In the B.A. you can study Sinology in the two-subject model. In the single-subject model, you can choose either Economics and Politics of East Asia or Languages and Cultures of East Asia and study Chinese as a language.

In the M.A., you can also study Sinology in the two-subject model. In the single-subject model, you can choose either International Political Economy of East Asia or Languages and Cultures of East Asia and deepen your existing knowledge of Chinese. In the single-subject model, there is also the East Asian Studies degree program, in which you can deepen your existing knowledge of Chinese. Or you can study Chinese as a second language if you have already studied either Japanese or Korean in your Bachelor's degree. Chinese can also be studied as part of the M.Ed. program.

The degree program consists of almost equal parts Chinese language learning and courses on Chinese literature, linguistics and history.  The courses are held in German, but most of the specialist literature is written in English. This means that an aptitude for foreign languages is very important. If you had good grades in English at secondary school and were also above average in French, Latin or another language, you are well placed.

A deeper interest in literature and history is also necessary to successfully complete the degree program. The courses are not only about Chinese literature, history or the language itself, but also about theories and methods. Written assignments and presentations are required every semester. A good command of written and spoken German is therefore a basic requirement.

No, you can start your studies without any prior knowledge. If you have the chance to attend a Chinese course beforehand or take the first steps through self-study, it will definitely pay off. If you have substantial prior knowledge and think you can start in an advanced language course, you can take a placement test. Please contact the student counselling.

Chinese is a so-called tonal language, i.e. the pronunciation of the different pitches is important. Students also have to learn a lot of characters. Both – the correct pronunciation and the sophisticated script – can only be learned through constant practice and repetition , which is why studying is very labor-intensive. If you find learning languages easy and are prepared to spend time memorizing characters, you are in a good position.

More than in other humanities subjects (Subjects such as physics or medicine have a comparable workload.). Learning the language alone takes a lot of time, especially in the first two years. Overall, the degree program requires between 40 and 50 hours of work per week (including the second subject and the Optionalbereich). Experience has shown that part-time jobs are hardly possible if you want to keep to the standard period of study.

There is no clearly defined professional field. Nevertheless, graduates of Sinology are anything but without a chance on the job market: Those who have successfully battled their way through the demanding degree program and also gained experience abroad are considered by many companies to have above-average performance potential. Depending on the area of specialization in the degree program and the second subject, there are opportunities in the fields of language teaching, translation, intercultural competence, the cultural sector, the media, politics and business.

A stay abroad is not compulsory for Sinology, but it makes a lot of sense. Every year, the Ruhr University and the Faculty of East Asian Studies award exchange places at partner universities in China and Taiwan to the best applicants, who then do not have to pay the very high tuition fees in the respective country. Students must finance their travel to and stay in the country themselves, although they can make use of BAföG abroad or scholarships. Studying abroad usually makes sense after the second year of study; the application phase for an exchange place begins approximately one year before the stay abroad.

As soon as you are enrolled in Sinology at Ruhr University Bochum, you should also enroll in the Moodle course “Introduction to East Asian Studies”. In this course you will find all information about the degree program, course registration, teaching materials, online tools, etc. Moodle is an e-learning platform used at Ruhr University Bochum. There is a Moodle course with course materials for each of the courses you take during your studies.

In the Optionalbereich, you attend courses from other subjects or on interdisciplinary topics. In the B.A. phase, you need 30 credit points (CP) in the Optionalbereich. If you are studying Sinology without any previous knowledge of Chinese, the language courses Modern Chinese Basic Level 1 (C-S1) and Modern Chinese Basic Level 2 (C-S2) already cover 20 CP. For the remaining 10 CP, you can choose courses from the Optionalbereich during the course of your studies.

Course registrations, exam registrations and exams are recorded in CampusOffice. At the end of your degree program, when you register for the exam, CampusOffice is used to check whether you have completed all your coursework. The grade of your exam-relevant modules is also calculated there. You should therefore register for your courses in CampusOffice.