The standard duration of study in the degree program is six semesters. An important part of the program is intensive teaching of Chinese language skills. In addition, lectures, seminars and tutorials provide you with in-depth knowledge of the history, culture, literature and society of the Chinese-speaking cultural region.

You do not require any particular skills before starting to study, as all Chinese language courses are aimed at beginners. However, you should be interested in foreign cultures and enjoy learning languages.

There are a lot of reasons for choosing to study Chinese in Erlangen!

Excellent language courses: The courses are held in small groups led by qualified native speakers. Their teaching skills guarantee that students master Chinese characters, pronunciation and grammar.

Modern facilities: The Chair of Chinese Studies is housed in its own building together with Japanese Studies, and even has a garden. The classrooms are fitted out with the latest technology, including whiteboards. The Chinese Studies library is located in the same building and offers study places for students. The Chinese Studies library is the largest subject library at FAU and one of the largest Chinese studies libraries in Germany.

Good supervision: The lecturers provide dedicated supervision, they are always open to students’ concerns and requests. If you ever have any problems, you can contact our very active student association (FSI) at any time.

Wide range of courses on offer: A wide range of subjects in research and teaching, offered in collaboration with other disciplines at FAU as well as with national and international cooperation partners, give students a balanced and reflected view of Chinese language and culture, which is crucial in today’s current climate.

Optional extras: The institute offers a range of optional events in addition to obligatory teaching. There are summer parties, barbecues, a Chinese theater group and regular excursions to Europe and China.

Stay abroad: During their studies, students can spend one or two semesters in China or Taiwan, and we recommend that they do. Our lecturers can help you to plan your stay abroad and apply for scholarships.

A degree in Chinese Studies opens up a wide range of potential careers in fields such as

• Trade and commerce
• Diplomatic service
• Working for foundations
• Adult education, training and development
• Art and cultural management
• Publishing, proof-reading
• Press, public relations
• Editing, journalism, publishing
• Tourism, tourist management
• Business consulting
• Language teaching, translation
• Academic positions at universities

Possible combinations without overlaps

• Archaeological Sciences
• Art History
• Business and Economics
• English and American Studies
• French Studies
• German studies
• Greek Philology
• History
• Indo-European and Indo-Iranian Studies
• Islamic Religious Studies
• Italian Studies
• Japanese Studies
• Latin Philology
• Medieval Latin and Neo-Latin
• Philosophy
• Political Science
• Scandinavian Studies (BA)
• Sociology
• Theater and Media Studies

With these subject combinations, there are generally no overlaps in the timetable.

Possible overlaps in the timetable

• Book Studies
• Computational Linguistics
• Cultural History of Christianity
• Digital Humanities and Social Sciences
• Education
• Geography: Cultural Geography as a two subject Bachelor's degree program
• Hispanic Studies
• Oriental Studies

If you combine these subjects, individual courses may overlap in your timetable. For this reason, you can only combine the following subjects with your chosen subject after a consultation. Students are responsible for ensuring that the combination can be studied and that the deadlines set out in Section 11 of the ABMStPOPhil are met. When enrolling, proof of a corresponding consultation with the Central Student Advisory Service or the Student Service Center (Faculty of Humanities, Social Studies, and Theology) must be submitted.