Tips for Chinese Students Studying Abroad

    As living conditions in China are getting better, parents who want their children to have a bright future invest large sums of money to send their children to study abroad. However, there are countless difficulties that students have to face and solve when they study abroad. Therefore it is necessary for Chinese overseas students to be aware of certain things to which they must pay attention.

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    Safety issues before and after studying abroad have been one of the focuses of parents. However, all experts consider psychological preparation as the most important thing for students studying abroad to consider. They believe that students must have a clear picture of their position and know that they are going abroad to study and receive training and not for leisure. And they should not have the opinion that everything abroad is good and all things from China are bad. Students should prepare themselves for the differences.

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    Chinese students have got accustomed to the domestic exam-oriented education style that is completely different from the more open foreign education mode. They will face changes in the educational system while studying abroad. So students should learn about the differences between the domestic and foreign education styles and try to find more solutions to adjusting to the open education in order to be well prepared for their overseas studies both mentally and practically.

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    Students should ask related teachers to help make plans consistent with their practical condition. There should be both macro and detailed learning plans. Macro learning plans require students to hold on to the primary direction of their overseas studies and detailed learning plans require them to arrange learning content for each course and semester. After the plan is made, they should strictly keep to them. Otherwise, the plan will have no effect.

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    As Chinese students are not familiar with the place and people, and have no relatives by their sides, the first feeling they will feel is loneliness, which makes it especially important to learn to develop relationships with people around them. They may meet all kinds of fascinating people abroad. They should go out of their way to be friendly and strike up conversations. The most important thing is to pluck up enough courage to open your mouth and talk with others. Foreigners really like children of this kind and are willing to help them.

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    Foreign children are used to learning by themselves in or after class, but Chinese children are used to teacher-centered education. Guided and supervised by parents and teachers, Chinese students don't have much learning space. They may score high in exams, but they may lack independent learning skills and tend to be in a state of passive learning. So the most basic thing that children need to know is that studying abroad requires that they should adapt to overseas studies as soon as possible and try their best to learn actively and independently.

    Alexander John Jordan was born in Madison, Wisconsin in 1914. After graduating from high school, he attended the University of Wisconsin. After about one year of college, Alex dropped out.

    Alex then went from job to job. He drove a taxi and worked for Royavac. He also worked for his father's construction company, where Alex got his basic knowledge of construction.

    In the 1940s, Alex discovered Deer Shelter Rock and began having small picnics on the top of the rock. He then started bringing his tent and camping out. One night, his tent got blown away and from that day, Alex decided he wanted to build something more stable. That was the beginning of his dreams. Alex started off by renting the rock and a bit of land around it from a local farmer. He first built a small studio with a fireplace. Then Alex, with his parents' help, bought 240 acres of land, so he could build as he pleased. What took shape on and around Deer Shelter Rock was truly a wonderful achievement. More wonderful still is the fact that he built much of the original house by himself, carrying the materials up the 75-foot-high rock.

    As curiosity grew surrounding his project, more and more people came to visit the House on the Rock. Alex decided to charge people 50 cents to visit, thinking that would drive them away; however, people gladly paid the fee. In 1960, Alex decided to open the House on the Rock to the public. This increased the interest and the crowds grew. All of the money taken in over the years was put directly back into the House. Alex was devoted to the House on the Rock. It was his life and dream.

    As Internet users become more dependent on the Internet to store information, are people remembering less? If you know your computer will save information, why store it in your own personal memory, your brain? Experts are wondering if the Internet is changing what we remember and how.

    In a recent study, Professor Betsy Sparrow conducted some experiments. She and her research team wanted to know the Internet is changing memory. In the first experiment, they gave people 40 unimportant facts to type into a computer. The first group of people understood that the computer would save the information. The second group understood that the computer would not save it. Later, the second group remembered the information better. People in the first group knew they could find the information again, so they did not try to remember it.

    In another experiment, the researchers gave people facts to remember, and told them where to find the information on the Internet. The information was in a specific computer folder(文件夹). Surprisingly, people later remember the folder location(位置)better than the facts. When people use the Internet, they do not remember the information. Rather, they remember how to find it. This is called “transactive memory”.

    According to Sparrow, we are not becoming people with poor memories as a result of the Internet. Instead, computer users are developing stronger transactive memories; that is, people are learning how to organize large amounts of information so that they are able to find it at a later date. This doesn't mean we are becoming either more or less intelligent, but there is no doubt that the way we use memory is changing.

Outdoor Science Field Trips!

    I don't think I can recall a time when I wasn't aware of the beauty of the ocean. Growing up in Australia, I had the good fortune of having the sea at my side. The first time I went to Halfmoon Bay, I suddenly had the feeling of not being able to feel the ground with my feet anymore.

    For my 10th birthday, my sister and I were taken out to the Great Barrier Reef. There were fish in different colors, caves and layers of coral. They made such an impression on me. When I learned that only 1 percent of Australian's Coral Sea was protected, I was shocked. Australian marine life is particularly important because the reefs have more marine species than any other country on earth. But sadly, only 45 percent of the world's reefs are considered healthy.

    This statistic is depressing, so it's important for us to do everything to protect them. The hope that the Coral Sea remains a complete eco-system has led me to take action. I've become involved with the Protect Our Coral Sea activity, which aims to create the largest marine park in the world. It would serve as a place where the ocean's species will all have a safe place forever.

    Together, Angus and I created a little video and we hope it will inspire people to be a part of the movement. Angus also shares many beautiful childhood memories of the ocean as a young boy, who grew up sailing, admiring the beauty of the ocean, and trying to find the secrets of ocean species.

Language requirements for all programmes, except Creative Writing

    All teaching for the programmes is in English. We require all applicants whose first language is not English to have one of the following test results:

    Academic IELTS details can be obtained from local British Council offices. The minimum requirement is an overall band score of 6.5 with no less than 6.5 in each of the four elements.

    Applicant's Academic IELTS and Cambridge CAE test results will be directly accessed by our office.

    In order for us to do this, applicants should supply the following information on their application form: Academic IELTS:

    Test Report Form (TRF) number Cambridge CAE/CPE:

    Candidate ID number (this is 3 letters and 6 numbers) and secret number (4 numbers)

    These results should have been achieved in the same sitting, and no more than 2 years before the date of application.

    Language requirements for Creative Writing

    The minimum requirement is an overall Academic IELTS band score of 7.0, with no less than 7.0 in each of the four elements. Applicants with Cambridge CAE require grade A. These results should have been achieved in the same sitting, and no more than 2 years before the date of application.

    In addition to meeting the above language requirements for Creative Writing, all applicants are required to submit a 300-400 word written piece, explaining their reasons for applying.

    All programmes: notice concerning TOEFL test scores

    Please note: Due to UK Government restrictions, we are no longer able to accept TOEFL test scores.