“I barely understood a single word,” Kenneth Chan, 18, says, referring to the fast and furious pace at which the Chinese natives spoke.
“Even the African exchange students spoke more fluent Chinese than the bunch of us who were ethnically Chinese,” he added sheepishly.
“The bunch” refers to 20 second-year Mass Communication students, who were in Wuhan, Hubei province during the semestral break.
They left for Wuhan on Aug. 23 accompanied by their lecturer, Mrs Sng Poh Yoke, and spent six weeks at Wuhan University, one of China’s top 10 universities.
The students were required to take a core module, Feature Writing, taught by Mrs Sng, as well as two Interdisciplinary Studies modules—Chinese Political System, and Chinese Culture and Society.
Both modules were conducted by Wuhan University lecturers
Joshua Tan, 18, one of the student photographers for the trip, thought the modules were helpful to him as President of the Ngee Ann Debating Club.
“We really loved learning about calligraphy and spending a few hours with a Taichi instructor there,” says Apple Ong, 18, who also gushes about all the shopping and eating they did over there.
Fun aside, Mrs Sng thought that Wuhan was a great learning environment, especially since it is “not as well-known as Beijing or Shanghai, so the students really had to immerse themselves in the environment.”
The immersion resulted in two magazines put together by the students: Trippers and EXcapades. Future students going to Wuhan can refer to their advice and stories in the magazines.
