So far, not much has been done to satisfy the increased demand for courses in the Chinese major. One of the required courses, "Understanding Contemporary China, provided space for only 50 students in its only opened section. Lim Ji-yeon, (Chinese Language & Literature, 2) says, "It was so competitive to register. Only 50 of more than 200 sophomores could take the class."
Many students complained to the administrative office, and as a result, the office offered some solutions. It opened another class during the add/drop period. "I don"t?think it helped a lot," says Lim. "The office offered a new class only after most students schedules were set. It was a temporary solution. Accepting too many students without a permanent solution doesn"t help at all," she adds.
The problem is not only limited to classes offered to Chinese majors. Students who want to keep studying Chinese by taking courses at Ewha have also complained. Song Ji-young (Division of Humanities and Foreign Languages & Literatures, 1) says, "I took Basic Chinese last semester. There were about 20 available sections then. Since I completed it, I wanted to take Intermediate Chinese this semester but when I tried to register, it was full. There were only four sections available for Intermediate Chinese. Again, better planning could have prevented this shortcoming.
Nonetheless, the school went on to recruit an additional professor this year, perhaps not enough considering that more than 200 students have newly registered as Chinese majors. Kang So-young (Chinese Language & Literature, 4) echoes this problem: "The real problem is that they keep opening more courses in Chinese literature, but students are more interested in studying Chinese language and culture."
Luckily, the good news is that the school is willing to listen to students opinions. Professor Shin Ha-yoon of Chinese Language & Literature says, "The number of students allowed for the courses in Chinese language is up to 30, while 70 to 80 students can enroll in courses in Chinese literature. So we are now planning solutions for both short and long-term periods. We expect to open more courses that students want to take next semester."
Hiring more professors or opening more sections will help, but students are awaiting long-term solutions that will not simply place a band-aid on the problem. They want solutions that will address their interests, as well as satisfy the crowded classes in the Chinese major.
happydream83@ewha.ac.kr