Short-term overseas study tours are increasingly popular among Chinese students Prepare for long-term study abroad

Short-term overseas study tours are increasingly popular among Chinese students. Prepare for long-term study abroad (reprinted by Sunbird) In recent years, with the continuous acceleration of the internationalization of education and the national...

(Reprinted by Sunbird)

In recent years, with the continuous acceleration of the internationalization of education and the continuous improvement of national living standards, short-term study abroad and short-term study tours have continued to increase. The short-term study abroad programs of major universities provide students with more opportunities to go to foreign universities for short-term experience; at the same time, during the winter and summer vacations, major study abroad institutions have organized short-term study abroad programs, allowing students to broaden their horizons and increase their knowledge during the study and tour process. Short-term study tours combine the content of travel and study. They are neither pure tourism nor pure study abroad. The clever combination of the two allows college students, middle school students and even primary school students to experience foreign customs and learn foreign cultures in a short period of time, improve academic and language levels, examine and consider whether they are suitable for studying abroad or where to study abroad, and enhance their ability to live independently overseas. At the same time, the increasing popularity of short-term study abroad has an important impact on carrying out multi-level and wide-area educational exchanges and cooperation and improving the internationalization level of my country's education.

Famous School Tour: "Preparing for long-term study abroad" "This short-term study abroad trip to Europe has strengthened my goal of going abroad. I hope to learn more knowledge by going abroad." Zhang Hao from the School of Liberal Arts of Jilin University participated in the short-term study abroad program organized by the school and went to Europe for a one-month short-term study abroad in 2010. This short trip to Europe allowed Zhang Hao to experience European culture in a short period of time and gave him a deeper understanding of the development of the European Union. He said: "Before going to the EU, I always thought that the EU was an independent entity, but it was only when I got there that I felt that Europe was integrated. Common currencies can be used in EU countries, but some coins are slightly different." Feng Yiliang participated in two short-term study tours organized by Shanghai New Oriental, and learned about foreign teaching models and study abroad application information. During his trip to Australia, Feng Yiliang participated in study tour programs in Sydney and Melbourne. In July 2009 and August 2011, I visited major universities in Australia and the UK respectively. The exotic school atmosphere gave Feng Yiliang the idea of ​​studying abroad. His trip to the UK in 2011 made his goal more concrete. "When I visited schools in the UK, I was accompanied by local teachers and students, and I learned a lot about how to apply for British institutions and specific majors. This was particularly helpful for me when I was preparing to study abroad." During the 20-day trip to the UK, the University of Edinburgh was in the midst of the Arts Festival, and the school's artistic atmosphere and the enthusiasm of the students left a deep impression on her. Now Feng Yiliang has received an offer letter from Edinburgh's Business Administration major and will start his one-year study abroad life this fall.

Volunteers:

"Speaking Chinese in a Foreign Country" "Thanks to this 10-month volunteer experience, which allowed me to see a different society, experience a different culture, and accumulate a lot of emotions." Guan Fangqian, who has just completed her 10-month Chinese volunteer experience in Thailand, has eyes full of reluctance and nostalgia. On May 31, 2011, Guan Fangqian, who was about to graduate from university, participated in the National Chinese Teacher Chinese Volunteer Program, a Chinese language promotion project of Hanban. The school she teaches at, Thailand?#22885; Dili Vocational School, is a school jointly run by Thailand and Austria, located in Sattahip City, Chonburi Province, Thailand. Guan Fangqian is the third volunteer of the school. She teaches students majoring in hotel management and tourism, a total of about 200 people. This school specializes in technical majors, so the language courses are not outstanding, especially since it has only been teaching Chinese for two years. This also leads to the imperfect foundation of Chinese teaching in schools. The school has no teaching materials, no specialized classrooms, and even semester teaching goals have not been set. As a Chinese volunteer, Guan Fangqian knows that she carries the important responsibility of spreading Chinese culture and teaching Chinese. Since there are no teaching materials, she will write lesson plans based on the "Happy Chinese" issued by Hanban every time she attends class and make appropriate modifications. Due to the weak foundation of the students, she mainly conducted pronunciation teaching in the first semester, combined with simple dialogues, and the content to be taught in each class and the next class can be reviewed in an integrated manner. The Chinese teaching quickly became effective. Although she only taught more than 100 students out of the 4,000 students in the school, they all greeted Guan Fangqian in standard Chinese: "Hello, teacher!" Many students told her that she wanted to visit China, see China, and see her hometown. The teachers greet her every day and are very caring; the students salute and say hello every day, and some students even wait at the door of the office just to say "Hello, teacher!"; there are also the kind smiles of the uncles and aunts at the stalls, and their "poor" but extremely beautiful Chinese. In a foreign country, their smiles always make Guan Fangqian feel a sense of belonging. "All the words and all the touches are condensed into huge motivation, which makes me like my current job more and enjoy every day working here." In the last week, Guan Fangqian took photos and hugged classmates from each class. The students always say seriously: The teacher must come back. "I think I will, for the cause of teaching Chinese as a foreign language that I deeply love, and for the lovely school here and the beloved teachers!"

Competition "A Festival for Mathematics Lovers" "The day of participating in the EMCC (Exeter Mathematics Club Competition) is a day for these mathematically talented students to get together and show off, and it seems to have become a festival for mathematics lovers." Teacher Huang Jingmin, head of the AMC (American Mathematics Competition) China Organizing Committee and general leader of the EMCC Beijing team, summarized this short cultural cooperation project in February, "This is a competition trip, a cultural trip, and an experience trip." EMCC is one of the most influential subject competitions among private high schools in the United States. The third EMCC competition was held at Phillips-Exeter Middle School, the number one private high school in the United States, and attracted 60 participating teams. During the 15-day trip to the United States, the Beijing team, composed of 33 middle school students from Beijing Mathematics School, the High School Affiliated to Renmin University, and Beijing No. 4 Middle School, ranked second in the overall team competition for the first time. In addition to participating in the third EMCC competition, the coaches also led the students to visit 5 well-known universities including Harvard University, MIT, and Columbia University, as well as 3 to 4 prestigious American high schools near Boston, where they had close contact with school admissions officers, learned about the latest admissions information, and received interview coaching. If you have the opportunity to study in these high schools, it will be a very good opportunity for local and international students. Later, the students visited scenic spots on the east and west coasts of the United States. Zhang Yinjie, a student from the High School Affiliated to Renmin University, felt a lot in this competition. She said: "I have participated in many domestic mathematics competitions, but this competition is unique. This competition broke the traditional model of giving questions, giving time, and giving total points. Instead, it included team competitions, individual competitions, courage competitions and other items, which were more comprehensive. If I have the opportunity in the future, I really hope to go abroad for further study." Li Sicong said, "In addition to the competition time, In addition, we spent most of the time learning about American culture. During our half-month stay in the United States, we visited many famous places and famous universities. I must study harder and strive to get admitted to college here. "EMCC competitions have various forms, including team competitions, individual time trials, courage competitions, etc., which require students to have the ability to flexibly apply theoretical knowledge, transfer knowledge, practical application skills, and analyze and solve problems. At the same time, EMCC is a great test for students’ English proficiency, question-answering strategies, collaboration ability, and psychological quality. "My children came back from the United States this time looking more generous, more confident, and more sensible." This is a common feeling among parents. The short-term group life experience makes students better at self-management and understanding of others. Huang Jingmin said: "This trip to the United States is a way for students to improve their comprehensive abilities of self-confidence, self-care, and independence. The competition is an opportunity for students to showcase themselves on the international competitive stage; the process of visits and exchanges allows them to re-examine themselves, so that they can clarify and concrete their goals in the direction of their studies. We will also build more platforms for students to participate in international competitions and exchanges." At the same time, the 2012 HMMT competition Beijing team, composed of 24 students from three teams, namely the first and second teams of the High School Affiliated to Renmin University and the Middle School Affiliated to Peking University, participated in the HMMT competition held in Boston in February. HMMT is an annual (in February every year) mathematics competition for middle school students held in turn by Harvard University and MIT, two of the world's top universities in the United States. It has been held for 15 years from 1998 to 2012. This year there are more than 100 participating teams, with nearly a thousand students. The Beijing team participated in the competition for the first time and achieved excellent results. The High School Affiliated to Peking University won the first place in the total score of Group B among the teams, and the 2nd team of the High School Affiliated to Renmin University won the 9th place in the total score of the most important team. Among them, Wang Runnan won the 7th overall individual score. This is also the best result achieved by the Beijing team on behalf of the Chinese team in the history of this event.

Aspects of short-term study tours Short-term study tours combine study and play, allowing students to experience foreign customs and learn foreign cultures, develop confidence in studying abroad, improve academic and language levels, and strengthen their ability to live independently overseas. In addition, short-term overseas study tours also provide a formal and high-end overseas training platform for college students, allowing them to gain world-class university course experience and contribute to the personal quality development of participants. There are two types of short-term study tours commonly mentioned in society today. One is short-term study tours, which mainly use summer and winter vacations to broaden horizons and increase knowledge during study and sightseeing; the other is short-term overseas training, which mainly focuses on language training and skills training. Short-term study tours have three main characteristics: first, they are shorter in duration and can be flexibly controlled; second, they are less expensive. Compared with long-term study abroad, which often costs hundreds of thousands of yuan, the cost of short-term study tours is much lower; third, they are more targeted and can flexibly develop routes based on student needs. But even though it is a short-term study tour, preliminary preparations are also very important. If you are not properly prepared, it is easy to turn a short-term study abroad or study tour into a pure tourism. It is suitable for students who study abroad for a short period of time, mainly those who have a certain academic foundation in China, are interested in overseas culture, and want to experience studying abroad first-hand. Only when you are prepared can you achieve results in a shorter period of time.