Too Chinese for NTU? University clarifies exchange student's rejection from Chinese course

What's harder than being a Chinese person who can't speak Mandarin? Trying to learn the language.

For Canadian-born Chinese Derek Leung, who spent a semester at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in 2015, the struggle was definitely real when his application to enrol in a Chinese language course was rejected.

The reason? His race.

Leung, now 26, recounted his experience in a post in Facebook group Subtle Asian Traits on Jan 14.

In a screenshot of an email that Leung attached to his post, NTU's Office of Academic Services had told him that he was "no eligible to register [sic]" in NTU's Chinese Language Level One course as he was Chinese.

At NTU, level one language courses are meant for "first-time learners".

Students are required to declare that they have "absolutely no prior knowledge of the language or no previous study of the language".

Despite not being able to speak the language, Leung's appeal was denied and he eventually ended up taking a business management elective.

Leung is a third-generation Canadian-born Chinese and had "zero Mando influence growing up", his cousin said in a comment.

"I had not learnt Chinese all my life so I thought that living in a country where people spoke (the language) would be a good opportunity," Leung told Coconuts Singapore.

A NTU spokesperson told AsiaOne on Jan 16 that their policy had been "aimed to give opportunities to students to learn non-native languages". But ethnicity, race or nationality has not been considered when students sign up for language courses since 2016.

While Leung's experience may have been a few years back, his post was all too relatable for the members of the Facebook group.

Some also brought up the bane of every Singaporean student's life — the bell curve. NTU may have been trying to prevent students who could already speak the language from gaming the system and putting other students at a disadvantage, they said.

While it may be sensible to bar students with prior experience from a basic language course, a majority of commenters also pointed out that assuming a person's language ability based on their ethnicity may not be the best method.

That said, with language apps and online learning platforms becoming more common, the university isn't the only place to pick up a new language. 

And the best part? You'll never have to ask: "Is it because I'm Chinese?"

kimberlylim@asiaone.com