Asia Pacific Studies (Foundation Entry)

Level
Chinese (ab initio), for students who have limited or no knowledge of the language and will be able to learn the basics.

Studying Chinese
Learning Chinese (Mandarin) at the University of Central Lancashire is a truly transformative process. You’ll be able to grasp the language spoken by most people in the world, explore its fascinating history and culture, and embrace the wide-ranging opportunities offered by the second largest economy. It will lead you down a path where you meet experts in Chinese studies, experience various cultural activities, and understand the outside world from different perspectives such as cultures, politics and histories.

Learning Chinese could be a big challenge for you, but it will also be one of the most rewarding experiences that you gain.

As the world’s second largest economy, China is a new land of opportunities, attracting growing attention on the world stage. With Chinese language competence and cross-culture communication skills, you will widen your horizon. You will also gain related important soft skills that many employers are looking for, such as ‘a strong work ethic’ and ‘adaptability’.

Another notable highlight is the opportunities to visit China. The Chinese courses draw on the support of our Confucius Institute and our extensive links with China to include an intensive summer study tour in Beijing at the end of Year 1, and a full year abroad at the end of Year 2.

Why choose Chinese?

• We offer a wide range of Chinese modules at the University for intensive and non-intensive learning. The contact hours of language and content lessons are very generous. For example, you will have 8-14 contact hours of Chinese language and content lessons per week in Year 1 and Year 2. Sufficient help and support from teachers are available inside and outside classroom. With the content-based modules, you’ll also develop a real understanding of how the Chinese language and civilisation have evolved over time to reflect the world views it takes today.
  
  
• The year abroad keeps the cohesion of the two parts of Chinese language and business studies by including a study placement at a Chinese university and an internship in an international company based in China, the only undergraduate course with an embedded work placement in the UK.
  
  
• We provide 360-degree support on your Chinese learning journey. You will not be alone in our learning community. You can gain advice from senior students at Peer Assisted Study Session, academic and personal guidance from your academic advisors and other support from a broader university student support network. We also offer wide-ranging extra-curricular activities organised by the Confucius Institute, the China Research Centre and student-led Chinese Society.

No matter whether you are a total beginner or someone with prior Chinese learning experience, we are happy to accommodate your learning needs. If you are ready to explore the world of Chinese, join us and we will work with you to get where you aim to be.

Level
Japanese (ab initio), for students who have limited or no knowledge of the language and will be able to learn the basics.

Studying Japanese
Challenging, but rewarding, Japanese is one of the most studied languages. Japanese language skills enable you to dive into a society in which tradition meets modernity. You will learn how to write in three different scripts and experience the beauty of the spoken language. But learning Japanese is not just about learning a language, but rather experiencing a culture with a rich history and world-famous literary tradition.

You’ll learn how to communicate efficiently in written and spoken Japanese with an appropriate degree of fluency and accuracy in a range of situations. Get to grips with translating/interpreting between English and Japanese texts/speeches of a varied nature in a number of registers and genres. You’ll get to demonstrate your language skills through interactive portfolios, presentations and creative writing.

You’ll also get the opportunity to take part in lectures given by staff and guest speakers representing major disciplines in the sphere of Japanese Studies. You are encouraged to get actively involved in Japan-related events and student-led associations. Working with your peers you’ll practise your Japanese skills with native speakers, including exchange students at the University.

And don’t miss our Classical Japanese reading group and lots of other Japanese language related sessions.

Why choose Japanese?

• You can experience many facets of Japanese culture on campus before heading to one of our almost 30 partner universities in Japan for your period abroad. We cooperate with Japanese culture associations at the University and on a national level.
  
  
• We offer a comprehensive exploration of Japanese language, culture and history with immediately applicable employment skills and competences (translation/interpreting, business Japanese).
  
  
• We take pride in our research-led teaching approach: our lecturers are active in research and incorporate their own expertise into teaching a variety of modules (discourse analysis, gender and language, translation theory and practice, history and politics).

In addition to our extensive study abroad opportunities at a vast selection of partner institutions in Japan, you’ll be encouraged to apply for Japanese government scholarships to support your postgraduate studies. We have also referred candidates to the DAIWA foundation and the European Association for Japanese Studies. There is also the opportunity to be considered for academic prizes, such as the Ivan Morris Prize.

Level
Korean (ab initio), for students who have limited or no knowledge of the language and will be able to learn the basics.

Studying Korean
The Korean subject offers you a variety of modules including not only language learning, but also Korean history, culture, linguistics and politics.

Language learning starts from the absolute beginner level and conveys all four skills of speaking, reading, listening and writing. The classes are featured with interactive activities, together with conversation classes run by Korean native students, giving our students sufficient opportunities to practice and communicate using the language.

Besides the module setting, we provide many different experiences in the area of Korean studies. Korean speaking/poetry-making contests are held regularly every year, allowing you to explore more possibilities with your language.

Conferences and seminars invite scholars to bring in new frontier knowledge to share with you. We also organise the Korean Festival which students take a great part in making Korean food, trying traditional Korean dresses and K-pop.

In addition, the Korean Society is one of the largest student societies at the University. Liaising with them, we offer a buddy system for our students to connect with a Korean native student or students of different years in the Korean subject. It formulates a great learning-help environment for every one of our students.

Why choose Korean?

• We have a strong teaching team and diverse Korean modules to choose from.
• We offer a great exchanging programme with our partner universities in South Korea.
• Get involved with our dynamic student activities to promote every student’s learning and extra-curricular experience.

Many students of the Korean subject will have the opportunity to go to top universities in South Korea as exchange students. Currently, we hold great partnerships with 15 universities, nine of which are located in Seoul and others in Pusan and other exciting cities.

Before going on the year abroad, you’ll be prepared by step-by-step guidance from staff and multiple experience talks from students who returned from their year abroad. We engage to help students maximise their learning and life experience in the Korean culture.

Level
Russian (ab initio), for students who have limited or no knowledge of the language and will be able to learn the basics.

Studying Russian
Learning the Russian language doesn’t just involve expanding your vocabulary and conversational skills – you’ll also get to immerse yourself in Russian culture.

Expand your linguistic horizons by taking part in our vast programme of Russian events which will introduce you to the art, culture, geography, politics and people of the Russian-speaking world. And you’ll have opportunities to travel overseas and experience the wonders of Russia for yourself.

We’ll help you transform language learning into a truly creative process. As soon as you’ve grasped the structural principles – the ‘skeleton’ of the language - we’ll teach you how to dramatically enhance your vocabulary using a range of creative techniques. So you might find yourself inventing memorable mnemonics or drawing parallels with other languages to help you master complex grammar structures and commit thousands of new words to memory. You’ll get a real understanding of how the Russian language has evolved over time to reflect the cultural world surrounding it.

This course offers lots of opportunities to immerse yourself in Russian culture as you develop your language skills with native speakers.

You can get involved in themed events which run throughout the year. In recent times we’ve welcomed more than 60 visiting speakers and performers to the University, including a BAFTA award-winning Russian film director, poets, translators, classical musicians, rock bands, theatre groups, and even a Russian Orthodox icon-painting workshop delivered by Belorussian nuns.

As a regular host of international conferences featuring leading Russian academics, we also collaborate with Russian institutions. Our students have been to Russia to compete in international competitions for young scientists, and we regularly hold online events with Russian students.

Why choose Russian?

• Immerse yourself in Russian culture by getting involved in everything our Russian Society has to offer – from tasting Russian cuisine to watching Russian movies, discussing Russian books and celebrating major Russian festivals.
• Our School is home to the Vladimir Vysotsky Centre for Russian Studies, which seeks to bring Russian culture to western audiences and carries out research in the field of Russian thought, literature, music, history and art.
• You’ll have the chance to experience Russia for yourself by spending time studying there in leading Russian universities.

The very best way to become a fluent speaker in Russian is by spending time living and breathing Russian culture and getting to know the Russian people. During this course you’ll have opportunities to travel to Russia and spend time studying at an institution there. We have links with some of the top universities in Moscow, St Petersburg and Kazan.

This is an intensive language programme which will build up your oral, aural and written skills, combined with a range of modules to give you an all-round knowledge of the language and the country you are studying.

Our assessments are by coursework including seminar presentations, essays and in-class tests. There are practical oral tests and an unseen examination for the language modules.

You’ll have access to the Institute of Korean Studies (IKSU), Northern Institute of Taiwan Studies (NorITS), Centre of Austronesian Studies (COAST), Northern England Policy Centre for the Asia Pacific (NEPCAP) and their umbrella institute, The Institute for the study of the Asia Pacific (ISAP).