SCLL has several hundred native Chinese students studying as undergraduates, postgraduates and PhD candidates,who can provide tuition for learners of Chinese as most of them major inteaching Chinese as a second language.

Documents needed for application

1.        Photocopy of the photopage of the passport

2.        Three recent photos for passport

3.        Application form

Colorful Activities of Language and Social Practice

Each semester, the School organizesa rich variety of activities involving language and social practices on regularbasis, which include:

Extracurricularand cultural activities: Talent Contest, Composition Contest, Debate Contest, Video-clip Contest, Fun Sports Meet, Movie Weekends, Chinese Corner, International Gourmet Festival, New Year Party, etc. are organized on regular basis, which provide opportunities for the students to improve their ability to communicate in Chinese. Many SCLL students have won awards in national contests or competitions held in Beijing.

Learning trips in Beijing：Students are also organized to visit places of historic interest in Beijing such as the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, etc. and to see performances such as Chinese kongfu, paper cutting and clay figurine making so that they can get first-hand experience of the Chinese culture.

Learning trips to other provinces: Trips are organized to Tianjin, Chengde, Shanghai, Xi’an, Qingdao, the Yellow Mountain in Anhui Province, Confucius’ hometown in Qufu of Shangdong Province, the Ancient Town of Pingyao in Shaanxi Province, etc., where the students meet the local people,visit factories, villages and places of historic interest, and watch various performances and exhibitions. Such activities not only serve as an extension of classroom learning but also further the students’ understanding of the Chinese society.

How to Apply

On-line application at

http://study.bfsu.edu.cn

Office of International Students

Beijing Foreign Studies University

Second Floor, Student Center, East Campus

2 North Xisanhuan Avenue, Haidian District, Beijing, China

Postal Code: 100089

Telephone:+86-10-88816549，88810671，88816424

Fax：+86-10-88812587

Website：http://lb.bfsu.edu.cn

Email Address：wsclxb@bfsu.edu.cn

ContactInformation

School of Chinese Language and Literature

Beijing Foreign Studies University

2 North Xisanhuan Avenue, Haidian District, Beijing, China

Postal Code: 100089

Telephone: 86-10-88816438

Fax: 86-10-88818140

Website: http://iei.bfsu.edu.cn/

E-mail: zhongwen@bfsu.edu.cn