Chinese and English

Chinese and English is a degree that combines proficiency in one of the world's most challenging and important languages with serious study of English as both a linguistic system and a communicative medium. Mandarin Chinese is spoken by more native speakers than any other language in the world, and China's role in the global economy, in politics, and in culture makes it a language of growing strategic importance for anyone who wants to work in international contexts. At the University of Westminster, this part-time programme develops both languages with a strong emphasis on practical employability and communication alongside academic knowledge.

As the current description notes, Westminster trains you to become a competent linguist and communicator, ready for graduate employment, with a particular emphasis on high-quality teaching across all language skills and on knowledge of contemporary cultural contexts. The Chinese strand develops your spoken and written Mandarin to a high level of proficiency, alongside engagement with Chinese society, history, culture, and contemporary affairs. Working with Chinese characters and the tonal system of Mandarin requires sustained commitment and develops a distinctive linguistic discipline.

The English strand develops your understanding of how English works as a language, approaching it analytically rather than simply as a medium of communication, which deepens your capacity to work with language carefully and to understand how communication shapes meaning.

Graduates of Chinese and English programmes are well placed for careers requiring genuine bilingual competence and cross-cultural understanding. International business, diplomacy, journalism, translation and interpreting, teaching, language consultancy, and roles in organisations with significant engagement with China are among the most direct career paths. The part-time mode makes the programme accessible to students who are managing other commitments alongside their studies.

Some graduates go on to postgraduate study in Chinese studies, applied linguistics, translation, or international relations. The combination of Chinese language fluency and analytical English language knowledge is a genuinely rare and valuable professional qualification in a world where China's global footprint continues to grow.