My Goal

I have a goal. I have once again found a purpose in my life. Are you ready for this? I want to take up an MA in Chinese Language and Literature in a Chinese university.

I have been thinking about this for a long time but somehow things were always so abstract. It was only yesterday, after I woke up from my afternoon nap, that I came up with a real plan. Nothing earth-shattering, really. I was just thinking that I want to make the most of my stay here in China. I could formally study the Chinese language in a school but somehow I feel that I want more than that. I finally figured out that I want a... a... a degree!!! I'm a degree-addict! (Don't any of you remind me that I'm not yet finished with my MFA. Do you think I don't know that? Do you think that thought doesn't torment me night and day?)

I was very very happy with my realization. I felt that I had found meaning in my life. I worked out a plan. Go home in August, come back after a month or two, find a job in Beijing, enroll in an affordable university that offers the course for foreigners. Perfect!

So last night, I started researching about the course, the different universities in Beijing, tuition fees, admission requirements, etc. And then I started feeling disheartened... I had not yet done a thorough research though. So far, these are the universities that look promising:

1. Beijing Normal University costs 25300RMB/year for a graduate student. That does not include books, board and lodging, etc. I do not have that much money!

2. Beijing Language and Culture University's website does not have the tuition infos.

3. Beijing University of Technology's site confused me. Under the heading "tuition," it says US$3.5/day/person. That's the cheapest, there are others. It then proceeds to describe the living quarters. I'm hoping that it really means tuition but logic tells me that's not possible. 

Second discovery: I have to score at least a Level 6 in the Chinese Proficiency Test or HSK for HanYu ShuiPing KaoShi. Test? Level 6? Wait! I want a course that foreigners take so English would be the medium of instruction. I panicked. I was ready to abandon the purpose of my life. There was no way I could pass a Chinese Proficiency Test enough to take a Master's degree.

After I'd recovered from my initial shock, I did research about this freakin test. There are three kinds: basic, intermediate, advanced. The basic test is for people who have mastered 400-3000 basic Chinese characters. Whaaat?! Should I start counting now? Level 6 means I get a score high enough to reach the upper bracket in the intermediate test. I could feel my heart literally pounding in my chest while I was reading those. The basic test can get me as high as Level 3. It's composed of listening, grammar and reading. Everything in multiple choice. 135 minutes in all. That doesn't sound so bad.

I gave myself time to calm down yet again. I think that's attainable. Hopefully, I pass the basic test without breaking into a sweat. In the intermediate, it's composed of listening, grammar, reading and cloze test. Sounds manageable. Except my stupid computer cannot download the sample tests so I don't know what kind of questions will be asked. But little by little my confidence returned.

I next took an online chinese proficiency exam on transparent.com. Get this, I'm on Advanced Intermediate Level! 111 correct answers out of 150. 74% overall. Here's the breakdown:

1. Grammar 40/45 88%

2. Grammar 31/45 68%

3. Vocabulary 30/30 100% (Yipee! *cartwheels!)

4. Reading Comprehension 10/30 33%

Everything was in Romanized pinyin except for the last part of Reading Comprehension. Notice that I failed miserably in that part. Sigh. Still, if I was able to score an Advanced Intermediate Level without studying at all, then I must be able to score an Advanced Intermediate Level when I do study.

I've already found someone to go with me to Shenyang, the capital of my province, next Tuesday. There are absolutely no books here on Chinese learning for foreigners. I get my listening and spoken Chinese education from the streets and dinner conversations. My Chinese reading skills are practiced in KTV lounges. It's about time I start doing it the traditional way. And I'm very excited.