Canadian immigration listens to the voice of Canada: "My overall feeling about studying abroad can be summed up in one word, free. Attending classes feels more like a pleasure than a burden." This was stated by Deng Lingyan, a junior student at Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, during an interview with Jiangnan Times yesterday.
Since 2012, Jiangsu has been sponsoring a group of outstanding students each year to study abroad at prestigious universities, and Deng Lingyan is one of the fortunate recipients. Recently, she shared her experiences from over 40 days of exchange study at York University in Canada with reporters.
Students in the dormitory have their sheets changed weekly.
"We arrived in Canada for our exchange study in mid-July last year, and the total study period was 40 days, during which we received authentic Canadian education," Deng Lingyan told reporters.
During her study, after accounting for various subsidies from the education department and the university, Deng Lingyan spent approximately 12,000 yuan in Canada, mainly on food and accommodation.
"I ate mostly in the school cafeteria, which felt like the underground shops in Xinjiekou, but the food did not suit my taste and was quite expensive," Deng Lingyan said. She noted that the living environment at York University was excellent, with the university dormitory offering two types of rooms: single and double. She stayed in a single room. The dormitory did not have a bathroom, but it was equipped with air conditioning, a small bed, a desk, and a drawer cabinet.
"The dormitory has a large floor-to-ceiling window, making it very bright." Even more surprisingly, a cleaner comes weekly to change the sheets.
In Canadian schools, male and female students live in the same dormitory building, and everyone needs a key card to enter and exit the dormitory and rooms. Additionally, campus security patrols the entire building daily, giving it a hotel-like feel.
Teachers rarely use textbooks in class.
When it comes to learning, Deng Lingyan had even more reflections. He succinctly summarized the difference between Canadian and Chinese universities: "Studying in China feels like a burden, while attending classes in Canada is more about enjoyment."
Classes in Canada are very short, starting at 8 AM and ending at 12 PM.
Since she studied e-commerce in China, the courses arranged for Deng Lingyan in Canada were also related, including human resource management, e-commerce logistics platforms, and business communication.
"The atmosphere in Canadian classes is very lively, and the teachers have distinct personalities, even the older ones are very energetic," Deng Lingyan said. In Canada, classrooms consist of large tables, with students sitting around them while the teacher lectures in the middle of the room.
The biggest difference from China is that classes in Canada rarely use textbooks, but they heavily utilize multimedia. "During class, teachers never touch textbooks; instead, they constantly switch slides, with only the main titles on each slide, requiring minimal note-taking. However, this demands that students listen attentively, as the amount of information from the teacher is substantial."
During class, teachers frequently ask students questions, and students can respond without standing up after raising their hands. "Everyone is accustomed to this atmosphere, feeling relaxed, and the classroom environment is very harmonious."
This year, Jiangsu will select 1,100 outstanding undergraduate students to study abroad, with 1,000 spots partially funded by the provincial finance and 100 spots fully funded.
This program is aimed at full-time undergraduate students enrolled in provincial (municipal) universities (including private universities) and does not include recent graduates, students from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, or foreign students. Selected students will be chosen through an online application process, school review and recommendation, and confirmation and announcement by the provincial education department. The application deadline for 2014 is March 15.
The selected universities include 22 prestigious institutions in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, such as Harvard University, with courses lasting 4 to 5 weeks.