大三出國、全英語課程 - 國際視野 : 淡江大學大三出國通報及學分採認系統

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2018大三出國輔導通報系統 - 留學心得報告[編輯]

語言 405810119 　陳欣憶　　留學學校：紐約州立大學科特蘭分校

(一)基本資料

University: SUNY Cortland City: Cortland Time: Fall 2018 - Spring 10(9字)

(二)課程學習

【照片說明：Selfie with Professor Bill】

I took four courses last semester, Politics and Multiculturalism, Human Communication, Public Speaking and Spanish. This semester, I also took four courses, Introductory Psychology, Spanish, Introduction to Sociology and Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. My favorite class is public speaking. The professor of this class is Professor Bill. He’s a really amazing and interesting professor who also really cares the quality of his class. Besides, the different topic of the speech which he put in the syllabus that we have to give in class is really helpful in improving our public speaking skills. Moreover, after we gave the speech, he always gives us lots of recommendation that really encourage us to do a better job next time. However, there’s a sad news that Professor Bill is going to retire at the end of this semester, so that there’s no chance to take his class; but, I still highly recommend everyone to take a public speaking class. It’s really helping you no matter in you presentation or meeting. Another class that I’ll suggest to take is Spanish. I took the Spanish class in both semesters here. It’s not that difficult to learn a third language in your second language. On the other hand, I think that it’s really good to learn Spanish in English because you won’t forget your English while you are learning other languages. The professor of my Spanish class is Professor Nancy. She’s a professor who put a lot of effort in her class. Although it’s a little bit tough to take her class cause you’ll have lots homework and quizzes also many chances to practice speaking in class. But, after taking her class, I realized that it’s really helpful and efficient to learn a new language in this way, especially answering the questions in class is really a good way to force you to review immediately. This is another class that is really worth to take it. (331字)

(三)生活環境

【照片說明：West Campus with rainbow】

SUNY Cortland is a college in Cortland which is located in Upstate New York. It takes approximately 4 hours to drive to New York City. Compare with the campus in Lanyang, SUNY Cortland has a really big campus and lots of resident halls and apartments. All the Taiwanese students and most of the international students will live in West Campus Apartment. In here, every building has 4 apartments, and there are 4 rooms in each. Everyone has their own room, but shared living room, kitchen, dining table and one and a half bathroom. It’s a place that is suitable for the people who like to cook by themselves also need a private bedroom. The only disadvantage is that you have to take the school bus to the campus where you go to classes, student life center and dining halls. Every Wednesday night and weekend, there’s a shopping bus you can go to Walmart where we buy our groceries and some basic needs in our daily life. Also, there’s a closer place to shop your groceries which only takes you 5 minutes to walk there from West Campus. The place I often go after class is Student Life Center. There’s a gym which is well-appointed, and the fee is already include in your tuition. Next, the weather here isn’t very pleasant in most of the time. The winter here is quite long. It’ll start to snow around November, even earlier, and the weather will become warmer in April. But, the weather before winter is coming was actually really pleasant. The sunshine is great and it’s not humid like the weather in Taiwan. However, I think Cortland is a place that rains a lot. (285字)

(四)自我成長

【照片說明：The pumpkin I carved】

Honestly, I’m quite okay with the lifestyle here, there’s nothing that I really can’t stand it or really unacceptable. But, I think it’s really important to make some new friends in class or at work. Actually, it’s easy to make new friend here because the people here are really enthusiastic and friendly. They also really want to talk to you and understand your culture. Speaking of culture, the most significant things of studying in SUNY Cortland as an international student is that the International Program Office will hold lots of activities for us. From the very beginning, they held an orientation and gave us lots of help to settle down. After that, we traveled to several famous tourist spots here with a really affordable price. In addition, IPO will also hold some events for the traditional festival here. For example like, Halloween and Christmas. Apart from the culture part, learning is another major thing to do here. If the professor provided the material of the class, it’s good for you to preview before the class, and also review after class. Writing down your own notes while professor is explaining, do not only copy the things that professor wrote on the board. It will be really helpful while you are reviewing for the exams. Then, the culture shock that I experienced here which is the most impressive one is the tipping culture. In Taiwan, we don’t have to give the waiter or waitress tips, or it’ll include in the check. However, in the U.S. we have to give them additional money as the tips cause the waiters and waitresses here have a low wages, so they have to rely on the tips that the costumers tipping them. After almost a year living here, I gradually used to the tipping culture here. (309字)

(五)大三出國建議

I highly recommend everyone to open their mind try as many thing as you can. Making friends with different people from other countries and you will learn something from different cultures. Sign up for the events and activities held by IPO or school, it will be a really fantastic and affordable way to experience the American culture. If you have budget to travel around, then go ahead. There are fall break, Thanksgiving break, winter break, and spring break. These are the great time to travel to different cities and states; also you can go to Canada. You can take a Greyhound Bus though it takes some times, but it totally worth it. Besides from these fun stuff, there’s something that I think everyone also need to try. That is taking a course by your own. I didn’t mean that it’s bad to take classes with your friends. Of course there’s lots of advantage that taking classes with your friend from the same countries. But, you don’t have to stick with them all the time. Sometimes, if you try, you will have a totally different experience. And, you definitely will learn more than while taking the class with your friends.(204字)