Chinese has overtaken French, Spanish and German to become one of the most lucrative¹ foreign languages for jobseekers in the UK.

现如今，中文已经超越法语、西语、德语，成为帮助英国求职者获取最高收入的外语之一。

Research shows graduates in Chinese earn an average yearly salary of 31,000 pounds or more.

研究显示，学中文的毕业生平均年薪达3.1万英镑以上。

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，一个中文专业的文凭能确保他们在职场脱颖而出。

Chinese students set themselves up for a different university experience from their peers² who are taking traditional subjects. While an English student may have as little as six hours of contact time a week, those studying Mandarin³ are in class for most of the day.

中文专业学生的大学经历有别于选择其他传统专业的同龄人。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。

"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 literally⁴ have to spend hours and hours writing characters," says Hannah Jackson, who graduated in Chinese Studies from Sheffield University in 2009.

2009年毕业于英国谢菲尔德大学中文系的汉娜·杰克逊表示：“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。”

"The first year was really difficult. Most of my friends admitted at one point to crying in the first week because of the intensity⁵. I was almost told at one point that I might want to reconsider and drop out."

“大一是最最艰难的，我身边大多数朋友都曾表示，由于学习强度太，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。”

Liberty Timewell, who graduated in Chinese from Cambridge University in 2012, spent at least eight hours a day studying during her degree, which increased to 18 hours a day at times during her finals.

利伯蒂·泰姆韦尔是剑桥大学中文系2012级毕业生，她曾经每天至少要花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。

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, the two graduates think so.

当你在熬夜学汉字时，你的朋友们却在学生酒吧，你觉得这样真的值得？尽管在求学之路上经历各种曲折，但这两位毕业生都认为，那些辛苦是值得的。

They each use Chinese in their chosen careers, and would not be in the jobs they do now without their knowledge of the language.

他们在选择职业时都用到了中文，并且凭借相关知识找到了各自心仪的工作。

Liberty now works for the civil service in Beijing. She earned a place on the Department for International Development graduate scheme a month after finishing her degree, and was earning a salary of over 30,000 pounds within two years.

利伯蒂现在在北京从事公务员工作。毕业一个月后，她在英国国际发展部的毕业生项目中获得了一个位置，并在两年之内年薪就超过了3万英镑。

"The degree was absolutely worth it. The slog has paid off," she says.

她表示：“中文学位，绝对值得拥有！当初的辛苦已经得到了回报。”