Chat with Francis Woodcock, Seychellois graduate in Chinese Language |07 November 2022
Francis Woodcock
‘Some aspects of Chinese culture is deeply rooted into our society and has helped to forge our Creole culture into what it is today’
One of our young Seychellois, Francis Woodcock, recently graduated with a degree in Chinese language from the Dalian University of Technology (DUT), China. In 2018 he was awarded 1st prize for both school's speech competition and Essay competition. Along with four other students from his school, he was chosen to represent DUT at the 20th Dalian Inter University speech competition and he came out third out of 19 participants. Now back in the country, he is putting his knowledge to good use and helping others with the translation.
Seychelles NATION: Please tell us who is Francis Woodcock?
Francis Woodcock: I was born on October 4, 1995. Growing up I was always fascinated by Asian culture. One of the first instances that really sparked my interest in Asian culture was watching the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony in 2008. The following years after that I visited several Asian countries and loved it. I really enjoyed being around the people, liked the languages, the movies, the music, the architecture, the food and so on. But at the time I had no intention of studying language, I was more interested in studying engineering.
Seychelles NATION: Tell us more about your journey
Francis Woodcock: After I graduated from High School I worked as an engineering apprentice, while waiting for an engineering scholarship. My mother suggested that I study engineering in China, but I wasn’t keen on the idea at first because all the courses I wanted to do were in Chinese, which happens to be a very difficult language to learn, but after serious consideration I thought that I should take her advice into account mainly because knowing Chinese might give me an advantage should I decide to change my career path in the future. In early 2016, I decided to enroll in a Chinese language programme at the Confucius Institute of Seychelles, as I thought it would be good for me to learn some Chinese words and phrases in advance. After about 3 months of learning Chinese, the Seychelles Confucius Institute in collaboration with Dalian University organised a Summer camp for Seychellois students who were learning Chinese, and who were interested in visiting China, and I decided to take part. When we arrived in China, I was really impressed by the level of hospitality shown to us by our host.
I had such a pleasant and memorable stay in China that upon my arrival back to Seychelles, I made up my mind about studying in China. From then on I focused solely on learning Chinese, and after I had acquired a certain level of understanding, one of the teachers at the Confucius Institute offered me the option of taking a self-funded Chinese Language course at Dalian University for a semester. I was accepted by the University and started my course in February 2017. When I started the course I found out that the method of teaching was very different from that of the Seychelles’ and it seemed very hard to keep up with my classmates, many of whom had learned Chinese for a longer time than I had. Needless to say, that motivated me to study harder. I also made friends with locals from all walks of life, and spent lots of time with them. Within a relative short span of time my Chinese improved and I managed to catch up. A few months later it was suggested that I apply for a Chinese government scholarship. I contemplated about applying for an engineering course but I felt that my knowledge of the language was still inadequate. Since I had gotten this far I thought I should continue to study further to have a more in-depth understanding of the Chinese language, so I applied for a Bachelor’s degree Chinese language course instead.
Seychelles NATION: What did you study in China and why did you choose to do it?
Francis Woodcock: In September 2017 I started my 5-year course, along with some Seychellois students who were awarded the Chinese government scholarship. I was sent to Beijing International Studies University (BISU) to continue studying Chinese because at that time I had not yet attained HSK Level 5, which was the Chinese proficiency level required to do a Bachelor’s degree in most Chinese universities. I was placed in a class with over 30 other foreign students, some of whom had been living in China for years and their level of Chinese made the class average quite high. Studying at BISU was really demanding, as we had 9 hour classes almost every day, and had at least 2 exams every week. After 8 months of studying at BISU, I took my HSK 5 exam and managed to pass it with a very good mark. As I had done very well for all my exams, upon my graduation from BISU, I was awarded certificate of excellence.
In September of 2018 I started the Bachelor's degree in Chinese Language at Dalian University of Technology (DUT). At DUT we were not only required to study Chinese Language, but also Economics, China overview, Business Negotiation, International Trade, Computing. And since there were many students from Japan, North and South Korea, Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Germany and so on at DUT, we had to choose to study either Japanese, Korean, Russian or German as an additional language, and I opted for German. During my time at DUT I also participated in several school activities and competitions, such as talent shows, essay competitions and speech competitions. In 2018 I was awarded 1st prize for both school's speech competition and essay competition. Therefore, along with 4 other students from our school, I was chosen to represent DUT at the 20th Dalian Inter University speech competition and I came out 3rd place out of 19 participants. The following year 2019, I took part again and was awarded 1st prize for both speech and essay competitions again. After the outbreak of Covid-19 I had to return to Seychelles, so all our classes were held online. This presented many challenges for myself and the other foreign students. For instance, due to the 4- hour time difference with China, I had to wake up at 3:30am to prepare for live courses. Depending on the day, sometimes the live courses would last for up to 9 hours. If we didn’t have live courses, the teachers would record a video and post it on a learning platform, but videos would only be online for a few hours, therefore I still had to wake up at 3:30am to watch them. If students did not log into the software and watch the entire videos, the teacher would consider it as truancy, which would lead to a deduction of your credit scores, and in some cases cancellation of your exams, which would result in the student having to repeat the semester. The other challenge that I faced was being constantly interrupted by the activities happening around me. In spite of that, I was able to manage and completed my studies in June of this year, with a bachelor’s degree in Chinese language.
Seychelles NATION: What are the job perspectives?
Francis Woodcock: Now that I’ve completed my studies, I’m willing to work in any sector that allows me to fully use my knowledge of the Chinese language and culture, be it translation and interpretation, trade or business negotiation. My wish is that I can use the knowledge I’ve acquired over the years to contribute to the development of our country and to help promote friendly relations between Seychelles and the People’s Republic of China. I am confident that the experiences I’ve acquired during my time in China will help me overcome the challenges that lie ahead, and propel me towards professional excellence.
Seychelles NATION: What advice would you give to young people wanting to study Chinese language and culture?
Francis Woodcock: As we all know, China has played a vital role in the development of our country, and we have quite a number of Seychellois citizens with Chinese heritage, so it is fair to say that some aspects of Chinese culture is deeply rooted into our society and has helped to forge our Creole culture into what it is today. I strongly encourage Seychellois people from all walks of life to learn Chinese, be it young or old, it’s never too late to learn, and as long as you have the passion and dedication for it you will be able to prevail. The best way to learn a language is to immerse yourself in the culture, that couldn’t be truer when it comes to learning Chinese. You have to listen to Chinese songs, watch Chinese movies and TV series, you might not understand the language but at least you get the feel of the tones, pick up on the nuances, and have an overall idea of the gist of Chinese conversation. I highly recommend people who are interested in learning the language, to take a course at the Confucius Institute of Seychelles. As for those who are planning to go abroad to study, I would encourage them to consider studying in China. Most students choose to go to a predominantly English or French speaking country. Since we are more familiar with these conditions in those specific countries, it is less likely for us to bring back a diversity of knowledge, ideas as well as new languages. Whereas in China, even if your course is English, it is mandatory to study at least one year of Chinese, so that you are able to manage on your own throughout your stay in China. Within that one year you might also have to learn a bit about politics, economics, trade…. which will be very beneficial for you in the long run, as you will have a well rounded understanding of global affairs. Because China is also a very strict country you will become more diligent, disciplined and resilient, which are the key ingredients for becoming a productive member of society.
Vidya Gappy
