ZHANG Shihao, English major and Advanced English-Chinese Interpreting Minor Program, Grade 2015
It’s a special experience to apply for the Advanced Interpreter Training Program (AIT). Originally I was a student majoring in photoelectric engineering. Recommended by my friend, AIT started to dawn on me. Even though I was taking the interpreting course at the College of Foreign Affairs, I still knew nothing about AIT. I remembered when I was just admitted into English major, the first thing that I did was to visit the interpretation laboratory. Classes were not yet started. Therefore, the door remained closed. Through the window on the door, I was extremely curious about the world inside. Being more determined, I decided to apply for AIT. At that time, I also used the source material about Brexit as the E-C retelling material to practice with my friend. Luckily, our wishes were attained and were both admitted into AIT.
The 2 years in AIT is the most fulfilling years that I have had in Shenzhen University. Even though there are different courses in AIT, all courses have a high requirement for our amount of training. Now as a postgraduate, I’m deeply benefited by our teachers who asked us to practice 3 hours per day. Actually studying in AIT is not just an improvement of your interpreting capacity, but also an overall improvement of your expression, basic English and language standardization, etc. This is the so-called “practice makes perfect” and “to rise abruptly based on its accumulated strength”. Personally I think these two words are the best summary for the 2 years in AIT. Through the offclass practicing, we are also enhancing our interpreting capacity and more expertly using the interpreting skills during the process of interpretation, which is “practice makes perfect”. “To rise abruptly based on its accumulated strength” describes another requirement of AIT, which is keep reading extensively. When studying in AIT, we are required to read the weekly Economist from cover to cover. Even though it might not be obvious within a short period, you will find that there will be a huge improvement in your wording and phrasing after long-term perseverance.
Participating in the Translation, Interpretation and English Enhancement Program is a brand-new experience. Because in the previous study, we haven’t had the experience of learning and communicating in a pure English environment. But when in Monterey, we should use English for everything in our life, which is quite beneficial to our oral English. Besides that, teachers in Monterey can find out our problems and deficiencies from another perspective thanks to the differences in ways of teaching. They can also give accurate instruction and help us to make faster progress.
