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 405810374 　張妤庭　　留學學校：紐約州立大學科特蘭分校

(一)基本資料

I studied at SUNY Cortland from 2018 to 2019. During these two semesters, I took Spanish, world politics and anthropology courses, etc. (20字)

(二)課程學習

【照片說明：pic w/ professor Bill】

Within this one exchanged year, my favorite classes of all was Spanish and Public speaking class. From these two classes, I really recommend the Spanish class. Not only you can learn other language, but also the chance of taking foreign language which is taught by foreigner is rare. There are some reasons why I liked and recommended this course below. First of all, the professor, Nancy Crane, was really nice and she was always so patient with every student, despite how many questions we had. For example, she knew that some of students are not so good at pronouncing words or some of them confused with grammar structures; therefore, she was always willing to teach them again or even one more time. Or she will tell students to ask their questions after class done. Additionally, the another reason I love her class is because it let me gain lots of knowledge no matter in the academic way or oral expression. Both of that made me be more familiar with Spanish. Although she assigned so many quizzes and homework. However, that was the motivation pushing me to study harder. As for the public speaking class, it was also my beloved one. The professor, Bill William, was really a lovely and hilarious guy that I have never met. Every time before class began, he always showed a quote on his first power point slide and the quote was either said by himself or quoted by some his favorite poets. Those quotes seem not very special but sometimes that was really helpful and made me think more positive. From his class, I learned how to deliver speech much better. Besides, taking this course let me know what my flaw is, such as my voice was not loud enough and the way I presented the speech should give more eye contact, etc. Moreover, the best advantage of this course was that you would have two or three peers wrote down their comments and also professor’s. Which let me much quickly know what aspect I should improve or what I were good at and should keep it.(353字)

(三)生活環境

【照片說明：West Campus】

I loved studying at SUNY Cortland. My room was a single so I was able to enjoy some time alone and be able to study. I did not have a meal plan, I cooked most of the time or sometimes had dinner with my friends. It was really a slow-paced life in Cortland and you can feel huge difference between other schools located nearby city. In the good way, you are much able to focus on academy, doing exercise or other stuff. Most of benefits was making you saving much money and you even can apply for working in school which other fancy schools do not offer. Moreover, the environment around West Campus which I lived was really quiet, not like living nearby city was really annoyed and made you get insomnia. As for bad sides about SUNY Cortland, the weather here, however, was not that great. It was cold the majority of the time, which I was not used to. The location of this school was also not that great and was not so convenient. My friend Anna, would drive to Syracuse (about 40 minutes away) so that we could buy Chinese groceries. While I was here, I had the opportunity to try all different types of food from all of my friends. My friend, Anna, took me to a Chinese restaurant where I tried Americanized Chinese food. It was not what I had expected. Most, if not all of the food that was served there was not served in Taiwan. I’m glad I got to try the food because I did not realize that people had different takes on Chinese food. I was also able to try American food, Filipino food, fast food, Mexican food, and much more. Overall, I like studying here.(295字)

(四)自我成長

【照片說明：On the way to Moffet to take school bus】

Studying abroad for one year was really a challenge for me. There were bunch problems you needed to face and solve by yourself. For me, the first biggest challenge was dealing with everything by myself, such as from the aspect of arranging time, cooking and taking public transportation, etc. From others’ perspectives, those things seem so simple; however, that was my tasks needed to conquer. During this exchanged year, I learned how to arrange my time well so that I had more free time doing work out to prevent getting cold and stay a healthy body, hanging out with my roommates and stepping out my comfort zone to make more new friends. Stepping out your comfort zone is really important thing that I realized in this recent year. Because of that, my friend zone became wider, instead of keeping staying with same group of people and speaking Mandarin only. I believed the meaning of studying abroad is not that just simply traveling many different cities or buying those luxurious products with low price, but that trying to make more friends who come from different countries and practicing English to know each other better. Therefore, I learned various cultural differences from those people I knew in Cortland. Although the beginning of taking steps toward knowing new friends made me so nervous, I found out other exchanged students were so nice to me and some of them were also interested in learning Asian culture and Chinese. As for taking course and going to the class by myself, it was also a new challenge for me because I relied on my friends too much in previous time. Which I decreased the ability of being independent and lost my responsibility on academy. However, I have changed my attitude to learn to be more responsible for myself since I take courses without my friends and no more other international students. Because of that, I was able to more focus and even met other new classmates to be my friends. (334字)

(五)大三出國建議

The advices for next junior are trying your best to step out your comfort zone to make more other international students or friends who come from different countries. Since you have taken courage to be willing to step out your comfort zone, you will know how big the world is and learn much better with yourself. But I have to say it really needs to take some time to get used to being lonely in previous time because the key of making other new friends is that you need to stop staying with the same group of your friends. And that will make you feel a little lonely when you see your old friends happily gather together to talk each other. Believe me, sometimes you may feel stepping out your original comfort zone is totally a mistake and you may want to go back staying with the same old group and speak Mandarin. It is no more than usual having this thought because I had that one too. At that time, I decided to get used with it and tried my best to make other friends. After a while, I did it and that even made me happier having different friends and even had sense of accomplishment. Because of that, I become more independent than before and those new friends I met also let me open my mind to experience so many different things. The other advice I want to give is not limiting yourself to only take those courses which can be transferred to credits. If the school credits you had is already enough making you graduating, then, I really suggest you choosing some courses you are interested in. Don not be restricted!!! Because you will never have this kind of chance in your entire life. (297字)