# Are you both in the same program?



## yuechu

大家好！

My roommate was introducing me to one of his friends who also goes to the same college (学院). How could I ask "Are you both in the same program?" (or "Are you guys in the same program?")
 Would it be the same translation if asking someone who goes to university?
Thanks!


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## SimonTsai

你們是同個學程的嗎？


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## corner1912

maybe there are some differences between universities in China and those in other regions...in China 学院 has two meanings, one is "academy", the other one is "college". “major“ is subunit of "college”. simply we ask others “what university do you go to”, but the answer could also be an academy. for example:
你是哪所大学的?/你在哪儿上的大学？——我是中央美术学院的/我在中央美术学院读的大学
but if you know they are from the same college, and you want to ask for more details, you can just say:
你们是一个专业（major）的吗？


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## yuechu

Thank you both for your help! 



corner1912 said:


> 你们是一个专业（major）的吗？


Could you also say "你们是同一个专业的吗？"?


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## albert_laosong

I suppose program is not a concept used in Chinese universities. From my experience, the Chinese university hierarchy is like this: university ->college ->department->major->class.
And as corner1912 said above, apart from colleges which are under a particular university, there are also colleges in China which are independent higher education institutions, they don't belong to any university, they are called college just because they are smaller than normal universities, for example there are colleges specializing in music, fine arts or architecture.

Class means a group of students who go to a university at the same year and have the same major, so they have exactly the same curriculum.
So I think by "in the same program" you mean in the same class？
if so, you just say "你俩是一个班的吗？”.
*EDIT:* _I see class has another meaning in North America: All of the college or school students of a particular year(同级或同届的学生）, for example "the class of 1999". But the class here doesn't mean this, it means "A group of students or pupils who are taught together” （一个班或一个班级的学生)._

I looked up program in the dictionary, it means:
A course of academic study; a curriculum.
But I'm not sure why you need such a term? you already have major, course, curriculum and class, does program have a particular meaning different from them?



yuechu said:


> Would it be the same translation if asking someone who goes to university?


I'm not sure what you mean here. Do you mean if those two go to the same university instead of going to the same college, how to say in Chinese "Are you both in the same program?"?


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## corner1912

yuechu said:


> Could you also say "你们是同一个专业的吗？"?



Yes of course, except that "你们是同一个专业的吗？"  shows more surprised feeling. but that is just picky. they are the same.


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## albert_laosong

yuechu said:


> Could you also say "你们是同一个专业的吗？"?


同一个 is just a teeny bit formal, colloquially we ofen say 一个，for example 你们是一个班的吗？你们是一个学校的吗？
But 同一个 is also quite ok colloquially.

And sometimes as Corner1912 pointed out, you say "同一个” to stress.
For example, in below sentences I would prefer to use "同一个” instead of "一个”:
同一个字在不同句子里意思不同。
对当事人的同一个违法行为,不得给予两次以上处罚。


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## SimonTsai

albert_laosong said:


> [D]oes program have a particular meaning different from them？


class (班) grade (級) major (主修) minor (輔修)

Women's and Gender Studies Programme (婦女與性別研究學程) Department of Accounting (會計學系) College of Management (管理學院)


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## corner1912

SimonTsai said:


> class (班) grade (級) major (主修) minor (輔修)
> 
> Women's and Gender Studies Programme (婦女與性別研究學程) Department of Accounting (會計學系) College of Management (管理學院)



這個“學程”和其他的單位有重疊嗎？比如一個班就一定會是同一個學程？還是一個班的同學也可以選擇不同的學程呢？大陸是同一個班一定同一個專業，專業內有“必選課”“限選課”和“選修課”，好像和其他許多地區體系不同


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## retrogradedwithwind

能不能解释下program 和学程的意思。感觉类似于项目组。


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## yuechu

Hello!
Yes, "college" in English also has the same meanings you mentioned. Most commonly here, it means a separate institution, but it can also be part of a university. (The latter meaning is not very common here but it seems to be more common in the UK and maybe the US? I have a feeling it might be more for older universities?) I did a Google search, and the first result for "colleges within universities" is about the ones in the UK.

I think that "What program are you in?" is a common wording when asking what someone studies at a college (I'm referring to a separate institution). It can be used if someone is studying at a university as well though. It's very broad and could refer to someone's major, minor, certificate program, or any other program of study. I'd be curious whether it is also commonly asked like this in the US and the UK as well. (I imagine it is, but I am not sure!) If the context is clear, we often simply ask "What are you studying (at [institution name])?".



albert_laosong said:


> 同一个 is just a teeny bit formal, colloquially we ofen say 一个，for example 你们是一个班的吗？你们是一个学校的吗？
> But 同一个 is also quite ok colloquially.


Oh, that's good to know. Thanks!


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## albert_laosong

yuechu said:


> I think that "What program are you in?" is a common wording when asking what someone studies at a college (I'm referring to a separate institution). It can be used if someone is studying at a university as well though. It's very broad and could refer to someone's major, minor, certificate program, or any other program of study.I'd be curious whether it is also commonly asked like this in the US and the UK as well. (I imagine it is, but I am not sure!) If the context is clear, we often simply ask "What are you studying (at [institution name])?".


So I suppose program covers everything learnt by a student in the college.  Then saying two students are in the program is the equivalent of saying they are in the same class (by class I mean "A group of students or pupils who are taught together"), that is, 他们是一个班的。

If two students are in the same major, they might not learn the same subjects because they might be from different classes ( by class here I mean "All of the college or school students of a particular year").
In Chinese universities, if you want to identify yourself precisely, you normall say I'm a XXX major from XXX class, for example 我是2019级经济法专业的。


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## yuechu

albert_laosong said:


> Then saying two students are in the program is the equivalent of saying they are in the same class (by class I mean "A group of students or pupils who are taught together"), that is, 他们是一个班的。


Two students in the same program could be in the same year, or different years. They might have all the same courses, or different ones. In university programs, for example, there are often electives, so students can choose some of the courses depending on their interests (or whatever other factors influence them in that decision).


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## albert_laosong

yuechu said:


> Two students in the same program could be in the same year, or different years. They might have all the same courses, or different ones. In university programs, for example, there are often electives, so students can choose some of the courses depending on their interests (or whatever other factors influence them in that decision).


Then, seems program means the same as major .


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## yuechu

They can, yes!

(I meant that they can have the same meaning sometimes)


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## albert_laosong

SimonTsai said:


> class (班) grade (級) major (主修) minor (輔修)
> 
> Women's and Gender Studies Programme (婦女與性別研究學程) Department of Accounting (會計學系) College of Management (管理學院)


大陸這邊沒有學程這個概念，大陸這邊的大學生一般是這樣介紹自己：我是西北大學管理學院經濟學係2019級區域經濟專業的學生。


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## SimonTsai

yuechu said:


> It's very broad and could refer to someone's major, minor, certificate program, or any other program of study.


I am a would-be graduate at National Taiwan University. Here academic programmes seem to be more specific than majors:

Animal Welfare Programme (動物福祉學程)
Molecular Medicine Programme (分子醫藥學程)
Mainland China Studies Programme (中國大陸研究學程)
Geriatrics and Long-Term Care Programme (老人長期照護學程)



retrogradedwithwind said:


> 能不能解释下 program 和学程的意思。感觉类似于项目组。


I am unsure of what it exactly is since I have never applied for any.


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