Thesis Defense in Chinese

[Elrathion]

Hey guys

I'm Olivier from Belgium and I'm studying Eastern Languages and Cultures at Ghent University. Currently I'm about to pass all my subjects till my master but my Chinese is lagging horribly behind. [Modern Chinese]. I have no problem reading, translating from Chinese. However due to my weak level of tingli, speech, I was forced to do my year over. However I chose to go cumul.

Now I'm in a situation where I'll pass all my subjects, passed the first semester of year three [no oral testing ] of Chinese, results I'll know soon for my second semester. I'll need to defend my thesis and present it in Chinese. Also to pass my master, part of it will be oral, so I'm really scared.

I realise that I have taken the wrong approach and not been really activly busy with this, yet I wanna turn it around. I have 2 months now to try, and if not I hope maybe to achieve my Master title in January/February.

I'd really appriciate any advice you can give me.

Sincerly

Olivier

[renzhe]

You can't make up for a couple of years in two months. You know this yourself. Some things you should do:

- Get several language exchange partners and talk to one of them at least an hour every day for the next two months

- Load up on podcasts and listening material, get a subscription for ChinesePod and as many other resources as you can and spend a few hours every day listening and practicing your listening comprehension

- If your reading is really good (you can read fast), you could look at episodes in our first episode project. Most shows will be subtitled so you can read and listen at the same time, which will help you understand what you're hearing and burn common phrases into your mind.

- You should prepare your thesis defense speech in writing and memorise it by heart and recite it. Then you'll have to hope that your listening and conversation have improved enough through the above-mentioned steps to get a passing grade.

That's all I can think of. You can improve your listening and conversation drastically in 2 months, especially if your writing and reading are advanced, but there is a limit to how much you can achieve, and you should be prepared to put in 4-5 hours a day, every day. 2 months is simply not a long time.

[HashiriKata]

If your condition allows it, you could also consider spending your 2 months at some Chinese language school in China/ Taiwan.

[Elrathion]

Hey guys

update: I passed my third bachelor.

So now the task at hand is pass the master [only one semester] and be able to defend the thesis.

I can't go to China. thnx for the advise so far

[HashiriKata]

I passed my third bachelor.

Congratulations!

(But keep going, plan for the fourth... )

I can't go to China.

Have you ever tried thinking in Chinese? It works.

[adubbof09]

Is there any university resources that help me in my master thesis writing process? And what type of help can I get from them? Please guys help me. English isn’t my first language so I am just stuck here.

[chrix]

are you trying to write your thesis in English or Chinese?