In this blog post, we will look at how you can effectively convey your various experiences, such as presentation skills, club activities, and career plans, in your academic plan for Chinese Language and Literature.
Write about your academic experience and what you learned
What do I need? Presentation skills and summary learning!
I had two concerns about my studies. One was that I lacked concentration, and the other was that I lacked confidence. On the other hand, I was very curious and creative, so I was interested in many subjects and enjoyed learning new things. For example, when I was studying grammar in language class and moved on to poetry, I was excited to learn something new. Also, while studying poetry, I learned poems about the seasons, and I enjoyed the challenge of writing a poem on the theme of “autumn.”
However, I had a relatively short attention span, so I liked tasks that were fun right away, but I lacked the patience to work steadily on one task for a long time. In non-literature units, I found it even more tedious to read essays that were more than a page long and find the main sentences in each paragraph to connect the content. I also wanted to avoid summarizing the main sentences and rewriting them in my own words, as this required concentration. However, if I didn’t get used to summarizing, it would be difficult to understand the long passages in the language section of the college entrance exam, so I decided to overcome this challenge.
First, I applied a learning method that allowed me to prolong the initial curiosity I felt when encountering a new passage. Instead of thinking, “This is too long and boring,” I decided to read each paragraph with curiosity, thinking that each paragraph was a different piece of writing. Then, after reading each paragraph, I marked the key words and wrote down their contextual meanings in the passage instead of their dictionary meanings. I practiced connecting the meanings of words to create sentences in my own words, and I gained confidence by summarizing the text and presenting it to my friends. The better the sentence, the more confident I felt when presenting it, and after writing, I actively raised my hand to present it in front of others. Through this practice, I improved not only my concentration but also my presentation skills and confidence.
Major school activities and impressions
Developing creativity through a Chinese culture study club.
I am very curious about things that are different from me, new to me, and things I don’t know well. I enjoy learning about foreign cultures, and I was interested in learning Chinese and English. I especially enjoyed studying Chinese as my second foreign language. While studying Chinese textbooks, I learned many sentences and phrases, but I also enjoyed learning about Chinese history, food culture, clothing culture, and other aspects of Chinese culture. I wanted to learn more about these things, so I joined the Chinese Culture Study Club.
Our club was not just a place for friends to study Chinese culture, but also a place to share what we learned with other students. The name of the club means “to talk” in Chinese. We often held daily Chinese language classes in the conversation room at school, where anyone could sign up and learn basic Chinese. We also held tasting events where we made typical Chinese dishes, quizzes on general knowledge about China, and Chinese film screenings.
There were about 20 members in our club, and we all shared a love for Chinese culture and enthusiasm for organizing events. For our most frequent activity, Chinese language classes, we took turns deciding on a topic and preparing the lesson. When it was my turn to be the main lecturer, I decided to teach tone. There are four tones in Chinese, and subtle differences in tone can change the meaning of a word, so it was an important topic.
To convey this clearly, I conducted a class where the students not only repeated the pronunciation but also imitated the movements with their whole bodies. For example, for the first tone, the students stretched both arms forward and walked on flat ground while shouting “ah,” and for the second tone, they climbed onto a high table and made a sound that rose from the bottom to the top. For the third tone, I had them get down from the table and then climb back up, and for the fourth tone, I had them make the sound while coming down from a high place. I was grateful that the students who participated in the lecture enjoyed it and followed along well, and I was glad that I was able to teach them more about Chinese tones.
In addition to the Chinese language lecture, we also held a dessert tasting corner with tanghulu, a traditional tea tasting, and a tasting of Chinese fruit irisabai. It was an opportunity to try foods that they don’t usually eat, so many of my classmates came, and we presented the foods we had prepared in exchange for a small fee. In particular, my friends were very surprised when they tasted the various tropical fruits in the tanghulu and the juicy irisabai, and they asked me where they could eat them again, which made me feel that our preparations had been worthwhile. Through the Chinese Culture Study Club, I was able to experience double the fun by preparing lectures and food tastings, which I don’t usually do, and sharing the experience with others.
Examples of consideration, sharing, and cooperation, and what I learned
Helping with a traffic accident outside of school
My school is located a little off a busy road, so we were always told to be careful of cars on our way to and from school. In fact, there were often minor and major traffic accidents at the intersection on the main road, and a parent traffic patrol was even assigned. Once, my class had consecutive physical education classes on the playground, and we were in the middle of a golf lesson. When learning golf, even if we hit the ball from the command box at the end of the playground, it would fly to the fence on the other side of the playground, which was very difficult. It was hard work to go and fetch the ball, but often it would fly over the fence and outside the school grounds, so we had to go out of the school gate to retrieve it.
At that time, I was practicing my golf swing with my friends in the designated area, and once, three of our balls flew over the fence, so I went to the school gate to retrieve them. At that moment, a large truck and a taxi collided with a loud crash, causing a traffic accident. It happened right in front of our eyes, and we were shocked and realized that it was a dangerous accident as small flames were rising. We saw smoke rising and the drivers of both cars unable to get out and lying on the ground, and we immediately thought that we had to respond quickly to the accident.
So we asked a teacher who was far away for help, and while the teacher went to the staff room, we asked people around us to call 119 for help. Then, together with passersby, we opened the car doors and helped the drivers out so that they would not be injured further. When we laid the injured people on the ground, we covered them with our gym uniforms and asked them to wait on the sidewalk for safety. Soon, an ambulance arrived, and since we were the ones who witnessed the accident, we went with them. Fortunately, neither of the two people were seriously injured and recovered quickly. After giving our statements as witnesses, we returned home. In a way, we could have chosen not to intervene, but by working together to help people in need, we were able to feel the power of sharing.
Motivation for applying and efforts and preparations related to career plans
Becoming a Chinese language instructor who contributes to a global society
I will grow as a Chinese language instructor and take the lead in promoting cultural exchange between China and Japan. To do so, I will need to learn more about Chinese language and culture, but I also want to build friendships with Chinese people who come to Japan to learn about our culture, and share our culture with them. This will allow me to expand my knowledge as a Chinese language instructor and gain more experience. Therefore, if I am accepted into the Chinese Language and Literature Department at XX University, I will take advantage of the university’s exchange program to study at a Chinese university and experience the local lifestyle, language, and culture firsthand.
Since I had a dream of becoming a Chinese language instructor, I have worked hard to achieve my goal while in high school. Most importantly, I studied Chinese diligently and did not neglect the basic textbook learning. Textbooks may seem simple and easy, but I believe they contain the most important core content that must not be overlooked. Through textbook learning and preparation for the second foreign language section of the college entrance exam, I worked hard to develop the basic Chinese reading and conversation skills required for the job.
In order to learn more about Chinese culture, I joined a Chinese culture study club and organized various events. While preparing for these events, I learned more about Chinese movies, food, geography, and other aspects of Chinese culture that I was not familiar with, and I gained a deeper understanding by introducing what I learned to my friends. In addition, I had the meaningful experience of participating in the entire process of teaching Chinese, from lesson preparation to planning, introduction, and conclusion, through a one-day lecture. Through these teaching activities, I realized that becoming a Chinese language instructor is a good fit for me, and I decided to apply to the Chinese Language and Literature Department to study more in depth and achieve my goal. During my time at university, I plan to gain various experiences outside of the classroom by participating in Korean-Chinese cultural exchange events as an interpreter and running a booth at festivals to promote cultural experiences.
