How Does It Feel To Share A Classroom With Chinese Students?
~ From the Days of a South Asian Girl
When my friends knew that I was going to China for my higher studies, they asked me, “Are you learning with Chinese students?”. Fortunately or unfortunately, No…we are not studying with Chinese students. We are majoring in English, and Chinese students never do their major in English, except for the students whose major is English.
For three whole years, we learned alone without even knowing that there were so many Chinese students studying Artificial Intelligence in Chinese. However, in our 3rd-year final semester, we had a course called Production Practice. For this course, our supervisor said that they would be taking us to a vocational training center for ten days every morning, back and forth. I was kinda excited because it felt so good to go somewhere. But then I was like “Will they just take us, the ten international students, for this? Will they do something like this just for us?”
Never mind, so on the first day, I woke up and went to the place where we were asked to come. Oh my god… there were 2 big buses full of Chinese students. And we went on one bus. Apparently all those Chinese students from the same major and year as I am. “Wow… there is a Chinese student community for AI in our university!” I thought…
There are 2 classes for AI taught in Chinese. And we, the international students were split into 2 groups, and asked us to follow the same course in Chinese with them. I had to sit between 2 Chinese boys. The boy on my left-hand side was Ming, and the boy who sat on my right-hand side was Li Xuan. These 2 boys literally helped me to survive in this class.
On the first day, the moment I was seated, Li Xuan noticed that my Chinese was not good. So when the trainer was giving instructions and tasks, he helped me to catch up with the work. Honestly, both of them Ming and Li aren’t good at speaking English. But whenever I asked questions or seek help Li helped me to catch up with the work. Li Xuan is very studious and I think he is one of the top-scoring students in the class. Ming is a little bit weird. He is tall, so silent, and always falls asleep in class. He talks slowly. He thinks a lot before telling something and tells very few words. But he is very good, supportive and also another genius. In this class, all the Chinese students were whiz kids.
I became more comfortable having small talks with Ming and those talks were so fun. In the middle of the course (maybe on the 4th or 5th day), I realized that Ming needs booze to function effectively. And occasionally, right after lunch, I could smell Li Xuan smoking. (I am not sure about the students in the Sri Lankan universities because I haven’t been to any. But here in China, everyone smokes and drinks. Even university students.. )
The trainer was a lady. Since day 1, she kept on talking talking talking.. and telling stuff in Chinese. She helped Chinese students but ignored us the foreign students because she didn’t know what to do with us. Because of this, all the foreign students came to the class (because marks were allocated for attendance as well), but they were doing anything and everything but not the coursework. Since I was sitting in between 2 Chinese boys, in the middle of the class, and since I could see how these Chinese kids were working and how clever they were, I didn’t feel like I should give up. When they were catching up with work while being extra smart and innovative, I didn’t want just exist. I also wanted to do more and be on the same level as them. So I told myself that by the end of this class, I will learn 3D printing properly in a way that I can add it to my CV.
I tried my best not to give up. But it was hella hard to do so. Because everything was in Chinese. All the tools and software were in Chinese; the trainer taught us in Chinese. The students knew a little English but they were afraid to talk. So I used my fullest effort to understand what the trainer was saying. I listened carefully and picked 1 or 2 words from their long sentences. Translated those quickly and from that I guess the whole sentence and understood the theory parts. The software we used to design the 3D models, was also in Chinese. From slide to slide, I had to scan and translate to English. To make things easier, I tried installing the same set of software in English. But only the student versions were available. And those versions had limited functions and properties for free.
On the 6th day, all the foreign students were absent except for myself and one other foreign student, Thompson. He is the only one who can understand and communicate in Chinese perfectly. Since he was busy with some other work, during this class, he had no interest in this course. So on that day, I was sitting on my spot and trying to design a 3D model on my own. That female trainer, out of nowhere came to me. Since Ming was not in the class during that time, the trainer sat on his chair. Took her phone and started installing the Baidu translator. Meanwhile, she started checking my models and sketches. She noticed that I have done something.
Apparently, she knew some English! With the help of the Baidu translator, she taught me everything she has been telling the Chinese students throughout the past 6 days. I started understanding things very clearly. It was like an individual class. I felt like I was privileged. I was so happy. It was more like.. you’ve been trying to understand a particular theorem in Physics or cosmology for days. You ask friends, read books, and watch youtube videos. No luck at all. One fine day while you are watching a cartoon or taking a shower, suddenly out of nowhere everything starts making sense to you. and finally, you understand the whole theorem and it gives you that satisfaction and that ultimate happiness.
This trainer took 2 or more hours to teach me. By the end of that, she asked me to explain everything she has been telling me to the foreign students. She said, if I have a question, I could always reach out to her. But if other students have questions they should come to me. ~~ “Wow.. everything comes with a certain cost,” I thought. Still, I could have done this to another class or to anyone.. but this class??? I didn’t like anyone from my class. I always preferred staying alone and minding my own business when it comes to this class.
So the next day, I tried to just stay low. But that trainer again came to me and kinda forced me to help my class. So I kinda did. Honestly.. even to explain this to someone.. I needed time to process all 6 days of work. Somehow I just did something and my colleagues didn’t enjoy my mini-lecturing.. LOL. Still, I did what I could do. But that trainer was so kind to me. She checked on my work from time to time.
For the final exam, we were asked to design something creative and print it. The trainer said she would consider this as the final exam mark for the foreign students. But the local students had to face an exam. Since I was curious about this, I asked the trainer whether I can face the exam. She gave me permission.
The exam was on the final day of the course. Each student received an instruction paper. I got one too.. IN CHINESE.. But I was given permission to use my mobile phone to translate things. The exam was 2 hours long. When I was translating the paper, I could hear the sound of the mouse clicks. That sound was enough for anyone to guess how fast the Chinese students are compared to us. I did something within those 2 hours. I was happy because I was able to do something. I was unsatisfied because I was not able to do it well.
By the end of that course, everyone had showcased their work in front of the class. My final presentation was a bowl of fortune cookies. I made it to make the Chinese happy. Instead, those locals didn’t know the concept of fortune cookies. When I searched for it, I only learned that it is more popular in Chinese restaurants in other countries.
Anyway, by the end of that class, not only Li Xuan and Ming had helped me, but also so many other students. Just like we know, Chinese students are smart, intelligent, and fast. But they can be kind and helpful too. I became friends with so many Chinese students in that class.
I said a proper goodbye to the trainer. I was planning to print her a greeting card box. But I had to stop printing it in the middle because we were asked to switch off the 3D printing machines. So I gave her a black cat that I designed and printed myself. I gave it to her because she appreciated it twice on two different days.
After all, I am so happy about myself and how I have performed in that class. The trainer was truly happy for me because I was the only international student who had faced that examination. I clearly made an effort to study this course. And now I am proudly saying that I can add another skill to my LinkedIn profile and CV, all thanks to that trainer and those Chinese friends. I always have and show the utmost respect to teachers. Whenever I am going back down memory lane, for sure, this lady will also come to mind.