At the moment I am attending a community college in south Florida. I plan to transfer in about a couple of years (I'm a freshman ^^) and I plan to major in Asian Studies to learn Mandarin Chinese, and hopfully do study abroad....if I get enough money >.<

Anyways...I wanted to ask if anyone knows any colleges that have a strong course in Mandarin? Or is known for their language/study abroad/asian studies program? I am very serious in learning Mandarin to the point where it is as good as my english (my mother language). I'm looking for colleges mostly in Florida, but if there are any others around the US or maybe even China...please tell me. I want a school that has a very strong language program or maybe a language college speciffically. Hope everyone understands what I mean ^^'

Hope some one can help me

PS. The only schools in FL I know that has some kind of asian studies is University of Miami (UM), Florida International Universtity (FIU), University of Florida (UF), and Florida State University (FSU) =/

UC Berkeley, in California (I know it's far), has a really good East Asian Studies majors, I think. I'd research it up, because I don't know if 'm right.

University of Hawaii at Manoa has a good EALL program

Thanks Avex and akira53 I seriously want to get out of Florida....the only problem is the money....so I just have to keep saving up XD I will look into those schools ^^'

I especially want to go somewhere where there is a good amount of Chinese/Asian people so that I can practice communicating.....I already watch TONS of dramas, so I know a few words and phrases, hehe

Cornell.

the department is truly amazing (and very lovable), as well as the falcon program & the new major, CAPS which I would have seriously considered, but I didn't want to graduate a yr later (esp w/already being a dual degree candidate).

You should definitely check it out, esp as a transfer.... Cornell & Penn are the 2 ivies that accept the most transfers If you have any questions, feel free to pm me.

edit: omg - "metro rail?" (from your 411) are you in Miami? mdc?

University of San Francisco I believe has a major in this..

I looked up stuff on Cornell and I didnt see anything about east Asian studies? Maybe it's just me..

Pomona looked like it had a pretty cool language program.

look harder - its an ivy Cornell isn't nicknamed the "big red tape" for nothing - its cross-referenced w/ a lot of other depts - linguistics, history, foreign languages, asian american studies, asian studies, art history, english, philosophy, comp.lit, etc. As someone who's take numerous courses there w/ a focus on asia, the options are endless.... its considered one of the best programs in the country, and holds heavy weight internationally as well.

as for languages, they offer over 40, with intensive attention to asian ones. and the east asian dept is fantastic - love the professors there.

QUOTE

Asian Studies at Cornell comprises a university-wide faculty who, together, present a highly inter-disciplinary approach to the complex civilizations of Asia. Forty-five members of the Asian Studies Department specialize in languages, linguistics, literatures and religions, while thirty-five associated faculty throughout the university teach courses on Asia in their own disciplines, from art history and government to rural sociology. Faculty research interests are thus highly diverse.

highly inter-disciplinary approach = all over the place

I'd still recommend the CAPS program if you like structure:



(& I'd really urge you to work out specific things on your own as well w/ the independant major or dual degree if you like doing things your own way, but that's just me ^^ )

I am sure this is pretty obvious, but schools on the West Coast (California and Hawaii) will definitely have a good Asian Studies program and study abroad opportunities. Top-notch colleges (such as the Ivy's but not limited to) also have an extensive Asian-studies program because of their very broad and extensive range of programs.
The only way to get the 'best' mandarin program is to go to the places I have mentioned. Another option would be to go to a decent university that offers Mandarin chinese as a major. I am sure that even though it may not be the best program available in the world, it should still be a very effective as long as you study hard.

I myself had looked around in California because I really had wanted to go to California for my undergraduate degree. One of the major reasons would be to get away from Virginia and go to CA because of its heavily influenced Asian culture. The University of California's are very excellent (especially Berkeley) in Asian-Studies. One 'plan' I thought of would be going to a Californian Community College until I became in-state (for the instate tuition rates) and then transfered to one of the UC's. This plan was quickly burned after I learned in-state tuition is based on THREE years after living in California. Originally I believed it was two years.

The second plan I have come up with is to study hard in undergraduate school. And then go to a graduate school in Japan or China. I have not really thought this out yet considering I have 4 years until this happens. One thing I found out though, is that Out-of-Country tuition rates are not any cheaper in another country than it is in the US. The Out-of-Country tuition in Hong Kong is about $14,000 whereas people living in that country pay $4,000. Significant difference, but it is understandable why why it is like that. People in China ultimately have less incomes.

hmm, sorry if I am not so helpful or if I went off on random topics. I am going to take Mandarin/japanese in my undergraduate college next year. I live in Virginia (and must go to an in-state school because of financial reasons), so I'll make do with what I can next year! The asian-study programs may not be the best, but at least they are available at the place I am going to. I 'want' to go study abroad in Japan (even though I am majoring in Mandarin), but I will have to work indefinitely to get the money I need for such an expensive trip. A friend of mine went to korea to study abroad for a year and she is spending about $20,000. Of course her case may be different than ours, but I would estimate that it is one very expensive experience! I have had dreams of just sneaking on an airplane and taking a vacation to Asia.

Hmm, the person above me has more factual information ㅠ.ㅠ" but I doubt I can get in Cornell ~ unless I go there for my graduate degree.

agree with the above- definitely cornell. its strong in their east asian studies. as for learning a language, you can try any high-rated college there is because chinese is a fairly world-wide language and almost every college should be teaching it

University of Washington at Seattle is a very good school for language study.

Speaking of EAS, UCB is going to open its new EAS library this coming Monday.

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/release...4_cvstarr.shtml

You may want to look into the University of Washington or the University of Oregon as well as UC Berkeley or NYU.

Got to jump in here.

To get in-state tuition you have to become a resident. To become a resident you have to be in state for a year. You also have to have either an apartment here, pay instate taxes, register and vote in California, etcetera etcetera.




For OP, I would suggest UW. There is SUCH a large organization of Chinese, Koreans and Japanese up there! It's wonderful and really easy to find someone to practice any CJK language with.

i don't know a whole lot about other schools, but i know UC Berkeley has an awesome east asian languages program. i took japanese and my teachers were amazing! they were really animated and you could tell that they enjoyed teaching. my buddy took chinese and absolutely loved it.

there was a friend of a friend... HAHA
she was originally from vegas, and moved here and went to community college. (she had an aunt here so housing was free) not sure how long she had to stay in CC, cause we lost touch, but her plan was to become a resident for cost issues.

err, when i was looking into schools i think university of hawaii [manoa] was markedly cheaper than UCB.. im not sure how much weight the cost issues carry, but out of state for hawaii might not be as crazy as other schools... and on top of that, if you can go to community college there and get the residency, then hey.. an even better deal.

sorry if my info is a little off. it's been a few years since i researched universities. hope it helped a little.. i recommend to call schools too. the info can't be wrong then right? lol from personal experience, i thought the people on the phones were super nice and helpful.

alright! gooood luck!! i hope everything works out well for you!