英国的就业形势日益严峻，但学中文的英国毕业生却越来越抢手。据英媒报道：

“Chinese has overtaken French, Spanish and German to become one of the most lucrative foreign languages for jobseekers in the UK. Research shows graduates in Chinese earn an average yearly salary of £31,000 or more.”
“中文已经超越法语、西语、德语，成为英国市场上最受用人单位欢迎的外语之一。研究显示，学中文的毕业生平均年薪达3.1万英镑（约合人民币27万元）以上。”

“For students today, saddled with rising debt, a degree in Chinese promises to set them apart in the workplace.”
“如今学生们背负的助学贷款越来越重，中文专业的文凭能确保他们在职场脱颖而出。”

文章接着指出，虽然中文专业在招聘市场上很吃香，但学起来也是非一般的辛苦，中文专业学生的付出往往异于常人：

“Chinese students set themselves up for a different university experience from their peers who are taking traditional essay subjects. While an English student may have as little as six hours of contact time a week, those studying Mandarin are in class for most of the day.”
“中文专业学生的大学经历有别于其他同龄人。英文系学生每周课时可能只有6小时，而中文系学生却几乎整天都在上课。”

接下来，几位中文专业毕业的英国人现身说法，开始控诉当年在校学习的心酸血泪史：

选择学中文，就注定了不一样的青春

2009年毕业于英国谢菲尔德大学中文系的汉娜•杰克逊（Hannah Jackson）说：

“I had a lot of friends on other courses who didn’t do much in first or second year. You can’t blag Chinese. You literally have to spend hours and hours writing characters.”
“我认识很多其他专业的朋友，他们前两年基本没什么压力。但是学中文真的没办法偷懒。你每天都需要花大把时间写汉字。”

用两个单词来形容学中文系的课程，汉娜认为那就是“majorly intense（压力山大）”。

“The first year was really difficult. Most of my friends admitted at one point to crying in the first week because of the intensity. I was almost told at one point that I might want to reconsider and drop out.”
“大一是最最艰难的，我身边大多数中文系同学都表示，由于学习强度太大，第一周都掉眼泪了！甚至有人曾经劝我重新考虑，要不要放弃。”

从零开始，每天最多学习18小时

利伯蒂•泰姆韦尔（Liberty Timewell）是剑桥大学中文系2012级毕业生，她表示，自己曾经每天至少要花8小时学中文，每天学20个汉字，而学期末有时一天的学习时间能达到18小时。

“I found studying Chinese an incredibly hard slog throughout every year. It was a challenge – there is no way you can bullshit your way through it. If you don’t put the hours in then you will fail. That’s it.”
“我发现学中文的每一天都超级艰难，这对我来说是一项挑战。你没有办法糊弄过去。如果你不为此投入时间，就不会成功。就是这样。”

由于学习压力过大，利伯蒂甚至一度后悔没选一个可以稍微偷点儿懒的专业。

以为自己是学霸，来到中国虐成渣

英国大学的中文专业一般为四年制，其中包括到中国学习一年。但即便在国内已经学习一两年中文之后，学生们通常还是很难用汉语与中国人交流。

英国诺丁汉特伦特大学中文系的学生扎克•克莱门茨（Zak Clements）初到中国，就因此受到了不小的打击。

“You get to China and think you can speak quite well, but when I got to China I couldn’t speak anything. You learn how to get by in class, but when thrown into the deep end it was a struggle. When I got there I couldn’t even order some food. It’s difficult to get used to at first.”
“你来到中国，以为自己的中文可以说的很好。但是当我到了中国以后，我什么也说不出来。课程还勉强应付得来，但是当你无助地处于全新的环境中，真的很费劲。当我到了中国之后，我甚至不会点餐。起初的适应过程真的太难了。”

汉娜也有过类似的体会：

“I remember we arrived in Shanghai and we couldn’t even say the number 100 – the taxi driver didn’t understand it. We had to point to characters. The pronunciation doesn’t sound like anything you know – you can’t compare it to English, French or Spanish. You use your mouth or tongue in a different way.”
“记得刚到上海时，我们连100这个数字都说不出来，出租车司机完全听不懂。我们不得不用手比划。中文的发音是你从未听过的，你没有办法将其与英语、法语或者西班牙语相比较。你的嘴型和舌头的发音方式完全不同。”

一切噩梦都是值得的

So are the evenings in spent learning characters while your friends are at the student bar really worth it? Despite the ups and downs of their degrees, all three graduates think so. They each use Chinese in their chosen careers, and would not be in the jobs they do now without their knowledge of the language.
当你在熬夜学汉字时，朋友们却在泡吧，你觉得这样真的值得？在求学之路上经历各种曲折之后，三位毕业生都认为，那些辛苦是值得的。他们的付出最终都得到了回报，三人凭借中文专业背景找到了各自心仪的工作。

利伯蒂毕业一个月后，顺利进入英国国际发展部（Department For International Development），外派在北京上班，两年之内，年薪就超过了3万英镑（约合人民币26万元）。她说：

“The degree was absolutely worth it. The slog has paid off. Looking around at people I know who have studied French or Spanish at university, there’s not such a chance to use it in the workplace.”
“中文学位，绝对值得拥有！当初的辛苦都是值得的。我发现身边学法语和西语的同学就很难有这样好的职业发展。”

凭借出色的中文能力，扎克毕业后也很快在一家向中国销售保健品的公司谋得职位，并在短短六个月内，就从一名普通的助理研究员被提拔为面向中国市场的线上业务主管。他目前的年薪为26000英镑（约合人民币23万元），如果继续留在公司，提升为客户经理，他的年薪很快就会升至5万英镑（约合人民币44万元）。

“studying Chinese definitely makes you more marketable in the workplace. People I studied Chinese with have found it easier to find a job.”
“学习中文，会让你在职场里更受青睐，和我一起学中文的同学都很轻松地找到了工作！”

汉娜毕业后选择到上海发展，在倬英企业管理咨询公司（Intralink Group）当了四年项目经理，后独立接项目，日薪高达500英镑（约合人民币4360元）。目前，她已返回英国著名化妆品公司the Body Shop业务拓展部任职。

尽管这些中文系毕业生都在事业上有所成就，但想想当年吃的苦，学长学姐们还是建议，在选择读中文前一定要慎重考虑。汉娜表示：

“Some people think they are going to learn Chinese and then be a majorly successful entrepreneur, but I think it’s important to be quite realistic about that. ”
“有些人认为自己只要读中文系，就可以走上人生巅峰，但我觉得他们应该更加现实一些。”