Chinese Language and Literature Major

The popular "Chinese Poetry Conference" broadcast on CCTV is completely popular! Chinese poetry culture is extensive and profound. These poems may be as heroic and majestic as "No one has died in life since ancient times, leaving a loyal heart to illuminate history", or as sad and moving as "Sentiment has been sad since ancient times, leaving the Qingqiu Festival in the cold", but no matter which kind , all require appreciators to have a certain literary background and emotional resonance in order to understand the subtleties.

However, there is a college major that may open the door to the charm of poetry for you! This is the Chinese Language and Literature major~

Let the following senior student lead you to appreciate its unique charm.

This article was first published in How many poems at the conference have you read? | Introduction to Chinese Language and Literature Major

The author, Wang, studied Chinese Language and Literature at Lanzhou University as an undergraduate, and will now go to Australia to study education.

Chinese Language and Literature Major: To cultivate specialized talents engaged in the research and teaching of Chinese language and literature and applied talents engaged in cultural management, administrative management, secretarial work, publicity editing and other writing work. Students are required to master basic theories and expertise in Chinese language and literature, be able to successfully read ancient Chinese books and foreign language professional documents, and have strong writing skills and preliminary scientific research capabilities.

The above is an introduction to the Chinese language and literature major excerpted from the introduction to the School of Liberal Arts of Lanzhou University. Chinese language and literature may sound familiar to everyone. The Chinese language and literature major of Lanzhou University is affiliated to the School of Liberal Arts (in addition to the Chinese language major, there is also the drama, film and television literature major). It is a discipline with a long history and early development in Lanzhou University. Sometimes when I say that I majored in Chinese language and literature, many people think that I just read ancient poems and classics, and that all I came into contact with is ancient literature. Later, I said that I majored in Chinese language and literature, and some people think that I just read novels and write articles. , I will be a writer after graduation.

In fact, Chinese language and literature are not completely equivalent to high school Chinese courses. The Chinese courses learned in high school are relatively basic and mechanical, while the Chinese language and literature major covers a wider range of subjects and provides deeper learning. This major can be viewed like this:

Of course, there will be some cross-research among the disciplines listed in the branches above. In some colleges and universities, Chinese language majors are divided into two streams for students to choose in the sophomore semester: language/literature. There is no such stream at Lanzhou University, so the range of majors studied in the four years of college will be relatively broad and miscellaneous.

The major of Chinese language and literature mainly takes Chinese language and literature as the main subject. Most of the subjects you come into contact with in the curriculum and daily study are about Chinese language, characters, and literature. Teachers will require students to read a lot. During my undergraduate period, I was exposed to a broader world of literature in addition to Lu Xun, Ji Xianlin, Zhu Ziqing and other people who were often selected for middle school textbooks.

It wasn’t until the beginning of our junior year that we came into contact with foreign literature and foreign literary theory. Although I like foreign literature very much and enjoy the process of reading foreign literary works, some of the foreign writers, The names of foreign literary theorists and the concepts of literary theory are really dizzying to memorize.

How to learn this major well? It's easier said than done, and it's not difficult said to be difficult either. I think it is important to follow the teacher closely and listen to the class first. In this major, there are endless books, endless notes, and endless PPTs. Therefore, the teacher will systematically summarize the key points of learning in class and help us organize the key points of knowledge in an organized way. Follow the teacher, organize notes after class, and strengthen key memory. The nature of this major makes it impossible for us to avoid repeated use of memory.

Secondly, we must make good use of the school's library resources, increase the amount of reading, read more, and cover a wide range of topics. Of course, every teacher will list required readings in class. If you are a person with self-control, you will definitely be exposed to many works of writers after one semester. In addition, you can choose readings based on your own interests. In college, Reading has definitely soared in four years. I dare not say now how much practical knowledge I learned during my undergraduate studies, but I can confidently say that I read many books during my undergraduate studies, and each book gave me a different experience and a lot of gains.

I especially remember taking "Selected Readings of Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature" in the second semester of my sophomore year (the sophomore semester is the transition period from basic courses to difficult courses). In the first class, the teacher asked Within a week, we handed in more than 20 reading notes on the works of the five writers we selected this semester. In the next week, as long as there was no class, I spent all my time in the library, reading stacks of books. . I felt very tired at the time, and there were times when I complained that the teacher was too strict, but unknowingly I gradually enjoyed this kind of hard reading. The learning method of writing down reading notes immediately after reading an article really helped me clarify the works of various writers. Style, genre, and characteristics are more conducive to future learning.

In the end, I handed in 30 reading notes, and since then I have developed the habit of writing short reviews after reading a book. Another point, a cliché, is to learn how to visit the library. Going to the library, on the one hand, is to read books, and on the other hand, it is to take advantage of the quiet and serious atmosphere there to indulge yourself in learning. for me. The dormitory is a place for me to rest and have fun. When I study in the dormitory, my heart is always floating. Only in the library can I calm down and study.

Perhaps influenced by the cultural atmosphere, the teachers in the School of Liberal Arts are all personable, gentle and elegant. Whether you ask them for academic questions or just have a simple chat, they will give you answers very carefully and patiently. The atmosphere between students and teachers is particularly cordial and natural.

In practice, the School of Liberal Arts of Lanzhou University has internship exchanges with the editorial departments of various local magazines, newspapers, books and periodicals in Gansu, as well as the Beijing Alumni Association, especially with the editorial department of "Reader" magazine (the headquarters is located in Lanzhou), you can take advantage of these rare opportunities to train yourself during your undergraduate period.

I am a relatively quiet and introverted person, so I participated in very few club activities during the four years of college. However, one thing that benefited me a lot was that I was lucky enough to go to Taiwan Normal University for exchange studies in my junior year. Lanzhou University has exchanges with many prestigious universities in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and abroad, and provides exchange student places every semester, winter and summer vacations. At first, I thought that the competition was too fierce, and I just had the mentality of giving it a try. I didn’t expect that I would become the first in the group and get the opportunity to communicate. In fact, it is worthwhile for students majoring in Chinese language and literature to go to Taiwan for study, research and exchange, because in many aspects, Taiwan's research methods in this field are more advanced than those on the mainland, and the preservation of documents is also very good. For example, the courses offered by National Taiwan Normal University are very detailed. In the area of ??ancient literature, they offer small courses on "The Analects", "Mencius", "Mozi", "Hanshu", "Suishu", etc. based on ancient documents and works. This is more beneficial. Learn deeply and learn deeply.

The days of studying in Taiwan were unforgettable. Because the courses offered are numerous and detailed, classes are generally taught in small classes, and the teachers know every student in the class. Course requirements: In addition to weekly quizzes and monthly exams, the teacher will also ask students to give speeches on stage, especially courses with strong practicality (such as my elective "Introduction to Chinese Culture", which is a course in Taiwan Normal University). Belongs to the Department of Education). Because I took three relatively difficult courses: "Phonetics", "Phonetics", and "Exegesis", I had to review and memorize a lot of content after class. When my roommate was traveling around the island, I was still Study hard behind closed doors. Fortunately, my hard work paid off, and my grades in all subjects were excellent. My Taiwanese teachers take good care of mainland students. They often come to chat with me after class, and they also ask me seriously about questions that mainland students don’t understand. Apart from literature, they are more interested in daily life. These details are a great inspiration to my study and life in Taiwan.

About the employment prospects and work adaptability of the Chinese language and literature major:

As a traditional discipline, the Chinese language and literature major has a wide range of applications. It can be regarded as a "universal essential oil" major. Although unremarkable, there is a steady demand for this profession in various sectors of society.

However, due to the strong substitutability of this major, and various colleges and universities have expanded enrollment in this major, the number of Chinese talents has continued to increase and is becoming saturated. Therefore, at the employment stage, graduates of this major Students still face tremendous pressure. Most of the traditional Chinese language and literature courses are limited to literary subjects with single content. Their knowledge structure can no longer meet the updated requirements of the times, and society needs more complex talents. Therefore, if students studying this major can master Those with other disciplines or other specialties will be more competitive in the talent market.

Regarding the direction after graduation:

There are two main streams after graduation: one is to work, and the other is to study for graduate school. Postgraduate studies can be divided into domestic postgraduate studies and overseas postgraduate studies.

In my generation, the ratio of working to graduate school was basically evenly divided. At the beginning of senior year, everyone's goals are very clear. Those who want to take the postgraduate entrance exams work day and night, and those who want to find a job are busy here and there. Among the graduate students, a small number of students with excellent grades can be recommended directly. I think this is a shortcut that is not too hard. Of course, this requires that your grades in the first three years are good enough and you can pass the college interview. stand out.

Regarding studying abroad for graduate school, this is the path I chose. Since the major of Chinese language and literature does not have great study value abroad, I chose the education major. The first thing you have to pass when studying abroad is the language barrier. Nowadays, many foreign universities do not attach much importance to undergraduate performance points, and have appropriately lowered admission requirements for 985 and 211 universities, so sometimes the problem is the language barrier. If you want to study in European and American countries, you will need TOEFL and IELTS scores. Different schools have different score requirements for different majors. For example, the education major at Monash University in Australia that I applied for requires an overall IELTS score of no less than 7.5, with different sub-score requirements. This is already the first hurdle for me on the way to going abroad.

In short, no matter which major you choose or which path you choose after graduation, it is an important life experience. As long as you live a wonderful and interesting life without regrets, I will feel satisfied. I can't tell you right away how much practical knowledge I have learned in college, but what I learn will be accumulated and will be gradually reflected in the future. Cherish the moment and enjoy learning.