In late April, Li Guo returned to the Chinese capital after a one-year voluntary stint teaching Chinese in Peru。

四月底，李果(音)在秘魯志愿教授漢語一年后回到中國(guó)首都。

The 26-year-old master's student at Beijing Language and Culture University will graduate in July。

這位26歲的碩士研究生將于今年7月份畢業(yè)于北京語言大學(xué)。

But Li, who is in her seventh year majoring in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages, has yet to find a full-time job。

但是對(duì)于李來說，已經(jīng)主修對(duì)外漢語教學(xué)專業(yè)七個(gè)年頭卻還沒找到一份專職工作。

"None of the girls living on the same dorm floor with me, all majoring in TCSOL, has found a teaching job so far," she said。

“和我住在同一宿舍樓層的所有對(duì)外漢語教學(xué)專業(yè)的女孩們到目前為止沒有一個(gè)人找到一份教學(xué)工作。”她說。

"Most of them are signing job contracts that are not closely related to the major."

“她們中的大多數(shù)人都簽訂了和所學(xué)專業(yè)沒有密切關(guān)聯(lián)的工作。”

BLCU was among the first four universities approved by the Ministry of Education in 1985 to offer the TCSOL program, formerly known as the Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language program。

北京語言大學(xué)是教育部在1985年公認(rèn)的首次開設(shè)對(duì)外漢語教學(xué)專業(yè)的四所大學(xué)之一，以前以作為外語項(xiàng)目的漢語教學(xué)而聞名。

There are 342 universities offering it. By the end of 2012, there were 63,933 students studying the major。

截至2012年底共有342所大學(xué)開設(shè)此專業(yè)，共有63933名學(xué)生學(xué)習(xí)此專業(yè)。

Shi Jiawei, former director of the university's TCSOL department and a professor of the major, said that among graduates with a bachelor's degree in TCSOL in the past three years, less than 10 percent of them have clinched jobs closely related to the major. More than 40 percent of them will continue to study for a master's。

北京語言大學(xué)人文學(xué)院碩士研究生導(dǎo)師、對(duì)外漢語專業(yè)教授施家煒說過去三年里對(duì)外漢語專業(yè)本科學(xué)位畢業(yè)生中少于10%的學(xué)生找到了與專業(yè)相關(guān)的工作。多于40%的學(xué)生將會(huì)繼續(xù)攻讀碩士學(xué)位。

"The major has long been popular among liberal arts students and attracts outstanding candidates," she said. "But we do have problems sending students out for the right jobs, especially undergraduates."

“這個(gè)專業(yè)很受文科生的歡迎并且吸引一些優(yōu)秀的候選人。”她說。“但是我們?cè)诜峙浣o這些學(xué)生適合的工作這方面有困難，尤其是本科生。”

Shi gave two reasons TCSOL students have trouble landing a job after graduation。

施對(duì)于對(duì)外漢語專業(yè)學(xué)生畢業(yè)后找不到工作的問題給出兩點(diǎn)原因。

"First, the major aims at cultivating Chinese teachers for foreign students. Yet it's extremely difficult to get a teaching position in any university. Most universities now require a doctorate. Second, many students who now aim to work overseas cannot do so due to visa problems and also because they do not have relevant teaching certificates in other countries."

“第一，這個(gè)專業(yè)的目的在于培養(yǎng)外國(guó)學(xué)生的中文老師。但是這在任何大學(xué)里都很難找到教師的職位�，F(xiàn)在大多數(shù)大學(xué)都需要博士生。第二，現(xiàn)在許多打算去國(guó)外工作的學(xué)生不能實(shí)現(xiàn)這個(gè)想法是由于簽證問題，也因?yàn)樗麄冊(cè)谄渌麌?guó)家沒有相關(guān)的教師證書。”

Shi was enrolled in BLCU's TCSOL program in the mid-'90s, and Li was enrolled in the major at Zhengzhou University in Henan province in 2007. They had similar notions of the major when they signed up for it, including the dual emphasis on English and Chinese。

施在90年代中期進(jìn)入北京語言大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)對(duì)外漢語專業(yè)，李在2007年進(jìn)入河南省鄭州大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)此專業(yè)。在入學(xué)時(shí)她們對(duì)這個(gè)專業(yè)有相同的看法，包括要著重于英語和漢語兩方面。

But the situation has changed, Shi said. While English-speaking adults made up most of the foreigners who studied Chinese in the past, more children are doing so now. That means a different set of teaching skills are needed. Foreigners learning Chinese also come from diverse backgrounds, including non-English speaking ones。

但是形勢(shì)已變，施說。在過去大多數(shù)學(xué)習(xí)漢語的人都是講英語的成年人，如今很多外國(guó)人從小就開始學(xué)漢語了。這就意味著我們需要一套不同的教學(xué)技能。學(xué)習(xí)漢語的外國(guó)人來自不同的背景，包括不會(huì)說英語的。

At a seminar on improving courses for the TCSOL program in October 2013, Zhou Shangzhi from the School of Education at Shanghai International Studies University said that the courses should focus more on non-English languages and not just offer courses in Chinese and English。

在2013年10月份的一次改善對(duì)外漢語專業(yè)課程的研討會(huì)上，來自上海外國(guó)語大學(xué)[微博]教育學(xué)院的周上之說這個(gè)專業(yè)應(yīng)該更關(guān)注非英語國(guó)家語言，不只是開設(shè)漢語和英語課程。

While landing a teaching position in foreign universities is tough, some TCSOL students are still willing to become Chinese teachers in private language schools. Many of them also realize that schools prefer teaching experience to master's degrees。

然而在外國(guó)大學(xué)獲得教師職位是困難的，一些對(duì)外漢語專業(yè)學(xué)生還是希望成為私立語言學(xué)校的中文老師。他們中的許多人也意識(shí)到許多學(xué)校更喜歡有教學(xué)經(jīng)驗(yàn)的人而不是只有碩士學(xué)位的人。

Ged Scheuber, general manager of Culture Yard, a private language school in Beijing, has been recruiting Chinese teachers for more than a year。

北京天井越洋私人語言學(xué)�？偨�(jīng)理Ged Scheuber已經(jīng)招募中文老師超過一年了。

"Almost all the teachers we've recruited so far hold a master's degree in the major," he said. "Yet that does not necessarily mean they are qualified for the job. We emphasize on how well teachers are able to give students the confidence to speak. Teachers with good experience can identify the areas that foreign learners may find confusing."

“到目前為止幾乎所有我們招募的老師都有對(duì)外漢語專業(yè)的碩士學(xué)位。”他說。“但是這不意味著他們能勝任這個(gè)工作。我們著重的是老師能夠多好地給學(xué)生自信去說中文。有豐富經(jīng)驗(yàn)的老師可以辨別外國(guó)學(xué)習(xí)者學(xué)習(xí)時(shí)會(huì)感到困惑的地方。”

Also, some foreign students and expats in China still heavily rely on self-study to improve their Chinese。

同時(shí)，一些在中國(guó)的外國(guó)學(xué)生和外籍人士仍然只能依靠自學(xué)來提高他們的漢語水平。

Magdalena Lowczynska, 31, a Polish student learning Chinese at the School of International Education and Exchange at Shanxi University, said learning a language is more about using it in real life conversations than memorizing vocabulary and grammar。

Magdalena Lowczynska，31歲，是在山西大學(xué)國(guó)際教育交流學(xué)院學(xué)習(xí)中文的一位波蘭學(xué)生。他說，學(xué)習(xí)一種語言在于在日常生活的交流中多使用它而不是記詞匯和語法。

To help more students in the program get opportunities to work overseas, East China Normal University also started a cooperation program two years ago with universities in the United States, through which Chinese students are able to gain a local teaching certificate. This will enable the students to become Chinese teachers in the US。

為了幫助更多這個(gè)專業(yè)的學(xué)生獲得在國(guó)外工作的機(jī)會(huì)，華東師范大學(xué)[微博]在兩年前就開始了與美國(guó)大學(xué)的合作項(xiàng)目，通過這個(gè)項(xiàng)目中國(guó)學(xué)生們能夠取得當(dāng)?shù)氐慕處熥C書。這將使學(xué)生們能夠在美國(guó)成為中文老師。

Shi Jiawei, the former TCSOL director at BLCU, said the university is also working on similar programs in the US。

北京語言大學(xué)對(duì)外漢語專業(yè)前領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人施家煒說美國(guó)的大學(xué)也在做類似的項(xiàng)目。