A Bridge to the South

Wang Jiping

Promising prospects for Chinese graduates majoring in the languages of the ASEAN region .

In 1946， Thai was first offered as a major in a university in Nanjing， the capital of Jiangsu Province in eastern China， thus becoming the first Southeast Asian language to be taught at a Chinese university.

Today， with growing exchanges and cooperation between China and ASEAN member states， more and more universities are offering courses on the languages of ASEAN countries. Chinese students majoring in these languages cite two reasons for their choice： gaining the admiration of their peers who admire their decision and having an advantage in the job market after they graduate.

But where will Chinese students who major in Southeast Asian languages head after their graduation？

Scarcity Breeds Opportunities

“Although I was transferred to a Malay major when I was admitted to the university， I fell in love with this major shortly after I started to learn the Malay language. I'm quite confident about my future development after I graduate”， said Liu Yang， a second-year student majoring in Malay at Beijing Foreign Studies Universitys （BFSU） School of Asian and African Studies.

“When a student selects a major， at the same time， he or she must consider the issue of looking for a job in the future. It would be naive to think that in selecting a major one only needs to consider one's personal interest； the competition in today's job market is quite fierce. A Malay language major requires high test scores on the college entrance examination， and in only three out of every four years are new students permitted to enroll. This situation means that the number of graduates majoring in Malay is low. Added to this is the good reputation of BFSU， so that there will be less competition for employment in the future， a testament to the old adage that ‘when a thing is rare， it becomes precious.”

A cursory examination of the websites for universities like Peking University， BFSU and Guangxi University for Nationalities which teach Southeast Asian languages – including Thai， Filipino， Malay， Myanmar – shows that over the past four years the employment rate of bachelor degree graduates who majored in Thai and Cambodian， as well as other languages of ASEAN countries， was as high as 98 percent， with some even reaching 100 percent.

A staff member at the Student Career Center of Peking University said that some large-scale import and export trade companies， international media companies， state-owned enterprises and government institutions even complained about inadequate numbers of graduates majoring in Southeast Asian languages.

Looking through recruitment websites such as Zhaopin.com， organizations including the International Department of Central Committee of the Communist Party of China， China Radio International and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences frequently hire graduates who majored in Thai and other languages of the ASEAN region.

Government Policies as a Driving Force

Many Chinese students admire their peers who can speak Southeast Asian languages and believe such skills would make it easier to land a job， due to increasing Chinese enthusiasm about traveling abroad.

A senior human resources personnel working for a leading Chinese recruiting company said that this speculation is reasonable. With the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative， the demand of SOEs and government institutions for qualified personnel fluent in the languages of countries along the Belt and Road will only grow. ASEAN member states are all countries along the Belt and Road and cooperation between China and ASEAN countries in various fields has become increasingly close， which will continue to create more job openings.

According to data provided by BFSU， since the Belt and Road Initiative was first proposed in 2013， an additional 31 foreign language courses have been offered at BFSU， with these languages mainly being ones spoken by countries along the Belt and Road. It is estimated that by 2020， BFSU is expected to run teaching programs for more than 100 languages， covering all of the languages spoken by countries with established diplomatic relations with China.

“Foreign language proficiency is a strategic resource for a country involved in global affairs”， said Jiang Feng， Party secretary of Shanghai International Studies University. “In the past， foreign language teaching at higher education institutions in China focused on general languages or the languages spoken by the Western developed countries. There was thus a ‘deficit in foreign language learning in terms of those languages spoken by other countries. Specifically， we didnt attach as much importance to the languages of countries and regions along the Belt and Road， such as languages spoken in Asia， Africa， Latin America， as well as Central and Eastern Europe. A ‘language deficit can directly lead to ‘knowledge deficit.”

Meanwhile， universities across China have been seeking ways to improve the quality and competitiveness of their students.

As one example， Guangxi University of Foreign Languages （GXUFL） aims to cultivate students' understanding both of foreign languages and economics. GXUFL adopts a teaching mode they describe as “foreign language + economic and trade knowledge + Chinese language proficiency + overall quality” and regularly conducts exchanges and cooperative programs with universities in Thailand， including allowing GXUFLs students to go to Thailand to pursue studies during their third year. This study abroad program aims to train students to become future internationally-oriented professionals and to further link the job markets of China and Thailand so as to increase job opportunities for its graduates.

“Language environment really matters for language and cultural learning.” said Liu Yang. “In my fourth year， BFSU will dispatch me to Malaysia for further studies. I hope that after four years of study， I will not only be proficient in Malay but will also have cultivated a diversified skill set in order to achieve my personal goals and better serve my country.”