Orientalist profession. “The main factor is the demand for professional orientalists

The undergraduate degree at the HSE Department of Oriental Studies turned out to be one of the most popular among applicants in 2011: about a hundred students were enrolled in the first year, of which 47 were in budget places, instead of 40 planned, and the average score was 95 - the highest at HSE and one of the highest in Russia. The head of the department, Alexey Maslov, talks about how first-year students will be taught here.

Alexey Alexandrovich, for the second year in a row, applicants have shown noticeable interest in the HSE Department of Oriental Studies. What do you attribute this to? What prospects, in your opinion, are most significant for current applicants?

Indeed, we have been “breaking all records” for the second year now. And we have more students in oriental studies than in the vast majority of other Russian and even foreign universities for similar specialties. If last year we had one of the highest competitions for oriental studies per place, not only in present-day Russia, but also in the entire history of the Soviet Union, today we also had one of the highest passing scores in the country - average 95 points. I confess - we are proud of our students, their perseverance, passion and level of preparation.

And the point is not only in some special “rushing demand” for Oriental studies (although this factor is also present), there is a combination of two “interests” among applicants at once: in Oriental topics in general and in teaching Oriental studies specifically within the Higher School of Economics. Our Asian Studies department has several unique features that you will not find at any other university.

Firstly, it is a free choice of the Eastern language and specialization in general. Upon admission, the student himself has the right to choose an Eastern language, and in the first two weeks he can also change it after consultation with the teacher. All other universities determine in advance the number of applicants entering a particular language. And conflicts arise: what to do if you wanted to go to Chinese or Japanese, but there are no more places for it and the group is limited? Please go to another language - less popular. And it turns out that students for less popular languages ​​(although in fact very popular in real practice) are recruited on a “residual basis”. HSE is the only university that provides complete freedom of choice. And this is important, since the applicant chooses not just one of the eastern languages, thereby choosing the culture in which he will most likely live and work for decades.

Secondly, we are unique in our methods of teaching oriental languages. We not only have the most intensive workload (from 16 to 24 hours per week of the Eastern language), but also innovative methods and a wide variety of specialized courses.

Thirdly, we have many additional forms of education: the opportunity to study a second Eastern language, summer schools, internships, trainings, etc.

Fourthly, this is a unique composition of teachers - excellent experts on the East, excellent linguists and deep researchers. Thanks to HSE’s high brand, we have the opportunity to select truly the best personnel from the labor market. And finally, the department has an atmosphere of creative exploration and exciting learning.

- Which universities are HSE’s competitors in this area?

Strictly speaking, there are no direct competitors, but there are, of course, universities with much deeper traditions of teaching Oriental studies, primarily Moscow State University, St. Petersburg, and Far Eastern Federal University. But often deep traditions can also play a negative role, manifesting themselves, for example, in outdated methods and approaches, isolation from the modern realities of the East, lack of impulse for innovation, or, for example, in teaching those forms of the Eastern language that, due to the rapid development of Asian countries, are already are a thing of the past. We, fortunately, are free from all this. In many respects, we compete with ourselves, for example, in the popularity of admission, the development of new courses and methods, and the variety of programs. Russian university oriental studies are small in scale and cannot compete with each other. And the field of study “Oriental and African Studies” that we teach is quite rare in Russia. I say this with regret, since educational competition is the basis for improving training methods, and professional orientalists are in great demand today. We are not so much competing as we are jointly solving many issues of training orientalists with specialists from the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Moscow State University, Moscow State Linguistic University, and Russian State University for the Humanities.

If we take scientific, methodological training, the depth of course construction, then it makes sense for us to focus on the world's largest centers of Oriental studies, for example, in Berkeley, Cambridge, Yale, Hong Kong, Singapore.

However, there is a special type of “competition” that has been flourishing in Russia over the past few years. Everything connected with the East - language, culture, politics, economics - is popular and attracts applicants. Therefore, some universities, lacking oriental studies personnel, offer palliative solutions, for example, “economics with Chinese,” “philosophy with Arabic,” or teach some oriental specialization within the framework of “Regional Studies,” creating the illusion among applicants that they will study oriental studies. Unfortunately, most often this is self-deception: four hours a week of an oriental language and a couple of courses, say, in the history of Asia without any additional regional studies and fundamental training will not give any effect. And as a result, we get a lot of economists, journalists, and political scientists who have an extremely superficial knowledge of the peculiarities of the East, who make frankly erroneous judgments. Therefore, our competitors are not oriental university centers with strong traditions, but similar educational institutions. Just for the sake of comparison, I’ll give an example: the level of language proficiency of students in the HSE Department of Oriental Studies after the first year is higher than that of undergraduate graduates of other universities with so-called “specializations in the East,” as shown by student interuniversity competitions this year.

- Has the profession of orientalist always been popular?

Here one should not confuse “interest in the East” with “the popularity of the orientalist profession.” There has always been an interest in the countries and cultures of the East. I would name three factors for this. First, the cognitive factor: the East is fascinating, literally charming in the diversity of its culture. And it's always interesting. Secondly, the factor of self-knowledge. For us, people of Western culture, the East is like a mirror; we try to “identify” our cultural values ​​in it, confirm or, conversely, refute our own cultural, religious, and economic views. The East is a challenge to our stereotypes and an expansion of our cultural horizons. Thirdly, this is the extremely practical significance of “engaging in the East” - it is in the East that the world’s largest problems can be solved today, and it is from there that a new economic and even civilizational impulse for development comes.

It is worth considering that we do not create the “popularity” of the East; applicants react to certain impulses that come from the media, from a certain “information aura”. Some are passionate about feng shui, some about anime, some about oriental martial arts, some about the philosophy of the East, and as a result, applicants decide to devote themselves to a deeper study of this region. And a lot depends on how popular a particular region is. Let me give you a well-known paradox - today we need good professionals in African countries, but due to the low popularity of this specialization, we are unlikely to be able to provide a large recruitment.

But now China is the center of interest, and many people have decided to study it. About 75% of our freshmen chose Chinese studies. There has been a steady interest in Japan over the past few decades. I also consider Arabic and Korean studies to be extremely promising areas, given the lack of professionals in this field.

But the most important factor is the demand for professional orientalists in any field - from fundamental science and expert-analytical work to public service and business.

In his last interview, HSE Vice-Rector Grigory Kantorovich, commenting on the situation with admissions this year, said that the Department of Oriental Studies is experiencing a “normal overflow” of applicants, not as rushed as last year? Has the increase in applicants affected the learning process? What did last year show?

I admit, last year we did not expect such an influx of applicants - the admission was more than 170 people against 50 planned. But HSE fulfilled all its obligations - everyone who met the criteria was accepted. We, perhaps for the first time, solved a non-trivial task: to launch 17 language groups simultaneously instead of 5 planned with the same high quality of training. And we not only did this, we developed a unique method of “synchronizing” teaching in different language groups, ensuring that, for example, in 10 Chinese language groups, students maintain an equal pace of learning, and this is important for assessing their knowledge in exams.

This year, primarily due to an increase in tuition fees, the number of applicants has become smaller - we accepted about 100 people. But their “quality” has become higher: the average passing grade has increased noticeably. Moreover, we increased the admission to budget places from 25 to 40, while the actual admission was 47 people to budget places.

Several trends can be identified here. Firstly, the motivation of applicants has noticeably increased. This year, people came to our Department of Oriental Studies, deliberately choosing it from among the faculties of several large universities. It is characteristic that the overwhelming majority of Olympiad winners who applied to us along with other universities, for example, Moscow State University, ended up staying with us - they clearly understand what level of training they will receive. Secondly, a new generation of young people is beginning to come to us who have already studied Oriental languages ​​and, moreover, even have publications on Eastern countries. The School of Young Orientalists, created at the department, has shown great effectiveness, within the framework of which classes are taught free of charge for high school students: several of its students came to us for the first year. It is characteristic that, unlike other similar schools, our classes are taught not by students or graduate students, but by leading teachers and professors of the department. There is another trend - students come to us or even “re-enroll” from other universities who began studying Oriental Studies there, but were not satisfied with the quality of training or the internal atmosphere.

And based on the results of the first year of study, we can say that reality even somewhat exceeded our expectations. This concerns, first of all, the quality of student preparation. What is important here is not even how we evaluate them ourselves, but how they are evaluated “from the outside.” Just one example. Our Japanese students went to Japan and Macau for summer school. And there they passed the final certification, where they received no lower than “4+” on a five-point system, which surprised even the traditionally reserved Japanese.

- What innovations await students this year? How will the educational process be structured?

We are not standing still, there are a lot of innovations. I will list only the most basic ones. Firstly, we are starting courses taught by leading foreign orientalists in English. We start with a course of lectures on South Asia by an Indian professor, and then the baton will be picked up by several lecturers from the largest European centers of oriental studies. Secondly, for the first time in Russia we are launching E-classes - regular lectures for Korean scholars together with Seoul National University. Thirdly, we are actively transferring Oriental studies to the widest possible use of multimedia and language technology - students from the very first days must learn to live in the “forms” of Eastern culture. Fourthly, from the second year we are introducing the teaching of a second elective oriental language, in addition to those that we teach specialized (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Arabic), Hebrew will also be added to them. Fifthly, we will not only continue, but also expand the tradition of summer schools in the countries of the East, which this year fully met our hopes, since we ourselves controlled all stages of preparation and conduct. By the way, speaking about forms of preparation, I do not exclude the possibility that within a few years, oriental studies at HSE will become attractive to students from the USA and Europe.

- What will be the first “important” event for freshmen in the new academic year?

And here we have originality. Throughout the first week of classes, we will read “Introduction to Oriental Studies” - a unique course in the presentation of material, which is designed to immediately immerse students in the specifics of learning, orient them in methods of approaching the East, and gradually transfer them from the level of lovers of the East to the level of competent, universally educated professionals . In a few years, they will learn to think like Eastern people, to understand them, while maintaining their integral “I”, their cultural core. And on the first of September, hundreds of people will begin a fascinating journey to the East.

- In short, what are your wishes and parting words for first-year students?

I always wish one thing for future orientalists: patience in learning, maximum demands on themselves and respect for the culture they are studying.

Hello, dear readers – seekers of knowledge and truth!

Orientalist - there is something exotic and unusual in this word. In conditions of constant time pressure, continuous rush, you really want to touch the world where everything is measured, unhurried and there is always an hour or two for a tea ceremony or afternoon rest.

But it’s not enough to be a fan of anime and sushi, accept the deep philosophy of Confucius and dream of working somewhere on a Thai island studying culture. The profession of orientalist is fraught with much more; it requires enormous effort, many years of study, devotion to one’s calling and great love for the East.

Today’s article will tell you about all the intricacies of the specialty: what orientalists do, where they are taught, what real professionals should know and what key qualities they should have, whether this profession is in demand at all, and most importantly, whether it is worth mastering.

Students of the Faculty of Oriental Studies of St. Petersburg State University

This article will be useful to young people who are faced with difficult life choices - choosing a profession, adults, accomplished individuals, in a good sense, “sick” of eastern countries, as well as simply curious researchers of the world. So...

What does an orientalist do?

An orientalist is a person who knows everything about the East or its individual countries. This is a universal professional who understands a whole range of scientific disciplines regarding Asian and African countries.

This includes:

• story;
• cultural studies;
• economy;
• jurisprudence;
• geography;
• policy;
• literature;
• linguistics;
• art;
• philosophy;
• religion;
• material and spiritual heritage;
• cultural phenomena;
• holidays, customs and traditions;
• literary works;
• folklore;
• household items, etc.

Despite the wide range of sciences, an orientalist is a narrow specialist. He usually studies a specific country or region, such as China, Japan, Vietnam, Indochina or Southeast Asia. African studies is sometimes distinguished separately from oriental studies.

Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich (09/27/1874-12/13/1947). Russian artist, orientalist, writer, mystic philosopher, public figure, academician.

In this regard, orientalists who study specific countries, peoples or languages ​​can be called more highly specialized.

Here are just some of the sciences they deal with:

• Vietnam Studies;
• Buddhology;
• Sanskritology;
• Korean studies;
• Malaistics;
• Kalmyk studies;
• Sinology, also known as Sinology;
• Turkology.

It would seem that after so many years of scientific study of the cultures of other countries, everything has already been discovered, told and proven. But this is by no means true - every year oriental scientists explore the cultural heritage of Asia and find something new, becoming discoverers. Confirmation of this is the huge number of fresh scientific works, studies, monographs, dissertations, concepts, and scientific views.

Specialists do not just study theoretical foundations, they immerse themselves in the history and traditions of countries, get acquainted with their people, carry out enormous practical work, not without visiting the country they are studying. To fully understand what kind of profession an orientalist is, it takes them more than one year of continuous practice.

You can study the East only by seeing it from the inside. It is very different from the Western world, so globalized, focused on income, power and other attributes of a successful life.

Despite the fact that Asian countries have advanced far in terms of modern technologies, equipment, industry, and in some industries they are even ahead of the rest, the connection with their ancestors, traditions, and culture of the past remains strong. And orientalists, understanding this, study what is so important to the eastern peoples.

Nicholas Konstantinovich and Yuri Nikolaevich Roerichs during the Manchurian expedition, 1934

Moreover, their work is not limited to research institutes, translations, and teaching. Good specialists are also needed in the field of trade, business, and when it comes to international relations.

It would seem, how are business and knowledge of culture connected? In the East they are even very connected! Knowing their traditions helps build relationships. For example, if we give our Chinese, Korean or Japanese partners a business card with one hand, they will be offended - in their homeland it is customary to give important documents and gifts with both hands as a sign of respect. Knowing this, you can make Asian friends.

What qualities does he have?

Despite the narrowness of his specialty, an orientalist must be a versatile person and have a broad outlook.

First of all, he must know at least two foreign languages: English and the language of the country he is studying. Moreover, knowledge should not be limited to the literary language, the rules of grammar, one should apply these rules in practice, be able to understand native speakers and speak spoken language. This is complicated by the fact that eastern languages ​​have much less in common with Russian than European languages.

A specialist must know history, law, culture, religion, literature, art, customs, characteristics of the country being studied, and the current economic, social, and political situation. It is important to be able to summarize this information, work with documents for the archive, write scientific papers and articles for periodicals.

Necessary personal qualities include good memory, emotional stability, patience, and a willingness to study long and hard. When choosing a profession as an orientalist, you need to understand that you won’t have to expect quick results - a lot depends on the person himself, his cognitive abilities, desire and love for the East.

Yuri Nikolaevich Roerich (08/16/1902-05/21/1960). Russian orientalist, linguist, art critic, ethnographer, traveler, language specialist, etc. Doctor of Philology, Professor, Director of the Urusvati Institute of Himalayan Studies, Head. Sector of Philosophy and History of Religion of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

At the same time, the abilities that a professional must have depend on the specifics of the job. If this is a researcher, translator, editor, then he is required to be careful, persevering, and attentive. If this is an employee in the trade or business sector, then his communication skills will be important.

Where to get an education?

Before you firmly decide to become an orientalist, you need to study one of the oriental languages ​​at a basic level and prepare for the fact that studying will take a lot of time. Since the specialty is quite complex, it is mainly assumed to be a full-time course of study: 4 years of bachelor's degree and 2 years of master's degree, during which a foreign internship is usually planned.

Today, more than 30 Russian universities offer the opportunity to become an orientalist. The largest of them include:

• Moscow State University, Institute of Asian and African Countries;
• MGIMO;
• National Research University Higher School of Economics, Department of Oriental Studies;
• RSUH;
• RUDN;
• MSLU;
• St. Petersburg State University;
• Far Eastern Federal University;
• Siberian Federal University.

A more detailed description of faculties, specialties, information on the availability of budget and paid places, and the admissions committee can be found on the official websites of educational institutions.

Institute of Asian and African Countries, Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov

Even after receiving an education, a specialist needs to constantly improve his qualifications, attend courses, lectures, seminars, read professional literature, and go to practice abroad.

Where to find a job?

People around us often scare people with “horror stories” that orientalists are not in demand anywhere, and this is more of an activity for the soul. There may be some truth to this - finding work for new graduates and future professionals can be difficult. But this is only because it is quite difficult for young specialists without work experience in any field to get a good position.

In the profession of oriental studies, as in many other specialties, much depends on the person himself, his aspirations, desires, experience, and ambitions. But here there is a clear advantage over other university graduates against the backdrop of Russia’s growing rapprochement with Asian countries, globalization, the strengthening of mutually beneficial trade, social and economic relations, and the development of tourism.

Meeting of Russian scientists in Dharamsala, India

Orientalists can realize themselves in completely different areas:

• Research institutes, educational institutions;
• publishing houses, libraries, magazines, newspapers and other media;
• translations, editing;
• domestic, foreign and international organizations - as consultants, translators, specialists in foreign economic activity;
• public service.

Evgeny Yanovich Satanovsky (born June 15, 1959). Russian scientist, orientalist, economist, professional

Is it worth becoming an orientalist?

If you are still asking this question, then you definitely should. And it doesn’t matter how old you are, what level of education, gender, marital status, or civic position. If you are head over heels in love with Eastern culture, then why not give it a try?

Of course, first you need to weigh everything - after all, even the eastern sages always avoided hasty decisions. And like any profession, it has its pros and cons.

The clear advantages are interest, the opportunity to travel, internships in foreign companies, mastery of several foreign languages, communication with representatives of another culture, a fairly large number of budget places in universities upon admission, and the originality of the profession.

The disadvantages include possible problems with initial employment and low salaries at the initial stage.

If such difficulties do not frighten you, you should become the same pioneer who is exploring the still unknown world of the East.

Conclusion

The history of Russian oriental studies includes dozens and even hundreds of famous world-famous scientists who throughout their lives have been engaged in the study of oriental culture and have written many works. In subsequent articles we will introduce you to some of the most famous of them. Follow our blog news - subscribe to new fresh articles.

Thank you very much for your attention, dear readers! May your chosen path in life give you joy and new discoveries. Share the article on social networks if you liked it, and let's search for the truth together.

Four months have passed since I was solemnly awarded a diploma from the Institute of Asian and African Studies of Moscow State University with a degree in Oriental and African Studies. And a week ago I... Thus ends five years of hard work, and begins (I hope) ten thousand years of happiness. This article will be a good help for anyone who is interested in China and is thinking about where to get information related to China and the Chinese language. And in general, for everyone who is interested in where and how orientalist steel is tempered these days.

The year of my admission was 2008, the last year in which an essay, written English and oral history of the Fatherland (for the history department) were submitted upon admission. First, entrance exams are taken (now the Unified State Examination), then they are distributed by language. A typical picture for the first two weeks of September: pale and unhappy-looking freshmen wandering along the corridor, asking all passers-by where the Department of Chinese Philology is located. Most likely, these are those poor souls who “I studied Chinese for many years at school! you can’t send me to Vietnamese/Amharic/Hindi/Hebrew/etc!” They can, they still can.

I still won’t say what principle the language distribution follows. We write a statement in which we indicate which language we would like to learn. But this does not give any guarantee that you will not get into Uzbek. I think this has to do with the number of points you scored upon admission. Priority is given to paying students and the best among public sector employees. By the way, I’ll say right away: it’s more than possible to enter ISAA. This is not a nest of corruption; two thirds of students study on a budget. As for the cost of training, now the figure, I think, is approaching 300 thousand per year. The amount is considerable, of course, but there is a lending program conducted by Sberbank, so if you wish, you can go this route.

One of the most interesting and frequently asked questions is the question of why the hell brought you to these Chinese galleys. I asked all my friends and here are the answer options that were recorded in this regard:

• “this is promising, China is the country of the future, I will find a cool job,”
• “some of my relatives are connected with China”,
• "I learned Chinese at school"
• “I didn’t know where to go, so I chose something unusual, they say it’s a good option,”
• "my mom does tai chi"
• "I like hieroglyphs"
• “I love films with Bruce Lee” (this option was probably relevant for students twenty years ago).

However, very few of them knew anything about China or the Chinese language. In this sense, I am no exception: I knew almost nothing about China, so I easily fell for the test question “What is the difference between Sun Wukong and Sun Yat-sen?” Now it seems strange: how could you enroll in the history of China without finding out anything about it in advance? And this is how it happens most often.

So, you have become a student of Chinese studies. You are a philologist, historian, economist or political scientist. What do other students and teachers know about you? That you are studying in one of the most (if not the most) difficult departments of the institute and there is no need to burden you once again. Economists and political scientists are traditionally easier to study because they have less workload besides Chinese than historians and philologists. Therefore, by the way, economists often know the language better.

The choice of direction depends on your inclinations and preferences, or on what is easier for you to pass - history or mathematics. An important point: these are not just students learning Chinese. Their course of study includes lectures on the history, culture, and economy of China. There is still a difference between them and student translators: knowledge of various aspects of Chinese life is very helpful when translating and interacting with the Chinese.

The bulk of class time is spent, of course, in Chinese. “How difficult it is to learn Chinese” - this topic has been discussed several times both on Laovaikast and on other resources, so I have nothing to add here. I will only say regarding the requests of our institute: Chinese is 80% hard work and time. I remember how in the third year our teacher told us that, in a good way, we should spend at least six hours a day studying Chinese. Six or not six, but several sleepless nights a week are guaranteed for you.

What will you get as a result? They say that ISAA is one of the strongest universities in the country, and that the level of Chinese of its graduates is higher than that of others. It's hard to say, I think it really was like that before. Now there are a number of universities that can compete with it. But, in any case, your Chinese will actually be quite good, in addition, you will gain perseverance and will be able to further master the language on your own to the extent that you need. If we operate with dry data, then an ISAA graduate passes the HSK at the fifth or sixth level after four years of study. The areas of translation are very different: this includes news, socio-political translation, and translation of fiction. With colloquial speech, everything is somewhat more difficult, so it turns out that you can say “China is a country with five thousand years of history and culture” or screw up some clever chengyu, but “don’t paw me, you goat!” not anymore:)

What else, besides Chinese, does studying at an oriental studies university provide? In our case, this is fundamental higher education. Students don't just remember dates and events, they analyze them. Learn to work with information. In addition to Chinese, we took a number of courses taught by the Department of Chinese History. I liked the lectures for the same reason that I like listening to Laowaicast: in addition to the history program itself, from them you could learn a lot of different things about China, things that I myself would not have asked. There were courses on the history of Taiwan, on Chinese minorities, and on the political system. And all of them, indeed, were interesting and informative, primarily thanks to our teachers. The rest of the courses are up to your luck. There were religious studies, sociology, fundamentals of macroeconomics, fundamentals of law, and, of course, the history of Asian and African countries, and others. How useful and interesting they can be depends on you and the teacher.

The training involves a year-long internship in China; those who study better go for free, while others pay themselves. The list of priority cities, as always, includes Beijing and Shanghai, as well as Hangzhou and Shenzhen. By the way, you don’t have to go to an internship; then the training is only four years. The feasibility of an internship depends on your goals: someone wants to take a break from studying, someone is going to improve their spoken Chinese, someone is going to see China and show themselves off.

But now four/five years have passed, the diploma has been written and successfully defended, state exams have been passed, Chinese is no longer hanging over your head like a sword of Damocles. In a month there will be a ceremonial distribution of the treasured crusts, but what next? “Of course, for a master’s degree,” some say confidently. Moreover, it is not necessary (and I would say undesirable) for a master’s degree at our institute; many graduates went to Europe or to Taiwan. What do those who do not plan to continue their education in the coming years do? This is a separate question. Chinese students firmly believe that they will not have any problems with finding a job, that they will be torn off with their hands and feet on the same day they graduate. I thought so too six months before graduation. I was sure: just give me this piece of paper, I will immediately go to China to work, everyone wants me there. After all, not everyone can communicate in Chinese and English! Yes, I am a valuable specialist. As it turns out, employers have a slightly different opinion on this matter.

Yesterday's graduates have two weaknesses: their specialty and lack of work experience. Let me explain: our diploma specialty is “Oriental and African Studies.” This is not even a translator or a regional specialist. This is a problem. Work experience: Chinese-speaking graduates do not have any. Because there is no time to work. Those heroes who tried to study and work at the same time were expelled at the next session. The most a graduate has is tutoring neighborhood children and occasional part-time work in the summer. In this sense, I was lucky: in the summer before my fourth year, I managed to work in a logistics company. It was not God knows what kind of work, sit and translate lists of goods from Russian into Chinese so that they could later be used to make customs declarations. However, this gave me the opportunity to write in my resume that I have experience in foreign trade.

Here it is necessary to clarify: I did not apply for a salary of one and a half thousand dollars during the probationary period, for visa support, for payment of flights and accommodation. But if you have nothing to say, if you have no work experience at all, then most employers will not talk to you, and I understand them. So, I began sending out my modest resume to employers from Moscow and China. Quite a bit of time passed, and the terrifying truth began to dawn on me: valuable specialists like me who speak English and Chinese are actually a dime a dozen. Moreover, unlike me, they are already in China.

To be honest, I didn’t consider Chinese employers, perhaps in vain. But I really didn’t want to immediately work under the Chinese. Not because I don't like them or anything like that. Breaking up and going to China for a long time is not as easy as it seems and as it seemed to me. And if you first work in a Russian company, it is psychologically easier. You won't feel like an alien.

In general, work in China did not work out for me from the very beginning. No one wanted to write to me or invite me to Guangzhou, Shanghai, or even Longkou (“We are looking for a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, but thank you for your interest”). I was discouraged, but after a month I pulled myself together and decided that okay, I need to work for a year in Moscow to gain experience and then go to China. I didn’t have the determination to go to China and look for work there. It's stupid, of course, but that's how it was.

I was looking for a job in foreign trade, and my dream was a job like “Supplier Relations Manager”. Where do the firewood come from? Poorly Made in China by Paul Middler. Just imagine: traveling to different cities, factories, villages, communicating with real Chinese, solving assigned problems. Learn to negotiate with them and not let yourself be deceived. This is a colossal practical experience that I really miss. However, directly in Moscow I was offered office work in its various guises: purchasing manager/manufacturer relations manager (and more often, assistant to this same manager), department secretary, customer service manager, translator manager. Maybe it’s because I’m not the best joker, but even such vacancies weren’t found that many. I searched on popular sites like hh.ru, superjob.ru, career.ru, etc. I looked for work in China mainly on chinajob.ru, Hemisphere forums and VKontakte communities.

However, responses from China came extremely rarely, most likely because I am in Moscow. They offered to go to work in logging in Suifenhe (and the more time passed, the less crazy this option seemed to me), and also to Yabaolu in an online store.

In general, employing companies can be divided into two categories: small enterprises that are looking for an experienced person with Chinese language skills for the position of foreign trade manager, who will come and immediately get involved in the process and solve their problems with Chinese suppliers; large companies that are ready to train new employees and are looking forward to the long term.

And so, having received a bunch of offensive, to be honest, refusals (“The manager chose another candidate,” “We will call you today or tomorrow”) and having traveled to a couple of remote and hopeless places (“Well, we don’t really need Chinese, but English will come in handy , however, I myself don’t speak very well, senk yu”, “Do you know our conditions? 26,700 in hand, from 9 to 19, corporate transport to the metro is stuck in traffic for an hour and a half”), I went for an interview at a large financial company , in which my classmate had successfully settled two weeks earlier. The conditions were an order of magnitude better than in other places, the prospects for growth and development were very tempting. And what was perhaps more important than anything else for me at that moment, the people who interviewed me didn’t look at me like I was crap. In an amazing way, they made it clear that they needed me, they needed my knowledge and desire to work. Therefore, when I went out into the street from there, I was sure that my search was over and that an offer that could interrupt this simply did not exist. But it was not there.

The next day I received a refusal from Huawei, which, despite the fact that I myself was no longer going to join them, hit my heart with a sickle, because I was sure that they would take me there. The desired financial company still didn’t call me back (they called me back a couple of days later), and I slowly sank into despondency. Meanwhile, a meeting was scheduled for the evening with a friend of my father’s friend’s wife, who lives and works in China. I didn’t expect anything at all from this meeting, because I couldn’t count on a job opportunity, just a conversation. And then, completely unexpectedly for me, at the end of our meeting, she offered me a job in China. By the way, exactly the one I dreamed of six months ago. Factories, manufacturers, exhibitions. The conditions are not fabulous, but I’m still just a yesterday’s student without any significant experience. So there was no need to think long about whether to go or not. This is the offer that I was looking for and found completely by accident. Good things come to those who wait.

Do not think that the fate of all sinologists is the same. Because after reading about how I looked for a job, you might think that it is generally unrealistic for Sinologists to find a job without an acquaintance :) Before writing this article, I asked all my friends, and this is what they told me. Many continued their master's studies, but not in Moscow, but in Europe or Taiwan. What’s interesting is that a master’s degree in China is seen as the last option, not even studying, but a way to pass the time before making a decision about one’s future. Those who went to work work in Moscow with the Chinese language: they teach or do translation, many combine the position of translator with the position of manager of something. Oddly enough, no one is eager to go to China for a long time or does not want to at all. Very few people work without Chinese, and this is understandable: they had to spend so much time and effort on it that it is no longer possible not to use the knowledge gained. This is according to my data. Meanwhile, there is information that many graduates of Chinese language departments neglect their specialty and calmly work with English. It’s hard to imagine, but it is what it is. Are graduates satisfied with their share? Satisfied. The only thing they complain about is the lack of a clear specialty. Is it possible to combine the study of Chinese and China with, say, a technical specialty? It's hard to say yet. I heard that the study of the Chinese language was introduced at MAI last year. But so far this practice is rare, so sinologists will need to acquire the necessary knowledge during the work process, or receive a second education.

In addition to ISAA, in Moscow, in particular, there are a number of universities where sinologists are trained. These are the Institute of Practical Oriental Studies (which is actually the younger brother of our institute, the workload is not so heavy, and the teaching staff is largely the same), MGIMO, HSE, Russian State University for the Humanities, RUDN, MSLU and others. There are also Confucius Institutes, and there are departments at Moscow State University where Chinese language training is provided (Higher School of Translation, Faculty of Global Processes, Faculty of World Politics). I can’t compare their level, especially after I attended a Chinese language competition among Moscow university students (I think it was 汉语桥): then everyone demonstrated a very good level, our institute was not indisputably the best. Therefore, you have to rely only on the reputation of each individual educational institution. You also need to remember that a lot depends on yourself and on your desire to learn Chinese.

Let's be like a grandmother: if you are thinking about whether you should go into sinology, I will say: go. China is a very interesting country; there is actually a lot of work with the Chinese language now. Of course, it will be difficult, sometimes it will seem that all efforts are going nowhere. But I believe that a lot of good things await us ahead, and one day Sinologists will conquer the world :)

Many applicants who are interested in the cultures of Africa and the East are wondering who to work with. Oriental and African studies offer students a wide range of knowledge that can be used to build a successful career both in Russia and abroad.

How did oriental studies and African studies appear?

First of all, it is worth saying that the term “Oriental studies” is losing relevance in foreign academic circles, since it is inextricably linked with the colonial past of Europe, and modern Europeans are trying with all their might to get rid of this past. There is an increasing preference for interdisciplinary research using different methods to study countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

The traditional purpose of Oriental studies is to study the culture, languages, economics, politics, ethnography, religion and art of countries located in Asia and Africa. The foundations of European Orientalism were laid during the period of the Great Geographical Discoveries, when a huge new world opened up to Europeans, inhabited by people who spoke unfamiliar languages, living in a different culture and having completely different values ​​from European ones.

In order to establish contact with unfamiliar peoples, it was necessary to first study them, and for this it was necessary to master the languages ​​of these nations. Jesuit missionaries, who first translated the Bible into Chinese, also made a huge contribution to the study of Eastern and African cultures.

Where to study the cultures of East and Africa

It’s worth starting with the fact that for the first time the systematic study of eastern peoples began in Russia in the middle of the 15th century, with the formation of universities in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Knowledge of how eastern societies are structured acquired great importance during the Caucasian wars and expansion into Central Asia.

Named after M.V. Lomonosov is today one of the leading centers of oriental studies. Where to work after this prestigious university? The answer to this question, as it may seem, lies on the surface, because the main practical skill of graduates of the Department of Oriental Studies is knowledge of several oriental languages.

And such skills allow you to work as translators in various fields of activity: from trade to international diplomacy. Graduates who, in addition to an oriental language, have one of the working languages ​​of the UN can try their luck in the competition for the position of UN translator. Oriental and African studies are a fairly common specialty at Russian universities, but three large centers can be distinguished that have historically been engaged in the study of the East, in the broadest sense of the word.

The most famous and prestigious faculties and research centers specializing in training professionals in the field of Oriental and African studies include:

• Oriental Faculty of St. Petersburg State University.
• Institute of Asian and African Countries named after M. V. Lomonosov.
• School of Oriental Studies
• Institute of Oriental Studies and International Relations of Kazan University.
• Institute of Oriental Manuscripts (trains candidates and doctors of science).

For residents of St. Petersburg or for those applicants who want to move there, there is a great opportunity to enroll in the Oriental Faculty of St. Petersburg University, where you can study the languages ​​and cultures of numerous peoples of the Middle East, Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Far East and Southeast Asia. Actually, there is no Faculty of Oriental and African Studies at either St. Petersburg State University or Moscow State University, and their functions are performed by the Faculty of Oriental Studies and the Institute of Asian and African Countries of Moscow State University.

The latter opens up the opportunity for students to specialize in one of three areas: historical, philological or socio-economic. Despite the fact that the set of proposed competencies may not seem too extensive, knowledge of several foreign languages ​​along with knowledge of the history of the regions provides undeniable advantages when employing in various international organizations, both public and private, as well as in non-profit humanitarian missions, which are in large numbers operate both in Africa and the Middle East.

Oriental and African studies: who to work with?

Truly unique prospects open up for graduates of centers for the study of oriental cultures, because the modern world is limitless, and finance, knowledge and goods move in it, encountering a minimum number of obstacles along the way. There are several possible answers to the question of who should work with Oriental and African studies. However, additional competencies will also be a significant advantage for graduates of the relevant departments.

Such an open and dynamic world requires numerous translators, consultants and specialists who understand the characteristics of each region and individual country. Oriental studies and African studies allow you to work in Russian diplomatic missions abroad, and knowledge of Eastern and African languages ​​will allow you to get a job in an international corporation. People who speak Korean, Chinese and Arabic are in great demand on the international labor market. Each of them can be studied at the corresponding department of one of the Russian universities.

One of the popular areas of application of the acquired knowledge is teaching and scientific theoretical activity. In general, it is worth noting building an academic career as one of the priority areas for graduates of the departments and faculties of Oriental and African Studies.

You can figure out what to do after university even during your studies, because the acquired competencies can be used both in economics and in the humanitarian sphere, or you can go into business and promote international cooperation in trade.

The most common entrance exams:

• Foreign language - specialized subject, at the choice of the university

This program of study provides students with an understanding of economic, social, cultural and political processes. It is expected to study Orientalism and sub-Saharan Africa. Orientalists are in demand in diplomatic missions, trade, economic and administrative structures within the Russian Federation, in business projects and commercial organizations working on the import and export of goods from the countries of the East and Asia.

Exams for admission to master's programs

Admission occurs after a competitive selection of applicants based on the results of an interview and communication on the topic of the applicant’s portfolio. Admission is carried out after a qualifying exam in English.

Brief description of the specialty

The Russian program for studying the cultural characteristics of the peoples of the East is considered one of the most balanced and rich among all European programs.

It provides an opportunity to train specialists versed in the culture, literature, history, political and economic characteristics and modern government structure of China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and African countries. In addition to knowledge in the field of culture and economics, an important aspect is learning the language of the relevant country. Internships, cultural programs, and student exchanges with Asian universities are expected.

Advantages of Master's Degree Studies

A master's degree is necessary for those who have decided to associate themselves with teaching, scientific activities and plan to write and defend a dissertation in the future. A master's degree provides an opportunity to take a comprehensive approach to the subjects being studied and teaches you to take an analytical approach to acquired information.

Attention and time are devoted to developing practical skills in working with institutions and organizations of Eastern countries, building business models, and analyzing political and social processes. The master's program is carried out with the assistance of European and Asian universities, some disciplines and courses are taught in English.

Large universities in the capital

Less than ten universities in the entire country prepare masters in this specialty; among Moscow educational institutions you can choose from the following:

Terms and forms of training

This program is available to full-time (full-time) students only. You will have to attend classes for 2 years. Admission is possible both on a budgetary and commercial basis. Some educational institutions implement the entire program in English as part of cooperation with foreign universities.

Subjects studied by students

The direction of study depends on the student’s choice: one can dwell in more detail on either the historical and cultural or socio-economic features of the development of eastern countries.

The following disciplines are required to study:

• at least one language each from the Western European and Eastern groups;
• fundamentals of international relations and international law;
• history, literature, cultural studies, religious studies;
• theory and practical activity in the field of translation;
• features of the Russian Federation's policy towards the countries of the East and Africa;
• foreign policy and economic relations.

Gained knowledge and skills

After completing the master's program, the graduate must be ready for the following tasks:

Who to work with

The work may be related to the activities of foreign policy, foreign economic organizations, diplomatic and cultural missions, embassies.

The specialties in which students of the Oriental and African Studies program can express themselves are very diverse:

• translator, simultaneous or written from oriental languages ​​- Chinese, Korean, Japanese;
• an expert in the field of certain peoples or ethnic groups;
• employee or director of an international cultural center, gallery;
• university teacher in a neighboring region.

Minimal experience as a translator-referent with knowledge of the Chinese language will allow you to immediately earn from 40 thousand rubles. An expert political scientist in the field of oriental studies can expect to earn from 60 thousand rubles.

Continuing training in the specialty

Graduates who feel the need to continue their education, have an analytical mind, sufficient motivation and are purposefully committed to scientific activity can continue their studies in graduate school in the field of international relations. The choice of topic that will be studied and presented in the future candidate's dissertation is chosen individually, taking into account the recommendations of the supervisor and current issues of current cultural and political relations with the countries of Asia and Africa. Postgraduate study will be necessary for those who expect to make a scientific and teaching career.