Asian Language and Culture at UBC's Vancouver campus | UBC Undergraduate Programs and Admissions

Asian Language and Culture is designed to give you the linguistic and cultural capital to work as a leader in the 21st century on the Canada-Asia interface. This program combines advanced language study with a concentration in one of five areas – China, Chinese Literature, Japan, Korea, or South Asia.

Why this program?

Study at UBC's Asian Library, which has the largest collection of Asian materials in Canada.
Choose from the many languages taught: Mandarin Chinese, Classical Chinese, Japanese, Classical Japanese, Korean, Cantonese, Punjabi, Hindi-Urdu, Sanskrit, and Persian.

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Program information

Campus: Vancouver
Faculty: Faculty of Arts
Degree: Bachelor of Arts

Length 4 yrs
Co-op Yes
You can combine your studies with full-time, paid work at top local and international organizations.
Honours No
You can study intense specialization in a single field.

Asian Language and Culture introduces you to the history and culture of a variety of Asian societies. You can explore literary and religious traditions, as well as gender relations in Asian cultures. Language instruction courses are offered in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Persian, and Indonesian.

In the current “Asia-Pacific Century” it is essential for responsible global citizens to understand and navigate with confidence the complex historical, cultural, and linguistic dynamics that both help and hinder productive cross-cultural work and engagement. Graduates will value diversity and command a valuable and rare combination of Asia-relevant linguistic and inter-cultural competencies. Graduates become able to contribute to Canada’s evolving relationship with Asia in informed, original, and culturally appropriate ways.

Experiential learning and research

Asian Studies majors are strongly urged to broaden and deepen their engagement with Asia by participating in a Go Global-sponsored study abroad experience, taking Asia-related courses in other Faculty of Arts departments, enrolling in the Arts Co-op and Internship Programs, as well as taking advantage of the many alumni, lecture, and other events sponsored by the department.

Campus features

The Asian Library has the largest collection of Asian materials in Canada. Its holdings include the Puban collection of over 45,000 books and unpublished manuscripts and a serial collection of nearly 1,000 Chinese periodicals and newspapers. Among the library’s treasures is the oldest book in the UBC Library system, published in China in 986 AD. The collection also includes a 50,000-volume Indic languages collection with materials in Sanskrit, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, and Gujarati.

CHIN 161 - Enriched Summer Intensive Beginning Chinese
An integrated language course developing communicative competence in speaking, listening to, reading, and writing modern Mandarin Chinese.
PERS 104 - Persian Reading and Writing for Persian-Speaking Students
Reading and writing of standard Persian; lexical and syntactic differences between written and spoken Persian. Restricted to Persian heritage speakers with aural/oral knowledge but no reading/writing skills.
PUNJ 102 - Introductory Punjabi
Spoken and written Punjabi. As of 2011W, credit will be granted for only one of PUNJ 100/101 or PUNJ 102. Students who have taken Punjabi 11 in high school cannot take PUNJ 102 for credit.
JAPN 100 - Beginning Japanese IA
An introduction to modern spoken and written Japanese with emphasis on both form (grammar and syntax) and functions (Non-intensive). Not available for credit to students with JAPN 11 and/or JAPN 12.

CHIN 231 - Basic Chinese II: Part 1 (Non-Heritage)
Skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing Mandarin Chinese, active vocabulary of about 750 Chinese words, and basic grammar.
CHIN 241 - Basic Chinese II: Part 1 (Heritage)
Skills in listening to and speaking Mandarin and reading and writing modern written Chinese. Emphasis on reading and writing.
PUNJ 200 - Intermediate Punjabi
Study of the grammar and introduction to Punjabi literature. As of 2011W, credit will be granted for only one of PUNJ 201/202 or PUNJ 200.
JAPN 260 - Intensive Beginning Japanese II
Continuation of JAPN 160. Offered in Term 2. Students are recommended to complete JAPN 160 and 260 in the same year.

CHIN 381 - Mandarin for Cantonese Speakers I
Strictly for Cantonese speakers from Hong Kong who cannot speak Mandarin but who have advanced Chinese reading and writing skills (2,000 characters).
SANS 300 - Introductory Sanskrit
Basic vocabulary and most important grammatical features of classical Sanskrit. Useful to students of South Asian history, culture, languages, philosophies, and religions, and of linguistics and classics.
CNTO 301 - Basic Cantonese I
Elementary level (part I) course in Cantonese for non-heritage learners with no prior exposure to or background in Cantonese. Focus on training for basic listening and conversational skills in Cantonese. Heritage speakers of Mandarin are NOT eligible.
JAPN 320 - Intermediate Japanese I A
Integrated coverage of topics on culture and cross-cultural communication designed to develop competencies in speaking, listening, reading, and writing. It is strongly recommended that JAPN 320 and JAPN 321 be taken in the same year.

CHIN 435 - Business Chinese I (Heritage)
Reading, writing, and presentation skills in business documentation, focusing on technical Chinese as used in the workplace. Emphasis on specialized vocabulary and development of communicative competence as relevant to advertising, the stock market and E-commerce.
PERS 400 - Persian Short Story for Native and Heritage Speakers
Modern short stories from mid-19 century to present.
PUNJ 404 - The Punjabi Novel (Advanced Punjabi)
Study of the modern Punjabi novel to deepen understanding and use of Punjabi, and strengthen analysis in English and Punjabi.
CNTO 451 - Advanced Cantonese through Popular Culture
Popular culture in Hong Kong from media such as television, cinema, popular music, literature, social media, etc., through advanced authentic Cantonese listening and reading materials. Open to non-heritage and heritage speakers of Mandarin and/or Cantonese.
JAPN 456 - Newspaper Japanese I
Developing fluency in reading contemporary Japanese newspapers; concentration on current and emerging vocabulary, evolving grammatical features, and style of presentation.

Life at UBC's Vancouver campus

UBC has nearly 60 full-time teaching faculty members that specialize in the literature, religion, thought, and history of East and South Asia and offer instruction in Asian languages such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Punjabi, and more.

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Your future

As an Asian Language and Culture graduate you will have a first-hand appreciation of linguistic and cultural difference, and a critically informed understanding of one or more cultures and civilizations of South or East Asia. These assets, along with strong research, writing, and critical thinking skills, set you up for other graduate and professional degrees; work in the Foreign Service, Canada Border Service Agency, and other branches of government; serve in NGOs and not-for-profit organizations; work as translators and interpreters in a variety of contexts; and employment in diverse educational, cultural, and media institutions.

Program graduates

Cultural ambassador, Labo Exchange Foundation
Channel care representative, TELUS
Program coordinator, First Steps Canada
Associate account strategist, GMS Sales

Program requirements

Canadian high schools
International high schools
International baccalaureate

English-language requirements

English is the language of instruction at UBC. All prospective students must demonstrate English-language competency prior to admission. There are numerous ways to meet the English Language Admission Standard.

General admission requirements

IB Diploma Programme

Completed IB Diploma, including at least three Higher Level courses.

IB Certificate Courses

IB Certificate courses (Standard and Higher Level) may be used in an admissions average if you are graduating from a recognized high school curriculum that can be used as your basis of admission.
IB Math Applications and Interpretations SL, or IB Math Studies, do not satisfy the math requirement for admission to UBC’s science-based programs, the Faculty of Management, the UBC Sauder School of Business, or the Vancouver School of Economics.

Degree-specific requirements: Arts

No specific courses required beyond those needed for general admission

Related courses

The following subject categories are particularly relevant for this degree. Consider taking courses in these areas in your junior year and senior year.

Language Arts
Mathematics and Computation
Second Languages
Social Studies
Visual and Performing Arts