The degree program includes the learning of two East Asian languages as well as a pre-modern East Asian language stage. 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 very 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 the history, culture and society of East Asia is also necessary to successfully complete the degree program. However, the courses are not only about history, culture, society or the languages themselves, but also about theories and methods. Written assingments and presentations are required every semester. A willingness to engage in academic work is therefore a basic requirement, as is a good command of written and spoken German.

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

All three modern East Asian languages on offer are considered very labor-intensive if you want to learn them. On the one hand, this is due to the unfamiliar grammatical structures and completely new vocabulary for speakers of European languages. On the other hand, learning the different writing systems requires constant practice and repetition. While the pronunciation in Japanese and Korean is less difficult, the challenge in Chinese is that it is a so-called tonal language, i.e. the pronunciation of the different pitches is meaningful. Basically, learning East Asian languages requires a great deal of effort and linguistic talent.

In principle, the three modern East Asian languages Chinese, Japanese and Korean can be freely combined in Languages and Cultures of East Asia. At the beginning, it makes sense to decide which of the three languages should be learned first as the main language. This also determines the content focus of the core area and the obligation to deal with the pre-modern language stages of the modern main language. The second language can be chosen freely according to interest; country-specific courses relating to the second language can be taken in the elective area, but are not compulsory.

More than in other humanities subjects (Subjects such as physics or medicine have a comparable workload.). Learning the languages alone takes an extremely long time. Overall, the degree program requires between 40 and 50 hours of work per week. 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 East Asian Studies 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 focus of your studies, for example in the elective area, there are opportunities in the fields of language teching, translation, intercultural competence, the cultural sector, the media, politics and business.

The semester abroad at a university in East Asia is a compulsory element of the degree program. The International Office of the Ruhr University Bochum and the respective student counselling services of Japanese Studies, Korean Studies and Sinology will support you with your individual plans for the semester abroad: Every year, exchange places at partner universities in China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan are awarded to the best applicants, who do not have to pay the very high tuition fees in the respective country.

An overview of all universities in East Asia that have exchange programs with the Faculty of East Asian Studies or the Ruhr University as a whole can be found here. Of course, it is also possible to self-organize and self-finance your studies at a university in East Asia. The Internation Office also offers help with orientation on the folllowing topics:

• Studying in Asia
• Financing stays abroad
• Self-organized study abroad

Students must finance their travel to and stay in the country themselves, although BAföG abroad or scholarships can be used. The study abroad should be completed after the third year of study; the application phase for an exchange place begins approximately one year before the stay abroad, keep an eye out for the relevant information events.

As soon as you are enrolled in Languages and Cultures of East Asia 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 the Ruhr University Bochum. There is a Moodle course with course materials for each of the courses you take during your studies.

In the elective area, you choose one of the three predefined profiles: Cultural Studies, Methods or Research-based Learning.

Cultural Studies profile

In this profile, you can attend courses from the range of subjects offered by the Faculty of Protestant Theology, the Faculty of Catholic Theology, the Faculty of Law, the Faculties of History, Philology, Philosophy and Educational Research and CERES in order to gain an additional transcultural perspective beyond the greater East Asian region. It is also possible to attend other courses from the East Asian Studies program. In particular, additional introductory lectures and seminars with a transregional perspective or those in which in-depth specialist knowledge of the country of the second language is imparted can be considered.

Methods profile

You can strengthen your own skills in this area by selectively importing courses from other faculties that teach methods and theories. This profile is particularly suitable for students who, after completing their Bachelor's degree, are aiming for a Master's degree in Languages and Cultures of East Asia at Ruhr University Bochum or comparable East Asia degree programs at other universities that also focus on the humanities.

Research-based Learning profile

If you choose this profile, you will carry out complete research processes on your own initiative, work on your own questions and independently generate scientific findings. In addition, you will have the opportunity to acquire knowledge and skills beyond conventional university teaching, for example by attending workshops and conferences (whereby conference reports, and possibly also reports on selected lectures, must be prepared as coursework) or by participating in planned excursions with appropriate preparation and follow-up work.

Free Studies

In addition to one of the three profiles, there is the area of independent studies, in which students can choose courses from the range of subjects offered by Ruhr-Universität Bochum in order to pursue their own study interests, to further sharpen their individual profile or to acquire additional methodological knowledge. In principle, it is also possible to deepen your chosen second language, for example by attending courses on pre-modern language stages or language exercises, which are otherwise offered to students in the 5th and 6th semester.

Besides the profile area and free studies, it is also possible to have an internship in an East Asian country or a stay abroad beyond the obligatory semester abroad credited in the elective area.

An explanation of how to search for and select courses for your elective area can be found in the PDF How-to Wahlbereich SKOA

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.