Grab Opportunities to Enjoy Campus Life Globally
New students who are getting a taste of university life will know that there are many students of different nationalities at Chonnam National University (CNU). As the university becomes a global campus, its domestic students can have more opportunities to interact with international students on campus. Students can enhance their global competitiveness and achieve their potential while enjoying their campus life globally. The Chonnam Tribune will show some ways for domestic and international students to get involved in academic and extracurricular activities as well as getting along well with each other on and off campus. These would be helpful for freshmen to adapt to a new environment and to develop their abilities through learning and extracurricular experiences.
Classes for Students of Different Nationalities
Domestic and international students can get familiar with each other and develop their global mindset while studying together. CNU opens English-mediated instruction courses for international students who are not able to take lectures in Korean. Many international students prefer the English-mediated classes, which would give students chances to interact with students of different nationalities.
There are some classes for international and domestic students to interact in a classroom. The first courses are ‘Practical English 1’ and ‘Practical English 2’. Lee Jin-ha (Sophomore, Dept. of English Language and Literature) said, “I recommend taking Practical English courses if you want to study with students of different nationalities. Because all the professors of the classes are native speakers, they use only English in those classes. Therefore, those are popular for international students. ‘Practical English 1’ is easier than ‘Practical English 2’.” Another is a class titled ‘Understanding the History of Science’ that is also popular for international students because it is delivered entirely in English. The other is ‘Basic English’. The lecture is not an English-mediated course but it is not too difficult for international students. Therefore, many international students take this class.
Additionally, the International Summer Session is a great opportunity for students to take English lectures from invited renowned scholars with students from around the world. It is an academic program that CNU students and its international partner universities’ students take classes together for four weeks during summer vacation. Students who join this program can take up to two classes out of the various classes on offer including liberal arts or major courses that CNU professors and invited professors teach in English. Students who want to participate in this summer session can register for the classes in the middle of May. It will help students to improve their English and learning ability as though they study abroad.
Tips on How to Manage Team Projects Effectively
In recent years, students have been completing many team project assignments for classes at universities. Many professors have a tendency to use group work assignments as an effective teaching and learning method in order to encourage students to develop their collaborative abilities and to achieve their academic goals. However, many students are not satisfied with this method or even hate it. The group work is not easy and may even cause a serious free-riding problem. Moreover, if one or some team members do not speak the same language, students tend to suffer from a communication problem. Kim Min (Sophomore, Dept. of Chemistry) said, “It is a fact that group projects are useful for improving our cooperative ability. Nevertheless, those usually make me tired because each person has different opinions. Team projects with international students are much harder because of the communication problem”.
In this case, there are some tips for cooperative work with international students. Firstly, if not all team members are able to communicate in each other’s native language, they can use English because most students have to learn English as their second or third language. Secondly, in the case that most group work includes a presentation, students should divide their roles clearly. For example, some people could gather information and related materials, another person could make the presentation material and the others could give the presentation. Each member would get some responsibility and try their best to do their roles. Lastly, be active and do not be late. Maftuna Ismailova (Freshman, Faculty of Business Administration) who has done team projects three times with students from various countries said, “I think students should really be active in doing a team project and surely be punctual. Punctuality is the single most important thing because you will be responsible for everyone not only for yourself. These things are important.” Therefore, it would be better for students to keep to these three guidelines, using English, dividing roles clearly and being active while they are doing a team project with international students for a better team project.
Programs for Extracurricular Activities
For students’ university life, extracurricular activities are also important as well as studying because they can give students special experiences. CNU operates a variety of programs for extracurricular activities that students could be encouraged to make international friends and to learn more about each other.
The Office of International Affairs (OIA) organizes several programs to promote interaction between domestic and international students. One is a buddy program for international students to help them adapt to living in Korea and it is a great chance to make new friends from different countries. One Korean student supports two international students to register for classes, which may be the hardest thing for both Korean and international students. They can also enjoy Korean culture together through this financially supported program and understand their different cultures. Oh Kyeong-jin (Junior, Dept. of Biology) said, “I helped my buddies to learn Korean culture and I also learned their cultures. It gave me a good chance to make good international friends and learn our own countries’ cultures”.
Another is a CNU International student Supporters (CIS) program. It selects six students including four Korean students and two international students every semester. There are some qualifications needed in order to apply for this program. Korean students need to be diligent and have responsibility and understanding for various cultures. The international students need a TOPIK grade over five and should be able to speak Korean well. If students fulfill these qualifications, they can apply for it by submitting a self-introduction letter and an official language certificate. CIS will support international students for their successful Korean campus life for one semester. They get the support money for the buddy activity and approved voluntary work hours. Students who are interested in it can get detailed information on the website of the OIA.
Grab the Opportunities for Global Campus Life
As the world is globalized now, CNU students are studying at a globalized campus, where many students from different nationalities study. Therefore, domestic and international students can have many chances to get along with each other. It is a great opportunity to make international friends while studying and doing extracurricular activities inside and outside of the classroom. The Chonnam Tribune hopes that students do not miss the opportunity to develop their global mindsets and mutual understanding between domestic and international students.
By Park Seon-ah, Studnet Editor