A Month in Nanjing!

     This week has been relatively uneventful: finishing homework, making time to sing karaoke on the weekends, and attending classes. Finally, I am starting to get into the rhythm of life in Nanjing, and overall, this experience hasn't been half as stressful as I predicted. Thus, I will take this opportunity to reflect on the Capstone entrance process, starting with the Oral Proficiency Exam, or OPI.
     Before taking the OPI, it is essential to prepare and essentially memorize a professional self introduction. This includes your Chinese name, where you are from, what college you go to, what experience you have in Asian speaking countries, etc. If you prepare and memorize this information, you will also have an easier time completing homework and preparing for interviews at Capstone, because a lot of the Flagship homework either centers around getting a superior score on the American Councils tests, such as the OPI, or preparing of interviews. Also, using very high level, very polite wording is key to achieving a high score.
    Also, every student planning to participate in the Capstone program must take a Reading and Listening exam. It is extremely difficult to prepare for these two tests. The only suggestions that I can think that might help the most are as follows: take your time, but also manage your time wisely, brush up on reading traditional Chinese characters, and know that during the listening test, there will be distracting music/noises in the background.
   As always, if anyone has any questions or comments, please feel free to send them my way. Thank you for reading!

A pic of me studying at Lava with Coffee the cat!