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Letters from ICED's students studying abroad Tran Hoai Nam On intension in studying overseas, you have so many things to prepare for a new life in a new country. The things that will company with you are not only your personal things but also all the knowledge that you acquired long before at your former school. When we are away from home, we have to face with different ways of life, different culture and language as well as life styles. There will be also many interesting things that make you surprised. My name is Nam currently studying in Germany. Thanks to kind assistance and support from ICED and all the staffs there, we have been studying here for 2 years. At the very first step of coming to Germany, everything is so strange and curious to me. I must deal with a quite different life from what I experienced at home. I have many new friends from different countries all over the world and therefore get to know more about various forms of languages as well as different customs and habits of those countries. It is quite interesting that everyone has to share in a room and there is no social and racial discrimination, but friendship and sharing. The very first difficulty that I had to face when I first came here was the commmunicative understanding, however after some time, I got used to living here. As for me you should gain a good knowledge of German before departing for studying in Germany.Germany is a well-developed country that has high intellectual standard of the people. Everyone is so condescending. Most of them speak German and English. In order to satisfy the various choice and interest of the youth all over the world, in Germany there are many states that have a lot of famous universities. It is quite reasonable to study and to do research in Germany. In order to be accepted to study in Germany, each student has to satisfy some requirements such as regarding financial status, they must have 7,000 Euro for one year living in Germany and they must complete their first year at one accreditted university in Vietnam with academic report and certification of the university. For those who wsh to apply for Postgraduate course in one university in Germany, they must show their Bachelor’s Degree and academic transcript. There are two intake dates in most universities in Germany, winter and summer semester. All students must pass the entrance language exams before entering the university for academic study. You will have 3 chances to take such exam in 2 years in order to be enrolled in the university. The strong fields of educating and training in Germany that are developing are Engineering and science, economics, sport and law. Besides studying here, you have many chances to visit and get to know more new things regarding German culture and ancient architecture. Germany is considered as the heart of Europe, as from here you can travel to many other neibouring countries to visit ancient cities such as Paris, Vience, Amsterdam during the weekend. You can also earn extra money during your summer holidays and even after finishing school hour at many restaurants and shops. These above mentioned is my experience during more than one year living and studying in Germany. I do hope that will help you a little bit for your departure preparation for studying in Germany. I wish you luckiness and success! .....................................................................................................................................................................
Dam Thanh Binh Hello everyone! My name is Binh, lecturer of School of Construction Number 1. As for me, English is so important, thanks to English I can study, exchange knowledge and information with people and friends all over the world. I am currently studying a six months course of English in New Zealand, one of the most peaceful and wonderful countries in the world, where has the symbol of the Kiwi. Studying English here, I feel so secure at the very first step as I get good support and assisstance from one international officer who is a helpful and enthusiastic Vietnamese girl. You know that, to be accepted for studying in such friendly country, I would like to show my sincere thanks to all kind support from ICED. I feel that everybody at ICED is very friendly, takes good care for me as if they are my close relatives, especially Ms. Le Thi Yen Binh, the Managing Director of ICED. She directly helped me to solve all difficult issues. I have to say goodbye to you ! I wish you all success on the way you choose! New Zealand December 7th 2004 BINH .....................................................................................................................................................................
Nguyen Thuy Van My name is Nguyen Thuy Van, currently studying at MDIS – Management Development Institute of Singapore. I Have been studying here for nearly 1 year. I have just finished English course and is coming to the academic course. singapore is a really beautiful island where many Vietnamese students choose as the study destination. Shopping is my favourite activity during my free time and at weekend. I have to walk a lot, and the major means of transport is undergrounds and buses. The Singaporean people are very friendly, but not so open-minded as Vietnamese ones, they just work so hard everyday. However my point of view has been changed so much now. Before departing for Singapore, I thought that I would cope with many difficulties in communicating with foreigners and other things, as I had not been away from home before. When arriving here, I get aquainted with many friends who help me much in getting used to living here. Study condition is much better than that in Vietnam. Each class has not so many students, and I have chances to know more international friends such as indonesian, Chinese, Myanmar, and Malaysian. That helps me much in developing my English ability and self-confident in communicating. .....................................................................................................................................................................
Trinh Hoang Ly My name is Trinh Hoang Ly, currently being a Sec 3 student at National Junior College, one of the best Junior Colleges of Singapore. I study in this college ny my 100% school-based scholarship. I was still surpried about my scholarship. When ICED called me to come to prepare for the documents applying for scholarship, I thought that I just took part in this competition to test my study ability during my free time. As I already finished my final exam for lower secondary level. Moreover, ICED asked me nothing regarding financial issue. Two days before the competition, ICED called us to come to the office to complete the documents and give us some instructions and guide to the competition. Mrs. Binh directly instructed us in details about the test, way to do the test and manner when being interviewed. She encouraged us to be more self-confident and determined. I was still surpried even when I had been awarded the scholarship and got the air-ticket to fly to Singapore. I haven’t thought that I can go to study abroad so early. studying environment in Singapore is very good. My college is so large with modern equipments. The library and computer lab open from Monday to Friday every week. It is quite comfortable for the students to come to study. The classroom has LCD-projector and other required equipment for teaching and studying. We can study in large and modern lecture hall in the full-time periods. The college pay high attention to PE programs. We have our own large sport field, 2 basket ball courts and 3 tennis fields and gymnasium. Learning conditions here is so comfortable. The teachers always respect students’ ideas. We are encouraged to be creative as much as we can. Regarding IP students, we can even select our own painting colour, model and style of arranging tables, bookshelf in the class. Our seats are not stable. Studying environment in class is so effervescent and comfortable. I can have many chances to make friends with students from many other asean countries such as Chinese, Malaysian, Indonesian, and of course Singaporean students. I would like to give my sincere thanks to Mrs. Binh and all the staffs of ICED who helped me to gain this schoolarship. Trinh Hoang Ly ....................................................................................................................................................................................
Nguyen Trung Khanh Hello all the students wishing to study in Singapore! I am Nguyen Trung Khanh, currently the MBA postgraduate student at MDIS (Management Development Institute of Singapore) cooperating in training with the University of Wales – UK. I could be able to come to Singapore to study thanks to kind support from ICED, especially from Ms Le Thi Yen Binh, Managing Director. I have been living in Singapore for 2 years now, and just completed the compulsory subjects required for MBA course and writing the graduation composition. I hereby would like to share with you my experience about life and studying in Singapore. As the MBA course requires a big investment of both time and money. As early as when I was at home, I always thought that when I decided to study overseas, I had to study hard in some years to get good degree as I hoped and since then it would be the time to be free for other activities. As you know, one big shortcoming point of most Vietnamese students in learning English, one of the most important requirements for accepting to study in most overseas universities, is that they are short of communicative ability, listenning, speaking and vocabulary, even they are so good at grammar. You will have more chances to overcome these weakness in Singapore. In Singapore, English is used as the official language in communicating, offices and schools, etc. You can make friend and speak with the native people to improve your communicative ability as well as to get used to the modern and active life here in Singapore. In general, the Singaporean people are so friendly, open-minded and enthusiastic. Moreover, you can get the free “today newspapers” at the Metro Station every mornings. Regarding the accommodation, when I arrived here I used to live with a Singaporean host family for 1 year in order to save some money. I choose to live with a Malaysian student but not Vietnamese one like many other Vietnamese students used to live. As I must use English to communicate with him. So that I can improve my English not only at school but also at home. I can Speak English fluently after some months living and studying here, that is the big thing I could not do in the past 10 years in Vietnam. I think that if you really wish to improve your English in order to be accepted to study at university or college, you should choose to live with a host family first. Until you feel self-confident in using English, you can find a suitable rent for yourself. You can stay in a single room or share room depending on your financial status. One other thing that I have to take note for you is that it will make you disappointed if you wish to study British-English or American-English here. As even the teachers of English here have their own informal language that most Singaporean people use in daily communication (called Singlish). Therefore, you must decide clearly from the beginning that you should not imitate the accent of the native people, but try to practise standard American English. It is comfortable to travel in Singapore. You can walk to school campus ( it is quite normal issue for most Singaporean people that the students should know). MRTs, buses and taxis are so popular here. Travelling cost is from S$50-70 per month. Regarding food, in general, the Singaporean people do not have the habits of buying food to cook at home. Instead, they usually eat out at food courts and restaurants. The food here is so various from China, Malaysia, Indonesia to european food. Particularly, there are many fast food shops such as Mc Donad, Kentucky, Long John, etc. In case you do not feel like the food here, it is also interesting and money saving for you to buy food to cook yourself at home. The hosts allow the students to cook at their rents. The food is sold in every supermarkets which are located everywhere in Singapore such as NTUC and Cold Storage. You can go to Open air markets or Little India or Mohamed Mustafa market to buy lower-priced food than in the supermarket. About MDIS, I can confirm it is one of the best private institutes in Singapore, with modern facilities and various student services. MDIS is also accreditted and certified the Singapore Quality Class by the government. As being the student at MDIS, I know quite well about the education system here. MDIS has a large range of courses for you to select, from Diploma, Bachelor’s degree to master courses. You can select an academic major before studyng English (in case you do not have TOEFL or IELTS) such as Business Administration, commerce, laww, accounting, information technology. As far as I know, MDIS is not so specialised at teaching information technology, so it is better for you to study Administration, management or mass communication. You will have different modules depending on the major you choose. Basically, the average mark of each subject is accounted as total mark of assignment (account for 20-30%), presentation (10-20%), and final exam (more than 50%). The students have to study so hard to get good mark, as the teachers here request us with higher attitude to studying than other institutes. I do wish you success on studying overseas as well as your future career! Sincerely, Nguyen Trung Khanh ....................................................................................................................................................................................
Nguyen Hoai Thuong Hi everybody!
My name is Nguyen Hoai
thuong, one of those who already participated in the Summer camp in
Singapore in July last year. As many other students, I feel that
time was so meaningful and happy. Through the trip I get to know
quite well about Singapore and its people, they are warm and willing
to help you when you have difficulty. So were Dr Chia and Richard.
They were always by our sides helping and answering our request.
They took care of us as if we were their children. Although we had
to live away from home for a long time, each of us did not feel away
from home. Everyone considered one another as brothers and sisters
in a family. After the trip each of us had good new friends. We live
together, eat together and study together. Through this trip we get
to know more about Singapore. We had chance to visit many places of
interest of the lion country. We were so surprised how beautiful
Singapore was. In addition to that, we also visited some schools in
Singapore and we were warmly welcome at each school. We studied
English, improved our English ability and communicated in English
with the native people. Therefore, our English ability is getting
better. We stayed in a quite beautiful guest house with modern
facility, and the food is so delicious and well-tasted.
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