Sinead O’Connor: Case Study, China – 2016
I began receiving the John Speak travel grant in September 2016, when I began my third year abroad in China as part of my university degree. As there is very little in way of any other monetary help for students choosing to study abroad, especially in this part of the…
Matt Hattam: Case Study – Madrid, Spain 2016
For the final four months of 2016 I worked for a translation company in Madrid. The scholarship from the John Speak Trust really enabled me to maximise the experience in the Spanish capital as well as providing me the chance to explore other cities in the region. As a city,…
A big thank you to the John Speak Language Trust! Samantha Fernandes – Japan
I would like to say a big thank you to the John Speak Language Trust for supporting language students from England. As English is a worldwide lingua franca, often the importance of supporting careers in foreign languages is overlooked. It is wonderful to know that there are organisations such as…
A trip to China’s Northeast: Gavin Vine, China – March 2017
在上个月的报告中我写到了我在云南的经验，则这个月我要写我在一个很不同的地方的经验，中国的东北。 我在中国已经听说了很多东北的刻板印象，据说东北人很有幽默感，很会喝酒。 考虑到这一点，我和朋友们就决定去东北亲眼看情况是不是这样。 我们安排了去东北三个省的每一个省。我们的第一站是沈阳，辽宁的省会。 我们一下车，就对极度的寒冷天气感到震惊，我们以为北京算是个很冷的地方，可是沈阳的天气是无比寒冷的，晚上的温度下降到零下20摄氏度。我们像是在寒冷气温里的企鹅一样摇摆行走于这个城市之间，可是因为温度太低，所以我们晚上没有机会出去认识那些地道很逗的东北人。 几天后我们到了哈尔滨，这次我们都下定决心去认识一些东北人。幸亏，我们的华人澳大利亚朋友当时也在哈尔滨，所以跟他解释我们去东北的原因以后，他就把我们介绍给他一辈子都住在哈尔滨的奶奶。尽管奶奶并没有和喜剧演员一样的有幽默感，但是我们还是玩得很开心。最搞笑的事情是她用布盖住了房间里最贵的物品，像是担心我们会把它们偷走一样！ ENGLISH: In my last report I wrote about my experience in Yunnan, but this month I would like to write about my experience in a very different region – China’s Northeast. Throughout my time in China I have heard various stereotypes about this region.…
Street food in China: Anam Rahman, March 2017
Jiě biān xiǎo chī zài zhōng guó hén jiàn. Jiě biān xiǎo chī shì zhōng guó de wén huá de yī gè hěn dǎ. zhōng guó rén xǐ huǎ chī. chī zài zhōng guó shì shē huì xing de. zài zhōng guó yǒu hén duō jiě biān tán fán. wǒ…
Travelling in Yunnan: Charlotte McGarry, China – March 2017
在云南旅游 中国大学的学期跟在欧美的安排得不一样。在我国学年被分成到两个学期,一月底的时候有最主要的长假期。在北大，我们的假期长达六个星期！我要趁着这个机会离开北京去看看中国的南方云南省。 云南是中国一些最精彩最美丽的地方比如桂林的喀斯特地貌类型 ,龙脊和元阳的梯田，大理和丽江的古城和常常俗称 ’中国的泰国’ 西双版纳。说到在中国旅游，不少人就会想起来云南风景如画的环境。 我跟两个同学参观了所有的上述的地方。中国地理的多元化对我产生了深刻印象：山，水，热带雨林中国都有！提到’山’，我们爬过很多！我最喜欢的是兴坪的老寨山。山很陡，攀爬很费力，但山顶上一望无际的风景真是独一无二的。 幸亏在中国去旅游不贵，尤其饭费和房费。跟欧美比起来中国旅费也相当便宜但是因为我们上了好多火车公共汽车甚至飞机，旅费是花销的大头儿。 总而言之我们在云南的旅程真是个很宝贵的经验， 但是我要坦白地说：返校的时候到了的那时，我并不难过。这么长时间去旅行很精彩但也会让人精疲力竭! ENGLISH: In China, the school and university terms are organized differently to in the West. Here, the year are split into two long terms, with the major holiday falling around the end of January. At Beida, the holiday is six…
