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Tag: Case Study

  • Case Study: Gavin Vine – China 2016-2017

    I began my year in China working at the British embassy in Beijing, before starting university at Peking University, one of China’s top universities, as part of my year abroad. It was at this time when my John Speak scholarship started, providing me with extra money that enabled me to make the most of my time in China. Whilst studying I also interned at a Chinese app company, which not only gave me an insight into the Chinese work place environment, but also provided me with the opportunity to make Chinese friends.

     

    However, as I’m sure many of my friends would agree, the highlight of our year abroad was the chance to go travelling and explore the many diverse regions of this huge country.

    Thanks to the John Speak scholarship, I was able to make the most of my school holidays, and over the course of the year visited 14 different provinces!

     

    Not only did these trips enhance my understanding of the large geographical and cultural diversity that exits within China, but also allowed me to deepen my knowledge of Mandarin. It is only through travelling that I came to understand just how much the accents and pronunciations of Mandarin vary across different regions.  This has helped me improve my ability to tell where a Chinese speaker comes from, a useful skill for any language student.

    I would like to thank the John Speak trust for the support they gave me during my year abroad.  It greatly enriched my experience of living in China, and proved to be a great aid in the development of my Mandarin.

     

  • Case Study: Charlotte McGarry – China, 2016 – 2017

    The third year of my university degree took the form of a year abroad spent studying Mandarin in Beijing, China. Along with eight other classmates from Cambridge, I moved to Beijing’s student district of Wudaokou in September 2016, ready to embark on a ten month journey of cultural immersion and language learning.

    The core of our year abroad program was the language classes set out for us at Peking University, China’s largest and most prestigious higher education centre. We had sixteen hours of class per week, covering ancient and modern Chinese literature and newspaper reading, oral and translation skills. The teaching was incredibly thorough and provided us with a strong grounding in the language which we could happily put into practice in between classes.

    Whilst the university course in itself was an extremely valuable experience and helped me to thoroughly and conscientiously develop all four of the key language skills, my favorite part of the year abroad was actually the time between classes as it afforded me the freedom to travel around China and get a feel for the country’s great linguistic, geographical and social diversity.

    Over the course of the year, I managed to visit a vast number of cities across seven different provinces; ranging from the icy North Korean border town of Dandong to the subtropical Xishuangbanna, right on the southern border of Myanmar. I saw an incredible range of landscapes: the sand dunes of the Gobi desert, the dramatic Karst topography of Guilin, the rainforests of Xishuangbanna and the frozen expanses of the Yalu River to name but a few.

    Traveling was also a very useful way of improving my aural skills; it really exposed the regional differences in Mandarin and forced me to be more accurate and perceptive in identifying patterns of speech. I found this to be challenging but do-able in most areas – though the Shanghainese dialect had me at a total loss!

    All of my travel opportunities were made possible by the generosity of the John Speak grant. Funding for language study in the Far East is limited, and had I not been fortunate enough to be awarded this grant, I certainly would not have had the means to explore China so widely. The funding also enabled me to take on an unpaid internship at international publication Time Out, which developed my skills in both Chinese and English journalism, and has become a strong asset to my CV.

    I would like to thank the John Speak Trust for all their support throughout the year.M y experience of China was all the richer for it, and I thoroughly recommend the trust to any language students embarking on a period of study abroad.

  • Nathan Randerson, Case Study: Spain 2016-2017

    John Speak Trust Report – 2017

    Its been an incredible last 18 months, my experience in Spain has surpassed all my expectations and is something which I will never forget. I’ve spent six months studying in Córdoba and one year working in the Corporate Procurement Department of NH Hotel Group in Madrid. Both experiences have been very different but equally as rewarding on both a personal and professional level.

    When I heard about the opportunity of the John Speak Language Trust Scholarship, I jumped at the chance to participate. The scholarship has given me the financial ability to fully embrace the Spanish culture, something which can’t be replicated in a classroom. From big, well-known cities to villages in the middle of nowhere, I’ve discovered many amazing places that Spain has to offer. When I started my time abroad 18 months ago my objective was to improve my Spanish, I never expected to make so many memories, visit so many places, meet so many people and learn so much about myself. My experiences have made me fall in love with the country and when I finish university next year, I’ll have no hesitation in returning to start the next stage of my life.

    One phrase which I will take from my time abroad is ‘No viajamos para escapar de la vida, viajamos para que la vida no nos escape.’ This translates to, ‘We don’t travel to escape life, we travel so that life doesn’t escape us.’ I’ve been really lucky to visit so many places in Spain and with thanks to some friends I met there, I’ve been able to visit other countries too. 18 months ago I never imagined that I’d have a trip planned to visit some friends who live on the other side of the world, in fact, I’d never even heard of the place where they live, Reunion Island!

    bty

    My advice to anyone who is thinking about a study period or work placement abroad is to go out there and throw yourself in at the deep end.

    It is difficult at first, when I arrived in Córdoba, I was without a flat, living in a city I didn’t know and left to fend for myself for the first time. It wasn’t nice at all. However, you start to meet people, places become familiar and in a matter of weeks, this new place you didn’t know anything about feels like home. I’m really glad I took the opportunity of going abroad, and with the help of the John Speak Trust, I have been able to embrace the experience even more.

    Nathan Randerson

  • 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.

    China park

    As there is very little in way of any other monetary help for students choosing to study abroad, especially in this part of the world, it was with great delight that I discovered this grant. It has allowed not only myself but several other students in my department be able to more fully enjoy their time abroad, without the weight of financial worry.

    Being given this grant enabled me to make the most of what is a crucial period for my language learning. Having the opportunity to experience the complete language immersion of living and studying in Beijing, I have been able to deepen my understanding and knowledge of this language, and accelerate my progress in all four key language skills. I am now able to communicate in a way I could never have thought of at the beginning of my university programme – from opening a bank account to moving house, I have grown in confidence and accuracy in my use of the language.

    Equally importantly, this has also been an invaluable chance to experience life in a completely different culture to my own, and this grant has allowed me to more fully explore the many different sides to China. Living in an international city such as Beijing, I have learned a vast amount about the the way of life, customs, dialects, and range of cultures and ethnicities which populate this continent sized country. However as the students who went before us advised us, it is the opportunity grants such as this give to do some travelling around this country which change your perceptions of and offer a much more comprehensive understanding of China today. From travelling to the up-and-coming mega city of Chongqing, where the millions of residents speak an almost incomprehensible mixture of Mandarin and local dialect, to braving temperature of minus 20 to visit the northern city of Harbin which felt more Russian that Chinese, I have been constantly impressed by the diversity of this vast country.

    In the future, I plan to work in international relations or diplomacy, if possible focussing on the relationship between China and England. If there is one thing I have learned this year, it is that there is still a lack of complete understanding and knowledge of the other country from both sides, and I would like to work to help what is a very promising relationship progress further.

    For being afforded this opportunity, I would like to thank the John Speak Trust.

    Regards,

    Sinead

  • Eleanor Winstanley – Case Study: Berlin, Germany 2015

    My name’s Ellie Winstanley and I am a 21 year old language student in Manchester, although following my period abroad I am currently living in my home town of Worcester. For the German side of my year abroad I spent 4 months in Berlin working in a nursery.

    In late August I travelled to Berlin. My first week in Berlin was spent doing a German language course and my accommodation a homestay, which meant that as soon as I arrived in Germany I had to speak German. The language course itself didn’t provide new information that I hadn’t learnt in University, but it meant that my brain adjusted to hearing and thinking in German, and it allowed me to ask people currently living in Berlin for advice on things such as transport.  I also made friends from across Europe who stayed in Berlin for a while, with whom I could practice my German.

    In my first week I was under pressure from work to find a flat (as I couldn’t sign my work contract without a German address), so I frantically looked for a flat using “WG-Gesucht”. Luckily after four days, I found a flat in a central location in Berlin with two girls and one boy (all German speaking). Living with German speakers was at first very difficult, and in some ways isolating, as I found it very hard to understand quick speech, and was lacking in everyday vocabulary. However, after a few weeks I became friends with my male flatmate, who was very patient with my German, and often invited me to do things with him and his friends (real Berliners).  I also became friends with my flatmate’s cousin, a Syrian refugee. As he didn’t speak any English, and me no Arabic, we had to communicate in German, which helped us both a lot.

    During the seventeen weeks of my John Speak Trust Scholarship I volunteered in a nursery, in which there were kids aged 1-6. My task was to play with the children and assist the nursery nurses with everyday tasks, such as food time, changing time and sleep time. Although this isn’t a career path I’d like to pursue in the future, I feel it was perfect for learning the language, as the children could not yet speak any English and all of my co-workers were German, I could experience how they communicated together. It was also very interesting to work with the younger children and see how their language was starting to develop, and how they would often make grammatical mistakes as they were learning. I would say most of the barriers that I encountered were at work, at first I felt very out of my depth as I was not only lacking in basic vocabulary, but the specific vocabulary needed for a nursery. One particular situation I remember was when a child vomited in their sleep and I had to tell a senior member of staff, but I didn’t know how to say this, so I just used hand gestures to express this! I often found that it would help to make hand gestures, and people would repeat the words back to me, which was an excellent way to learn.  In the last few weeks of my placement I found it much easier to express myself, and I could communicate much more without thinking.

    The money from the John Speak Trust Scholarship allowed me to travel to Hamburg, Munich, Cologne and Switzerland.  Not only was it fun to travel to these places, but also I was able to practice German and experience the different accents and dialects in Germany.

    I currently have one and a half years left of study at the University of Manchester, six months of which I will spend studying in the south of Spain, and one year of which studying back in Manchester. I hope to pursue a career in translation when I’m older, living in the United Kingdom. Since returning home, I have used my German as I have been in contact with people that I met in Germany, but I have also been reading in German, which is noticeably a lot easier following my time abroad.

    I would definitely recommend the John Speak Language Trust to anyone wanting to spend a period of time studying abroad.  The Scholarship allowed me to volunteer in Germany, as I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford to pay rent, which significantly improved my language. I also found writing my monthly report very useful, as I was able to practice my German writing skills, which I unfortunately didn’t often have to opportunity to do whilst in Germany.  I noticed that with each report that it became easier to write in German.

     

    Eleanor Winstanley

     

     

  • Case Study – Richard Freeman Germany 1961

    In January 1961 (age 20) I boarded the train from Harwich via London followed by a short ferry journey to Holland.  Another train journey took me to Breman Germany where I would stay for six months.

    Statue of Roland in Altmarkt in Bremen, Germany

    On arrival in Bremen I was very homesick having never been away from home before.  I arrived in January and it was extremely cold, minus 12-15C walking to work to start at 8.00am. The wool broker and merchant where I worked (Schmacht & Co) in the wool sample room, had several apprentices my age who made me very welcome and I soon had a social life. The older staff members were very formal with me and among themselves, which was the German way.

    The initial problem was the speed of the spoken word (almost incomprehensible) and understanding conversations in the local accent and what was said to me. My grammar school German lessons never prepared me for this. I worked very hard as a volunteer and was rewarded with a salary and as I ran out of bursary (£50) at each month end this was useful. I wrote down all new words and phrases and learned them by heart.  I had to provide a written report in German back to Bradford Chamber of Commerce every month.  The elderly German couple I lodged with spoke no English and took me off with them on weekend excursions from time to time providing a wonderful opportunity to experience Germany.

    Once my knowledge of German improved I was allowed to use the company phone to talk to customers and to arrange wool processing at the local Bremer Woll Kaemmerei woolcombing plant.

    As I contributed a little to the running of the wool broker business, my confidence in spoken German grew dramatically, including a few words not socially acceptable fed to me with glee by my younger work colleagues!

    I was invited to spend time out of work with some of the families of my fellow employees on a regular basis and I really appreciated this kindness.

    Unfortunately while out running in woodland one day, I fell and sustained a bad knee injury and spent exactly one month in hospital following a knee operation.

    The 1961 the DM/£ exchange rate was around DM12/£1 and the DM was revalued while I was in Germany giving me 5% less bursary.  Contrast this with about DM3.2/£1 when the Euro was established.

    Later in life, my time in Germany provided an invaluable asset when establishing business contacts in Germany and Austria after setting up my own wool waste export firm.  I then moved to processing and exporting synthetic fibres.

    I would not hesitate in recommending the John Speak Trust to language students.

    Learning another language was not only beneficial to my career but also educational and character building.  The opportunity of living and working in Germany whilst studying, allowed me to experience the local culture first hand, a vital lesson for business.

    The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the River Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen/Oldenburg Metropolitan Region

  • Christopher Wilson – Case Study, Germany 1969

    “The John Speak Trust Scholarship was of great benefit to me personally and also to my career; a very useful and informative six months”

    At the age of 18, I was fortunate to receive a John Speak Language Trust Scholarship for six months.  This allowed me to travel to Germany to improve my study of the language and further my career in the wool trade.  At the time I was working for the family business C.L. Wilson & Co Limited, a Wool & Noil Merchants based in Bradford.

    Being so young at the time, I was appreciative of a lift by car to my new surroundings in Kaiserslautern, South West Germany (from a colleague) where I rented a room from a local German family.

    As well as studying German, I worked at Kammgarnspinnerei (worsted yarn spinners) voluntarily which was part of my Scholarship agreement.  Although I was very grateful to the Trust for the £50 per month I received, it was often difficult to budget for food, board and other essentials during my six months abroad.  I was also unfortunate to damage my wrist whilst at work and for a short time it became necessary for my employers to pay me a small amount for Social Security benefits!

    At the start of my six months I began working in the chemical laboratory but went through the whole process of wool sorting, scouring, carding, combing, dyeing and spinning.  Sadly the mill closed in the 1970’s but the lessons I learned through working there were invaluable.

    After I had completed my six month scholarship, C L Wilson & Co engaged with German contacts and set up a trade, increasing our customers and expanding the business.

    I am now 65 years old, retired and I have kept in contact with the many friends I met in Germany, including the main trade customer (now in his 80’s) I dealt with through work all those years ago (which often provides an ideal opportunity to use my spoken German!).

    Kaiserslautern, Germany- a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest

    The John Speak Trust Scholarship was of great benefit to me personally and also to my career; a very useful and informative six months.  I continue to speak German on a regular basis and would recommend the John Speak Language Trust to any language student wishing to improve their language skills and pursue a career to benefit the UK export trade.

     

    Christopher James Wilson

  • Imogen Page Jarrett – Case Study, Beijing China 2014-2015

    My name is Imogen Page-Jarrett and I have just finished my year abroad in Beijing, China. The past year would have not been quite the same incredible experience without the assistance of the John Speak Trust, and I would first and foremost like to thank them for their consistent help and support.

    My home university, the University of Cambridge, runs a one year exchange programme with Peking University for all third year students. This programme offers courses in modern and classical Chinese, translation, writing, newspaper reading as well as Chinese literature. It was really fantastic to be a part of a truly international student body at the School of Chinese as a Second Language, with students from all over the world coming to Beijing to learn Chinese.

    Originally from a small countryside village in the East of England, seeing the sheer scale of Beijing was a big shock to me. We were based in Wudaokou, a student area full of hustle and bustle, neon lights, bars, KTV parlours, shopping centres and of course, traffic jams. I soon discovered Beijing is a city where, if you are willing to face the crowds, you can do, see and eat pretty much anything you should fancy. It’s a city teeming with possibility. I shared a flat with my classmate, a Chinese friend and several different international students over the course of the year.

    The freedom extended way beyond the capital. Although China does not yet have many budget airlines, its bus and train services are some of the most extensive in the world and well subsidised by the government. This means travelling around this huge nation is cheap and relatively care free, as long as you plan in advance.

    With the help of the scholarship from John Speak, I have been to the fishing villages in Xiamen on the south coast, celebrating Chinese New Year with a local family to the sound of firecrackers exploding outside the door. I have drifted in a bamboo raft down the Yangtze river surrounded by rice paddies and craggy mountains. I have seen a panda with my own eyes in Sichuan, and held a snow fox in my arms at the Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin.

    I have wound my way from the old town of Dali to the remote Shangrila on the the Tibetan border. I have swam in the ocean in Qingdao, strolled along the bund in Shanghai, and felt the magic of the sparkling fairy lakes near Jiuzhaigou National Park, not to mention stood in awe of the sheer slopes of Tiger Leaping Gorge and the snowy peaks of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in Yunnan. And that’s not to mention the amazing food!

    Aside from having fun, I also had the opportunity to intern during my year abroad. For 9 weeks I was made part of Daimler China’s CEO Office. The internship involved statistical analysis, proofreading and drafting of emails. Mainly, however, I was responsible for organising internal events for the finance department. My boss was German, but almost all of my colleagues on the work floor were Chinese. This was a great chance to learn about the Chinese workplace and some of their office practices (which were usually highly bureaucratic!). It was also a huge insight into how Chinese customers’ wants and needs differ to European ones, as well as Asian automobile trends. For example, I learned Daimler’s truck sales are declining. This is interesting because it reflects the fact the construction sector there is slowing down. In turn, this tells us the Chinese economic boom is no longer progressing as rapidly as before.

    Of course, I experienced some barriers to living in Beijing. I would say my primary concern was the air pollution. Considering London’s pollution never exceeds 60 PM 2.5, it’s hard to believe Beijing often reaches 200, and in winter can climb to even 1000! Being a minority in a foreign country can also be a challenge. Due to the comparatively few numbers of foreigners in China, you will always stand out. It is sad for me to accept that however long I live there, however good my Chinese may become, I will always be considered an outsider. From time to time, the sheer number of people and the scale of the city was very tiring. I hate to think back on how much time I spent on the subway or in traffic jams.

    In the future I plan to return to Beijing or Taiwan to complete a masters in Chinese law. I hope to eventually find a job working in China and definitely plan to be in Asia long term.

    I would thoroughly recommend the John Speak Trust to anyone planning an experience abroad. The financial assistance and constant advice and support really enhanced my experience. Again, I cannot express my thanks enough.

  • Graham Moulson – Case Study 1963 to 1964

    At age 72, looking back and having studied several foreign languages I have learned that language learning is similar to a jigsaw puzzle; learning one foreign language certainly helps when learning another.  “Once you start dreaming in a foreign language it means you must have learnt it”. I was fortunate to have an Italian Professor who provided one hour tutoring before work; no books, no dictionaries, just conversation in Italian.  He was a wonderful teacher and I was fortunate to have him.

    In 1963, age 20, I was travelling to Italy by train to start a six month John Speak Trust Scholarship to help improve my Italian.  At the time I was working for a Bradford Wool Merchants.  My accommodation was provided by the Biella family who kindly allowed me to stay at their family home in Biella.  Upon my arrival, I recall the cultural differences were a real shock although I found the Italian people to be very welcoming and very reassuring, this being a major factor during my first few weeks abroad.  I discovered that absorbing the different culture came hand in hand with learning to speak the language.   As a condition of the Scholarship, in addition to my language studies, I worked voluntarily for the largest wool combing company in Italy, Pettinatura Italiana, Vigliano Biellese.  Working and living with the locals certainly improved my Italian; I learnt a lot of the local dialect and colloquial Italian too!

    Upon completion of my Scholarship and now fluent in Italian, I remained in the wool trade and joined H Dawson Sons & Co (Wool) Limited in 1965 and returned to Biella, Italy in a new management role.  I later became a Company Director taking on the responsibility for Dawson’s office in Italy and travelled extensively to Spain, Portugal, Middle East, Iran, Pakistan and India.  My Scholarship definitely helped in my preparation for the change in career and the additional responsibilities that came alongside that.

    My philosophy in life has always been to look forward, not back.  The wool trade is a way of life, not just a job.  I have made many wonderful friends around the world, many of whom I have revisited following my retirement.  Travel in the Middle East in the 1960/70s could be lively and exciting to say the least, with many countries undergoing social conflict and political upheaval; however I found that not everything you hear and see on the news was always correct and the reality on the ground was often different.

    I am also very proud to have been an active member of the John Speak Trust Committee for 25 years, 17 of which I was Chair, standing down in 2010.

    Being a keen skier, I am regular visitor to Italy and have kept in contact with many friends and colleagues overseas throughout my international career.  I continue to use my Italian regularly and also speak reasonable Spanish which I learnt after retiring from Dawsons in 2002.  One of my passions is singing (choral music mainly) and it is an unexpected bonus to be able to sing in the above and other languages.

    I am very pleased that the John Speak Trust continues to provide financial assistance to UK language students.

    I would definitely recommend any students considering studying abroad and intending to go into the export (of UK goods and/or services) trade to go ahead and apply for a John Speak Scholarship.

    Accepting the Scholarship was one of the best decisions I have ever made.  The process is simple and uncomplicated – a no brainer!

    The benefits speak for themselves.  I have enjoyed a very long and successful career in the export trade and will always be grateful for the opportunities the John Speak Trust provided.

    Graham Moulson – June 2015

    Graham Moulson

  • Oliver de Planta – Case Study, Germany 2014 – 2015

    During my studies at Sheffield Hallam University I undertook a year abroad in Germany from June 2014 to March 2015.

    I began my year abroad in Munich, Bavaria working for Robert Bosch GmbH then for the second half I moved to Berlin to work at Siemens AG. The scholarship from the John Speak Trust afforded more freedom during my time abroad and assisted towards my day to day living and travel expenses.

    Me and Münchner Gaudiblosn a Bavarian band that play at, among other places, Oktoberfest

    The opportunity to work abroad in a different environment was full of advantages both personally and professionally. There was so much to organize like accommodation, bank accounts, registrations and paperwork and all this in two of the three largest cities in Germany.  It was a lot to deal with, I was on my own, but I managed to sort everything out single handed!

    Not knowing anyone in a city when you first arrive can be difficult and daunting, and ironically I personally found it more difficult meeting people in larger cities!  But it’s very rewarding when you finally make new friends and more importantly some good friends. Persevering with the language can also be difficult, especially if one is living in a city where many speak English and always try to use it when they find out you are a native speaker.

    Brandenburger Tor

     

    Being in Germany didn’t only help me immerse in the German culture but also the cultures of other countries and the people, which I found extremely interesting, a positive side effect of trying to improve my German language skills.

    The Reichstag, Berlin

     

     

    I’m pretty sure that anyone who spends some time studying abroad would recommend the experience to others, I certainly would!  If you were offered such an opportunity I would definitely recommend you take it; I cannot think of any reasons not to.  Many of my friends in England think it’s unbelievable that I have lived and studied another language abroad.

     

     

    I would certainly encourage others to apply for a John Speak Trust scholarship and take advantage of such a wonderful opportunity.

    Oliver de Planta