First name, last name and preferred name are usually filled in when applying. For example, if your name is Mary, then your name is Xiaohua, your surname is Li, and your preferred name is Mary. For other formal things (such as opening a bank account, booking air tickets, applying for a driver's license), you should still use your legal name-that is, Li Xiaohua. If the professor knows that you call yourself Mary in the exam, you can write Mary Lee (but some exams only write the exam number). If the professor doesn't know (or you're not sure whether he knows that Li Xiaohua and Mary Lee are the same person), you can write Li Xiaohua.

You can sign anything you want with your bank signature, and it's the same every time. You can sign Santa Claus if you want (Americans can't read Chinese anyway). My mother has been here for so many years, and it doesn't matter if the bank credit card still signs the Chinese name.

Summary: The official document should correspond to the passport (Li Xiaohua), and Mary Li Can should be written when communicating with people. You can write little flower Mary Lee on your resume, and people will know what it is at a glance (many people adopt an English name because the name is not easy to pronounce). On the first day when the teacher calls the roll, you can say raise your hand and say,' I'm going by Mary', so that the teacher will know the foreign names that can be taught to you in the future.