About the university
Location: Beijing, China
Beijing University of Language and Culture, 北语, is one of the first educational institutions in China with many years of experience in teaching Chinese and other languages to foreign students.
The university is known worldwide as Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU). The number of directions in which he trained specialists since 1962 was constantly expanding. To date, in addition to the language profile, the university offers to obtain a fundamental education related to history, economics, law, computer technology and management. In addition to 25 higher education programs and 24 master’s degrees, BLCU offers doctoral training in 16 specialties, as well as attending courses in Chinese language and calligraphy.
Infrastructure
The structural units of the university are institutes, faculties and departments.
The oldest faculties in the university are:
- international education in the study of the Chinese language,
- foreign languages (provides qualifications in the specialties “translator” or “linguist”),
- humanities and social sciences with four departments on literary criticism, comparative analysis of world literature, ancient and modern literature of China.
- Since 2000, the Institute of Informatics has been opened at the university with three faculties-divisions: software, ICT and management in the field of digital multimedia systems.
- In 2014, on the basis of the Faculty of Arts and the Institute of Culture, the BLCU opened the Institute of Arts with departments for the study of calligraphy and painting in national traditions.
The division of the Institute of Business includes the following faculties:
- financial,
- accounting,
- international economy and trade,
- human resource management.
There is a department of physical culture, where classes are held both in popular sports and in national types of wrestling – tai chi, changquan, wing chun and taekwondo.
The research center of the university, which operates under the leadership of the Ministry of Education of the PRC, annually publishes 5 narrow-profile journals on linguistics, literary criticism and scientific research of countries and regions. The university has opened 16 branches of the Confucius Institute, engaged in the promotion of Chinese culture in the international arena.
Benefits of learning
Initially, this university was created as a platform for the study of foreign students, but later it began to admit students and residents of the PRC. Currently, about 12,000 students study at BLCU annually, of which about 7,000 are foreigners. Over the entire history of the institution’s existence, more than 160,000 foreign students have received diplomas. The institution is proud of its eminent alumni – laureates of the Alfred Nobel Prize, politicians who hold managerial posts in the UN and foreign ministries of many countries.
Peking University for the Language of Culture is ranked 393 among educational institutions in China and 3027 in the world list of the best universities and institutes. Despite the low rating in the list of world educational institutions, the BLCU leadership emphasizes that this university was the first and is still the best in China for teaching foreign students. Teaching at the university is conducted by professionals, 1100 of whom have higher scientific degrees. BLCU diplomas are highly regarded.
Beijing Language University actively cooperates with 321 higher educational institutions from 58 countries.
Scholarships and grants
A subsidy in the form of a grant allows a student, after submitting an application to a number of organizations, to receive benefits in payment or free tuition at a university.
In the case of BLCU, a student can apply for three types of grants.
- Chinese government scholarship that encourages talented foreigners and attracts them to further study in China.
- Confucius Institute Scholarship. It subsidizes the best foreigners who are studying in the Middle Kingdom.
- Grant from the university itself. Financial incentives are provided to top international students to stimulate learning and research in the process.
There are also incentive payments during training. These include the BLCU Huaxia and Pingan Scholarship, which was created to encourage international students to master knowledge and celebrate their outstanding contributions to scientific research.
Types of training programs
Language courses are divided into standard and intensive – standard and intensive, differing in the number of lessons per week. In terms of the length of time, mastering the Chinese language on them can take both 1 semester and 2 years.
Tuition fees depend on the type of program, but on average it is 20,000 RMB per semester. When submitting documents for language courses, the age of the future student must be between 18 and 60 years old, and he must also have a certificate of secondary education. In the process of registration, all students pass an entrance test to determine the degree of proficiency in Chinese by category and are assigned to groups corresponding to knowledge.
The curriculum based on the courses includes a two-year training in Chinese painting and calligraphy, the annual cost of which is about 25,000 RMB.
The presentation and explanation of the material in the first lessons takes place using English. In the future, for a complete immersion in the environment, the teacher switches to Chinese.
Getting a bachelor’s degree is possible in 21 specialties and takes four years. The price of an annual course is about 240,000 RMB and more, depending on the chosen profile. Indispensable requirements for admission are passing entrance tests, having a secondary education and age up to 40 years.
Bachelor’s specialties at BLCU can be conditionally divided into three profiles:
1. Linguistic based on the Chinese language, including the study of Chinese linguistics, painting and calligraphy, as well as receiving bilingual education with an equivalent connection of Japanese or English.
2. Linguistic based on the languages of the Romance group (English, French and Spanish), German, Asian – Arabic, Japanese and Korean.
3. General disciplines:
– international politics,
– finance,
– accounting,
– international accounting,
– international economy and trade,
– Computer Engineering,
– information management in the field of ICT,
– translation studies.
The duration of study at the BLCU Master’s program is 3 years. The prospective student must provide a bachelor’s degree diploma, be no older than 40 and successfully pass the entrance exam. Annual cost to date is 32,000 RMB ($ 5,000).
There are 24 Master’s programs at Beijing University of Language and Culture. They include deepening knowledge in the field of linguistics, literary studies, teaching language and literature, painting and calligraphy, computer science and ICT, psychology, politics and economics.
BLCU provides an opportunity to obtain the title of Doctor of Science in the following areas:
- “Linguistics and Applied Linguistics” – 8 specialties from the theory of linguistics to the methodology of language teaching.
- “Comparative Literature and World Literature” in 4 specialties, including the comparative study of Chinese and European literature.
- “Classical Chinese Literature” in 4 directions, from the study of Wei Dynasty Chinese poetry to the Qin era.
Obtaining the title of Doctor of Science will take 3 years, its annual cost is about 32,000 RMB. For admission to the course, a student must be no older than 45 years old, have a master’s certificate and successfully passed entrance tests.
Before the start of classes, students of language courses, bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral studies must purchase an insurance policy for the entire period of study.
Online training
BLCU offers to get education via the Internet thanks to the development – its own platform eBLCU.com.
This type of training is possible at the faculties of “Chinese language” and “Chinese language in economics and trade” with differentiated types of programs for Chinese and foreign students.
The organizers of online education guarantee a sense of the personal presence of the student and the possibility of direct contact between the teacher and the student during the process of online lectures, seminars and consultations.
Organization of life: accommodation, meals and leisure
Peking University is a galley – a student city on a separate territory. By its structure, it is a community (the designation adopted in China) – an organization with a developed infrastructure for comfortable living of people within it, having a common Charter and rules. The BLCU has a bank branch, hospital, post office, library, outdoor sports grounds, small shops and a market.
All students are provided with dorm rooms. On campus, there are 7 of these multi-storey buildings for students and one outside. There are parking lots for bicycles at their entrance, the entrance to the buildings is equipped with ramps for the movement of people with disabilities.
Rooms with two sleeping places are offered for living, ranging from 9 m2 to 25 m2 and daily cost from 40 to 160 RMB per person. All rooms are equipped with sleeping and working space, toilet (shower room can be located both in the room and on the floor), air conditioning, refrigerator, TV and Internet access. Some have a kitchenette with an electric kettle. Each floor has a shared kitchen with electric stoves and microwaves, as well as a laundry room. Single accommodation is possible.
The 3 * The BLCU Conference Center hotel is located on campus. The room rate includes breakfast, the price for accommodation varies depending on the period for which you pay for the room (hotel accommodation during the semester will be about 140 RMB, and during the month – 200 RMB per day).
Outside the campus, a two-minute walk from it, is the International Student House – dormitory building No. 17, the price for a double room in which for one person will be from 65 to 95 RMB per day.
There are 3 Asian restaurants and 4 cafes. The main restaurant buildings are located in the center of the campus for the convenience of students and teachers.
The university has a historical tradition of holding its own annual holidays (“Festival of Cultures”), sports competitions, competitions in the knowledge of language and national culture (“Chinese Bridge”). The university badge symbolically reflects the philosophy of this institution: the unification of students of all races and nationalities within one territory, the “little UN”. In the center of the shield on the badge there are two letters “Y,” which denote the hieroglyphs 语言 in the name of the word “language”. Their green color, according to the idea of the creators of the symbol, gives energy and vitality to any linguistic endeavors to unite people on the planet.