Roman: A man with six-pack can speak 5 languges

This year, a total of 25 international students have received Chinese Government Scholarship/Confucius Institute Scholarship to study at GDUFS. News Guangdong and GDUFS English News have conducted a series of joint interviews focusing and on the life and perspectives of these international student laureates.

“Chinese is so difficult to learn! You have to put lots of time and efforts to prepare before and after the classes, in order to memorize a large number of characters and grammars,” said Stoszek Roman, who is from Slovakia and has studied Chinese in Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS) for 8 months.

Roman in the interview.

A huge interest in language

Roman has a huge interest in language and studied Italian, Germany and English in college. He is even learning some Russian as there are many Russian students in GDUFS. For him, language is the entrance to people. “To understand a nation’s culture, you must know the language”.

“I feel somehow in my heart I would like to experience Eastern things. And China not only has huge commercial potential, it is also a country that you can get lots of experience and become internal rich”, explain by Roman who prepared for a year to get Confucius Scholarship while worked as a legal translator in Slovakia.

To get Confucius Scholarship, one must pass HSK 3 test. Starting from zero, Roman picked up a private teacher and learned 3 to 4 hours after work, which was not easy. “You had to put aside many opportunities or hobbies, and just learn, learn, learn”.

Roman stuck to it. “In my country, it’s not usual to apply to study in China. But when you understand the job opportunity, it’s the right thing to do”, he was quite determined and motivated.

Learn while work

The scholarship helps him a lot for life in Guangdong which covers accommodation and provides 3500 RMB per month. It saves him from worries of making a living and gives him more time and energy to study here.

Roman goes to gym three times a week to relax from heavy study.

Roman seems not to have much time for beer and skittles. He works as a part time legal translator and learns business and law as well. And he does find some business opportunities here.

“The food industry is interesting. Here I have problems finding foods that I used to in my country, like cheese. The choice is limited and the price is double or even triple. When prices differ that much, there are huge commercial opportunities”, analyzed by Roman who was at the stage of getting information.

“Chinese people are very hard working. There are reasons why China is economy No.1”, he said, “You can do your career very quickly here”.

Guangdong will still be his first choice

He plans to stay in China for 5 to 7 years until he fully knows Mandarin. After this semester, he plans to apply for another scholarship to continue study. Guangdong will still be his first choice. “Shanghai is isolated. Guangdong is near Hong Kong, and it’s quite good”.

He is quite enjoying the quiet and richcampus life. “For me, it's like a holiday here. I have money every month and need to worry about nothing instead of learning things”, Roman laughed. “I like the quiet and natural campus with lots of space. Oh, and also Chinese girls, they’re different”, he grimaced.

However, “The expectation towards me hasn’t been met”, Roman shook his head and said, “I want to have some major success in Chinese. I’m still preparing HSK 5 test. It’s hard, but I have to try”.

“If I fail to apply the scholarship to continue my study, then I would apply it next year”, he shrugged. It seems that either way he is determined to be a master in Mandarin.

Confucius Institute Scholarships

In order to support development of Confucius Institutes, facilitate Chinese language promotion and Chinese cultural transmission in the world, cultivate qualified Chinese language teachers and talented students of Chinese language, Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) launches the “Confucius Institute Scholarships” program for providing sponsorship to students, scholars and Chinese language teachers of other countries for pursuing a study in  relevant universities in China . more info: http://www.hanban.edu.cn/

Source: Newsgd.com