ZHU Keying, English major and Advanced English-Chinese Interpreting Minor Program, Grade 2015
When first setting foot in Shenzhen University, I was deeply impressed by its vitality. Passionate as I was about English—which was my major, and longing for becoming an interpreter, I felt daunted to the unknown road ahead.
In the first two years, I kept exploring the learning methods suited to me. Unfortunately, the fact is my effort failed. I thought if I worked as hard as I did in high school, it would suffice. Day in day out, all I cared about were textbooks and exams. It turned out my English skills didn’t improve much; plus, I had no impersonal interests at all.
However, my desire to be an interpreter never died down. In order to register the Advanced Interpreter Training Program (AITP), I extended one year more in college, and in the meantime, entered for the English & French Bilingual Program for which I was selected and therefore learned my second foreign language. Since then I managed to strike a balance.
Life then was boring, yet interesting. My daily routine was dorm room—interpreting lab—dining hall. We read news and practiced on a daily basis to ensure that Professors’ requirements were met. At the beginning of the program, it was hard for me to follow what the speakers had said in the given videos, owing to the lack of background knowledge and the speed of utterance. Luckily, I got a wonderful partner who still backed me in my lows. We practiced and practiced, and gradually, what seemed difficult to me became easier later on.
This two-year AITP program boasts Consecutive Interpretation, Liaison Interpretation, Business Interpretation, and Simultaneous Interpretation. Consecutive Interpretation was anchored on current international affairs and multilateral relations among big players. In Liaison Interpretation and Business Interpretation classes, we were divided into different groups so as to ensure everyone got a chance to practice—being an interpreter to facilitate communications between two parties. Simultaneous Interpretation, due to the covid-19 pandemic this year, was moved online. Without being really situated in the interpreting lab, everyone still strived to create an environment suitable for learning from home.
Before the virus raged in the US, we were fortunate enough to participate in a short-term exchange programheld both by Shenzhen University and the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) from January to March.There, I was attracted to the professionalism presented by MIIS faculty and students and therefore aspired to apply to this school. Currently, I am studying Translation and Interpretation at MIIS.
In the end, I would like to thank Shenzhen University, the School of Foreign Languages, and faculty and staff for your effort!
