ASU students share their impressions of internships in China
Academic mobility programs have already been realized at Altai State University for a number of years. It is a good opportunity to spend one or two semesters in another country as a foreign student without making a break at your own university. Academic mobility programs are aimed at internationalization of higher education and cultural integration of young people from different countries. Altai State University students have a wonderful chance to participate in exchange programs realized together with Chinese universities. More than 30 ASU students have already undertaken internships in Chinese universities in the first semester of this academic year.
Academic mobility programs with language internships among them usually have positive feedback, and every year the number of students willing to participate is growing. Thus, 20 students are going to China in the second semester based on the results of “Welcome to China!” competition, which was conducted in December at ASU.
Participation in academic exchanges allows international students to get to know each other better, learn more about foreign country’s education system and culture. It very important for academic exchange programs to give students useful knowledge and skills, positive emotions, as well as increase their language proficiency.
Daria Maximova, Faculty of History:
“I was undertaking my internship at Hainan Foreign Language College of Professional Education (Wenchang, Hainan). The education process is well organized. Students study in small groups, where Chinese lecturers conduct classes in the Chinese language. They are very king and always ready to help. The students of the institute are sympathetic and benevolent. The institute’s social life is very intense, there are a lot of different events conducted, where one can watch and even take part in.”
Alina Krokhaleva, Faculty of History:
“The Chinese language was taught at a high level at Zhejiang University of Science and Technology (Hangzhou, China), lecturers were trying to present something new every lesson. It wasn’t just learning basic words and reading simple texts, we had interesting classes that helped us to understand culture and traditions of this wonderful country better. We were watching movies, the lecturers were telling us different stories about their country, life situations, and every one of us learned something new from it. In one word, the lecturers do their best. Despite a great number of foreign students, they managed to convey their message to each and every one of us. I would also like to note the work of the international department. As holidays came the department organized different events for the foreign students with competitions and gifts for the winners.”
Alena Abramova, Faculty of History:
“When students arrive in Hangzhou, they do a test on their level of Chinese proficiency. Further they are divided into 5 groups according to the test results. There are 2-2,5 double periods (5 school classes) held 4 times a week. There are also electives: HSK preparation (only 5th level), culture, society, Chinese cinema and so on. The lecturers are wonderful, very kind-hearted, explain everything in accessible language. The atmosphere of constant presence among native speakers helps studying a lot, the pronunciation becomes better with every passing day, the fear of speaking starts fading away. At the same time, many sides of life in a different country were unexpected and unusual for us. The climate is unusual, very humid, it is raining often. The weather is warms, so there is no heating in dormitories and in the whole town. This is why it is moderately cold in the dormitory at the end of autumn. As the practice shows, international programs provide great opportunities for Russian students. They give knowledge and skills that allow students to be successful on the international stage, fulfill the most hard-driving ambitions, get extensive cultural experience, and make a lot of friends from all over the world.”
Our Chinese partners also place a high value on the opportunities provided by the university.
Wang Zhongjun, lecturer of ASU Department of Oriental Studies:
“As for the first year of work, I’ve spent it on the daily routine, fulfilling authorities’ assignments, preparing for the classes, which was not always bad. When conducting the classes, I tried not just work in the framework of the program, but to make it more interesting and extensive for the students. My lessons were held in an interactive form, I filled them with stories about Chinese culture. When you make your own contributions, you indispensably get the return. At my classes I try to create friendly atmosphere, which encourages students to study better, and improve myself at the same time. I’m glad that the university conducts different events dedicated to Chinese culture on the regular basis. Such activities as making figures of paper, calligraphy, Chinese knotting, delivering tongue twisters, singing Chinese songs heighten students’ interest in studying the Chinese language. In March Chinese Culture Festival confined to Chinese New Year took place at ASU. In May summer school for foreign students from China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Germany and ASU lecturers was held at university tourist site at Krasilovo. Educational seminars, lectures, workshops were carried out outdoors, and students liked them a lot due to that special camping atmosphere. Sporting and intellectual games allowed the participants to have fun and relax.”
ASU pays a lot of attention to international collaboration development. It means that the students get more opportunities to visit new countries and learn about other peoples’ culture.