Everything You Need to Know About the Confucius Scholarship for China

Learning Mandarin Chinese is different from learning other languages such as Italian or French. It is nearly impossible to self-study Mandarin Chinese or learn through books and audio/video resources alone. To effectively learn Mandarin Chinese, you need to immerse yourself into a learning process with a native-speaking Chinese teacher. If possible, the opportunity to study in China is a fabulous way to learn the language and motivate and inspire yourself culturally, as well as make friends and memories to last a lifetime.

Many of my Chinese students began learning Chinese back in their home countries before arriving here in China to study further. Many of the learners were Mandarin Chinese majors in college, took classes in the evening at local community schools, or learned one-on-one through online lessons. Some, but not many, got their start with Chinese by watching videos or reading textbooks. One thing all of them have in common is that they were looking for scholarships to study in China. Why not? Free money for a life-changing experience? Sign me up!

However, the application is not as easy as simply signing up. Before being considered for the scholarship, you must show that:
You have scored adequately on standardized Mandarin Chinese tests;
You have a purpose for studying;
You have the proper credentials and application prerequisites.

One well-known scholarship I would like to introduce today is the "孔子学院奖学金 (kǒngzǐ xuéyuàn jiǎngxuéjīn) Confucius Institute Scholarship." There are many "levels" of which scholarships are available... Read More

New Chinese words related to scholarships and applications:
1. 学院 (Xuéyuàn) = a noun, meaning college; academy; institute.

Examples:
Jack zài fǎ xuéyuàn dúshū.
Jack 在 法 学 院 读 书。
Jack is at law college.

Tā shì yì suǒ zhōngwén xuéyuàn de xuéshēng.
他 是 一 所 中 文 学 院 的 学 生。
He is a student in a Chinese academy.

2. 奖学金 (Jiǎngxuéjīn) = a noun, meaning scholarship; exhibition; fellowship.

Examples:
Lily huòdé le qù hāfó dàxué dúshū de jiǎngxuéjīn.
Lily 获 得 了 去 哈佛 大 学 读 书 的 奖 学 金。
Lily has been awarded a scholarship to study at Harvard.

Nǐ nádào jiǎngxuéjīn le ma?
你 拿 到 奖 学 金 了 吗？
Have you won the scholarship?

Do you work really hard for the money you earn? In the West, we have different levels of jobs. We separate them by words like and "蓝领 (lánlǐng) blue-collar" and "白领 (báilǐng) white-collar" jobs. In China, there are different types of jobs as well, some harder than others.

Do you work as a manual laborer, for instance? Are you out sweating the day away in the heat, or working in the fields as a farmer? For the kinds of jobs that require some real "blood and sweat" we put them in a specific category. And when those jobs end up in some really hard-earned cash, we have a specific word to refer to this, which we use in daily Chinese conversation:

血汗钱 (Xuèhàn qián): money earned by hard toil.

Let’s break this word down further to understand its full meaning:

血汗 (Xuèhàn): blood and sweat; sweat and toil.
钱 (Qián): money.

In China, we use this word to refer to hard-earned cash or money that you have definitely worked for. For instance, my parents will use this word when they are telling me to not waste my money.

The literal meaning of this word may seem a bit exaggerated (no, you don’t have to literally have bled or sweat for it to be true). But if you have put in hard effort to make the money you have, then you know it falls into this category.

If you have put in hard effort to make the money you have, then you know it falls into this category. Let’s look at a few examples so you can see how we use it in phrases as well as complete sentences... Read More

Quiz:
1. Read the dialogue below and answer the question:

Mike: Nǐ bùnéng nàyàng zuò, bà mā de qián dōu shì xuèhàn qián.
Mike: 你 不 能 那 样 做，爸 妈 的 钱 都 是 血 汗 钱。

What does the Chinese word "血汗钱 (xuèhàn qián)" mean in the dialogue?