Does anyone know if SOAS does give credit to students who have taken A2
level Chinese. After all, Cambridge is not the only place to go if
someone is interested in doing Chinese Studies.

Doris Kehry-Kurz
Jerudong International School

-----Original Message-----
From: Mandarin Chinese Teaching
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Anne
Martin
Sent: Wednesday 09 September 2009 03:53 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Chinese studies in 2010 [Scanned]

We had quite a lot of discussion on the forum about this last year too.
It is quite frustrating for us teachers to be almost holding back very 
talented students from taking Chinese at school to too high a level. To
get 
into the top Unis the highest grades are needed and it seems to me that
it 
is still difficult to get very high grades at A level for non native 
speakers. At my school we are offering AS over 2 years as an additional 
subject. I have told the students that they should take the academic 
subjects at A level that they are best at and enjoy and can get high
grades 
at and enjoy Chinese as an addtional subject.
I can see the problem that the University could have in coping with
students 
of Chinese at different levels when many students will probably start
with 
no Chinese at all. I think that as we get more students through GCSE and

into AS level things will start to change re University entrance and
they 
may well be able to stipulate that students must have at least GCSE to
apply 
for Chinese. I feel this is a few years off though !.
Anne Martin
Trinity

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mrs H Hicks" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, September 05, 2009 11:01 PM
Subject: Chinese studies in 2010


Dear All,

I would like you to have a look at the email to Cambridge from one of my

pupils and the reply he received - he wishes to pursue Chinese at a
degree 
level (he is a very gifted linguist). Unbelievably, their advice to him
is 
NOT to study A level Chinese! It is amazing to me that, when we hear so
much 
about the constant increases in required entry qualifications (e.g. that
3 
A's are no longer enough) they would actually be turning a student away 
because he knows too much.

Interested in your thoughts on this.

Helena






Dear Mr XXX

I have conferred with a member of our Chinese language teaching staff 
regarding your situation, and he has advised that our course could 
accommodate students who have done GCSE Chinese, and probably AS Level. 
However, it would be a problem if a student has done A Level, and has
done 
well, as this would mean most of the classes at Part IA (first year
level) 
would not be of much use.  If your aim is to come to Cambridge and study

Chinese, it may be better not to pursue an A Level in Chinese and
instead 
focus on other A Levels.

Kind regards
Laura Hancock
----------------------------
Undergraduate Programmes Administrator
Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
University of Cambridge
Sidgwick Avenue
Cambridge CB3 9DA


Tel: +44 (0)1223 335105
Fax: +44 (0)1223 335110
Web: www.ames.cam.ac.uk <http://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/>




On 22 Jul 2009, at 22:09, XXX wrote:


Dear Sir/Madam,
                         My name is XXX, I am 17 years old and I am 
extremely interested in studying for a 'Chinese Studies' degree
programme at 
Cambridge University, as of September 2010. Because I wanted to learn 
Chinese at university, I have been studying for the GCSE and now the A
Level 
course outside of my school's curriculum. In total, I have studied
Chinese 
for almost 3 years. Unfortunately this has put me in an unusual
situation.

As stated on page 11 of the AMES prospectus: 'As considerable emphasis
is 
placed on language learning, our courses may not be suitable for those 
people who already have a thorough knowledge of the language in both
their 
spoken and written forms'.

Would an A or A* at A-level be considered 'thorough knowledge'?

Attending the 'Sutton Trust Summer School' from Monday 13th - Friday
16th 
July at Sidney Sussex College, I spoke to various members of the MML 
department about this. They could not answer my questions and told me to
get 
in contact with you, the faculty, directly.

I would be extremely grateful if you could take time to give me some
advice 
on what to do and on what opportunities/options would be available for
me at 
Cambridge University?

Thank you in advance for your help.







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