The course ends with a mooting in which every student is expected to participate. Role-play, group discussion and debate are the main methods used to practise new vocabulary and language structures. By the end of the course students should have acquired a legal vocabulary of 1,000 to 1,500 words and will be in command of most of the common legal terms and phrases relating to commercial law. They will be able to operate within the Chinese legal-commercial environment, and discuss legal matters with Chinese colleagues. There will be some briefings included in the course, which will give students the basic background knowledge of Chinese Law allowing the students to use the vocabulary learned in the language section of the course effectively.
Class size is limited to twelve to allow close involvement.
To avoid disappointment please contact SOAS Language Centre well in advance of the beginning of term to arrange an assessment date. The assessment involves a short oral examination and a written paper and will require at least 2 hours to complete. We expect applicants will have studied Chinese for at least 2 to 3 years previously, be able to hold everyday conversations comfortably and recognise at least 1,800 to 2,000 characters. No previous knowledge of Chinese law or specialist legal terms is required but persons who do not have a legal background and an understanding of legal terminology in English are advised not to attempt this course. Dates and Times Classes will be held at SOAS in central London on one evening per a week from 6.30pm to 8.30pm for 36 weeks, divided into three 12-week terms.