Final Reflection

The English course here, as I had expected, was quite different from those in my home university. The classes were fun and more interactive. The workload turned out to be higher, but the good thing is that I learnt more.

Firstly, in the peer lessons, I learnt a lot from my classmates, not only the knowledge, but also the ways how they organized a class. When I reviewed my peer lesson after attending theirs, I got to know where I needed to improve for my peer lesson. After that, we practiced writing a resume and an application letter. Although I had written resumes before, I did not know what was good or bad about my resume because nobody had given me feedback about that. The comments given by Brad turned out to be very useful. Also, the mock interviews allowed me to practice interview skills in a half-real interview situation, which helped me to accumulate some interview experience. Then, in the project, we practiced writing and presentation skills again. I think I did better this time, especially in the presentation. The presentation video also helped me to know more about my own presentation. Moreover, the blogging activity forced me to continuously practice my writing skills. Although I know that continuous practice is vital for improving writing skills, I will not have the motivation to practice if it is not an assignment. Finally, I love the oral interactions in class. They did not only make the classes lively and interesting but also helped me learn some foreign culture and allowed me to share Chinese culture with my classmates.

In conclusion, there are many take-away points for me from this course. The above are just those academic or career-related skills. Apart from that, we learnt from each other from the interaction in every class. For example, the two main points Brad emphasized again and again about intercultural communication are definitely what we will take away from this course.