Sarah, a native of Nanjing, graduated from high school affiliated to nanjing normal university. From June 2007 to October 2007, I went to study in japanese language school, Shude, Japan. In April 2009, he was qualified in Tokyo University, Kyoto University, Nagoya University and Waseda University. Now he is a sophomore in science at the University of Tokyo.
Reporter: Hello, Sarah, please introduce yourself first.
Sarah: OK, my name is Sarah. After graduating from the middle school affiliated to Heather Normal University in 2007, I came to Shude Japanese School to study for one and a half years. In April 2009, I was admitted to Class One of Science and Engineering of Tokyo University, and now I am in Grade Two.
Reporter: Can you tell us about your opportunity to come to Japan?
Sarah: Actually, there are many reasons. I planned to go abroad when I was in junior high school, so I studied English harder then. However, after entering high school, I found that there are many English masters, and I feel that even studying in Britain and the United States has no advantage. It's best to learn another language. I chose Japan because my cousin works in Tokyo. As Japan is close to China, my family is more at ease. There are also my personal reasons. I have been interested in the classical culture of China since I was a child.
Reporter: The classical culture of China?
Sarah: Yes, I studied landscape painting as a child and practiced calligraphy for a while. I am very interested in the structure of Chinese characters, which are also used in Japan. In my opinion, China and Japan, as the home of the Chinese language circle, have many similarities. For this reason, I also read some books about Japanese culture and found that many authors have quite different views. I want to verify these differences in person, which is why I came to Japan.
Reporter: Did you know Japanese before you came to Japan?
Sarah: Hardly. It was not until after the college entrance examination in 2007 that I began to learn Japanese. I came to Japan in June+10, 5438, and only studied for three months.
Reporter: How did you get to Shude Japanese School?
Sarah: I was studying in an intermediary in Nanjing. My parents want me to go to a language school with a better environment and feel at ease. The intermediary recommended Shude, saying that this school has a study visa and the environment is very good. The dormitory is close to the school, and there are courses for college exams, so I went to Shude Japanese School.
Reporter: How do you feel after coming to Japan?
Sarah: At first, it was novel. I have never left my parents since I was a child, and suddenly I went abroad, and I hardly understand the language. When I have no choice, I have to speak English and communicate. For the city appearance, the biggest feeling is that the street planning and housing structure in Japan are very different from those in China, especially after visiting an earthquake-proof demonstration in Japan, I was deeply impressed by the structure of Japanese houses, so I want to study architecture in university in the future. In addition, the feeling in life is that everything in Japan depends on itself.
In fact, I started living in high school and lived independently, so I felt more or less independent before I came, so there should be no problem. But after coming, I found that there are still many unsuitable places. For example, there used to be a canteen in high school, and I have to cook every day since I came. There is also the fact that most of the high school students who live in a dormitory are local to Nanjing and will never cross provinces. When I came to Japan, there were people from all over the world and even people from other countries. Everyone comes to Japan for different purposes. First of all, you must learn how to live in peace with others.
Reporter: I want to ask you a question about study. How do you learn Japanese?
Sarah: At that time, before I came to Japan, I thought it was very simple. I think my language learning ability is not bad. When I arrive in Japan, my Japanese will become better. But then I thought I was wrong-I didn't work hard, and my language ability naturally wouldn't improve. So I set myself a learning goal. For example, when I came to Japan, my Japanese was very poor, and I was only in the middle of my class. I will set a goal, I must improve my ranking in the next exam, and slowly get to the first place in work. Colleagues also made a study plan-work harder than others. If I have a poor foundation in Japanese, I will double it if others study for two hours. Others have other activities after school, so I will stay and ask the teacher all kinds of questions. This habit persisted until I was admitted to the university.
Reporter: I can see that you are working hard. How long does it take you to communicate in Japan?
Sarah: About half a year. Although people can still know that you are a foreigner when communicating, I have no problem expressing myself.
Reporter: When did you start preparing for the college entrance examination?
Sarah: It started three months before the first international student exam in 2008 to prepare for the college exam. It was my first time to take a residence exam. At that time, I didn't do very well in the exam, with a total score of more than 640 points and less than 50 people in science and engineering.
Reporter: I would like to ask, if you are a science major, you may have a good foundation, and you may get good grades without reviewing, but how do you prepare for the Japanese part?
Sarah: Before the exam, I learned that studying Japanese abroad is divided into four parts: reading comprehension, listening comprehension, listening comprehension and description. I divide my energy according to the proportion of scores. At that time, the account was only 6 points, and there was a fixed writing format, so I didn't invest too much energy. However, I heard that the score of writing in the exam has risen now, so please pay attention to those students who want to take the college entrance examination.
At that time, two of the remaining three items were listening, so I spent most of my time practicing listening, so I did many sets of simulation questions. I sorted out all the words I didn't know in the exam, and then memorized them, starting from the basics like learning English. Then I study grammar, but I don't practice much in grammar class after class, because the language school will teach it, and there won't be any difficult grammar in the exam. The first-level grammar is basically not used in the exam, so I only saw the second-level grammar and didn't read it in depth.
Listening is the biggest difficulty. Many seniors and classmates say that watching Japanese dramas at work can exercise language sense and improve listening. But I think it's over after saying it once and watching it once, and the effect is not obvious. So I listened to the exam questions and wrote them completely. It took a long time to write a composition silently at first, but I persisted. Spend a few hours practicing every day, the speed is slowly improved, and the listening is getting better and better.
Reporter: You can imagine how hard you worked at that time. After June, there will be November. How did you prepare for the college entrance examination afterwards?
Sarah: After I came to Japan, I set my goal at Dongda University, but I was not strong enough in all aspects at that time. So I made a long-term plan, that is, I will take the exam in June after half a year, so that my exam results can meet the requirements of the top ten universities in Japan. In July and August, I focused on learning English TOEFL to meet the requirements of Dongda University, and I also set Waseda University as my goal. Then fully prepare for the exam in 1 1 month and strive for full marks in science and Japanese; At the beginning of next year, I will take the exams of Nagoya University and Kyoto University to accumulate experience. Finally, I took the Dongda exam in March and passed it. This was my six-step plan. It's a reward for hard work. My plan was implemented smoothly and basically completed.
But as you must know, it's easy to say, but it's still very difficult to really implement it. Especially after June, I became very busy. Many people are relieved after the entrance examination, and I started preparing the information of Waseda that night. Waseda University and TOEFL have conflicting preparation times. I want to prepare for the TOEFL test while preparing for the internal examination of Waseda University. Fortunately, Waseda's school exam also has English, so I also prepared Waseda's school exam when I was preparing for TOEFL.
Waseda announced the list at the beginning of 10, and I was very complicated, happy and nervous when I saw that I was admitted to Waseda. I am happy because I have been admitted to Waseda, but I am nervous that I am getting closer and closer to the goal of Dongda University, which means that the exam day is not far away. I got more than 730 points in the second exam, and almost all of them got full marks in math and Japanese. To tell you the truth, I am relieved after the exam. After all, I have been working hard for a year. After that, I mainly prepared for the in-school exams of Kyoto University and Nagoya University, because the top students in Japan not only require high scores, but also care about the "characteristics" of students' academic ability. For this part of the impression, I spent a lot of time reading extracurricular books, experiencing the feelings of Japanese locals and broadening my knowledge. In June and February, 2009, I was admitted to Kyoto University and Nagoya University respectively.
Reporter: Can you share with us your experience of being admitted to Dongda University?
Sarah: OK. The first round of selection is a book selection test. I was deeply impressed by the fact that Dongda's book selection exam not only had strict requirements on scores, but also cared about the characteristics of students. Many schools only want my college entrance examination results and exam results, that is to say, they only look at the exam results. However, when I was admitted to Tokyo University, it was said that I could hand in anything that could prove my hard work. So I submitted a lot of materials, such as the award of the painting competition I participated in, the school-based English textbook I participated in, and the proof that I worked as a social worker in the community.
I think I can pass the book selection exam, perhaps on the one hand, my grades are passable, on the other hand, these activities let Dongda see the traces of my efforts.
Reporter: That is to say, Dongda not only requires excellent grades, but also requires personal literacy standards?
Sarah: I think so. It may be because of the high rejection rate of the exam that double standards are set. I remember that year, only 13 of all science candidates passed the book review and entered the next round of exams. Then write two short papers in Japanese for two and a half hours. Although there is no word limit, there is generally an unwritten rule that at least the reverse side of the answer sheet should be written. Finally, the interview, the professor will ask you a few basic questions, and randomly ask questions according to your answers until you are satisfied, about 20 minutes. I heard that these two essays will give you two points, and the interview will give you another point. Together, the three scores determine whether you are qualified for the second interview.
Regarding my personal achievements, I am very grateful to my alma mater, the Middle School affiliated to Heather Normal University. Because at that time, the school provided me with many opportunities to participate in various activities, to develop my own specialties and to get in touch with society. I remember an educator saying that when you forget everything taught in school, the rest is education. After leaving my alma mater, I gradually realized the influence of the attached middle school on my humanistic quality. Later, I learned that I was admitted, and the teachers and principals gave me great support and help. I am very grateful to them.
Reporter: I see. So how many qualified international students are there in the last category of science?
Sarah: Five, all from China. One student finally went to the Northeastern University School of Medicine, so there were four students when they entered the school.
Reporter: After coming to Japan for one and a half years, you passed four top universities in Japan, namely Dongda University, Jingda University, Mingda University and Zaoda University. This is also the result of your efforts. Now that you are a sophomore in Dongda University, have you set any new goals after entering the university?
Sarah: Well, actually, one of my goals is to enter the best university in Japan. Although I am admitted now, I will cherish this hard-won opportunity and continue to struggle. My major is architecture, and I am also very interested in art, so I joined the art interest group in the university. In addition, after graduating from college, I want to go to Europe and America to study for a master's degree in architectural design to further broaden my horizons.
Reporter: I once interviewed Wang Xian, the predecessor of your Dongda University. She said that one of her biggest troubles in Dongda University is that she has to face 36 boys in class every day. I don't know what your situation is.
Sarah: I can understand her feelings very well. Actually, we are both science majors. My situation is very similar to hers. Sometimes, when I see girls in science class, I am excited to find their peers. But after getting used to it, communication with classmates is also very interesting. Many of my friends want to learn Chinese for various reasons. I remember one of them said that he felt that it was not enough to master only Japanese and English in the future, and he was very happy to communicate with the 65.438+300 billion people in China by learning a language. It suddenly occurred to me that I came to Japan for the same purpose as him-to face a culture and feel communication without language barriers? So I was impressed by his answer. Through many conversations, I not only know what foreigners think of China, but also let me examine my mother tongue and cultural background from a new angle.
Reporter: Finally, I ask you, as a senior, to give some advice to the younger generation who are about to enter the university.
Sarah: Actually, before I went to college, I saw a lot of encouragement from my predecessors, but when I came here, I felt that the simplest old saying, "Heaven rewards hard work, and I accumulate a lot of money." You will only be rewarded if you work hard. Many people will blindly pursue skills, but their skills are not strong, and I am afraid they will not achieve the future.
Reporter: OK, thank you Sarah for sharing your experience with us. I wish you an early realization of your goal.
Sarah: Thank you, too.
Reporter's notes
I have interviewed many students admitted to top universities in Japan, and they all have one trait, that is, diligence, which is particularly prominent in Sarah.
A child who had hardly learned Japanese came to Japan. After half a year, Japanese can advance by leaps and bounds, and one year later, I can pass the exams of Waseda and Dongda University. In the eyes of most people, this is almost a legend. When I want to explore the secret of her success, there are only a few simple words: "I set the goal of being admitted to Dongda University, and then I realized it step by step, just because I spent more time on my studies than others."
"Heaven rewards diligence" is a famous saying of China ancient master Han Yu, which tells an irrefutable truth since ancient times-as long as you work harder than others, you will be closer to success than others.