??I joined a cultural exchange activity about “Tea tasting and jade appreciation” on 20th May. I was playing the role of a translator, describing what the Chinese masters said about Jade and Tea in English to help the US students understand.
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The jade appreciation and tea tasting activity was one of a series of activities based on Chinese cultural exchange, which were held by Rose of Double Dragon Alliance, who is an English teacher in Shanghai University. She is really a nice teacher because she always offers us opportunities to assist her in different activities, therefore, we can have some real experience to communicate with foreign students and guests and enhance our oral English. I have been to other activities before the “Jade and Tea” one, I found it so interesting that we can spread our traditional culture in a vivid way to foreign guests.
?? It was my first time as a translator, I felt more excited than nervous. It was really a fabulous experience for me to be a translator, for I had a great chance to chat with foreign students and learn something about our traditional culture as well. I was in a college exchange programme working for Disney in Orlando, Florida and I was proud to tell them our profound Chinese culture! And I became eager to be a cultural ambassador from then on!
? For this activity, when Rose asked me whether I would be okay being a main translator, I knew it must be a great but also challenging thing, because to be honest, I knew little about traditional Chinese culture. During the preparation, I browsed through many web pages both in English and Chinese talking about Jade and Chinese tea; what amazed me is that even though I am Chinese, I really knew little about our traditional culture. I was learning everything from English expressions to Jade and Tea knowledge, everything was fresh to me!
? Then the big day came, we had two masters specializing in jade and tea, who came to give presentations, and what I did is to translate. To be honest, I was a little nervous at first because I wasn’t used to translating all the information from Chinese to English in a rapid and exact way. Rose helped me a lot during the whole process to make it go smoothly. Those nice US students, were extremely focused on what I said, which gave me courage and confidence. For everyone who gave me support, I really appreciate it.
?? In one word, I felt really good about this translation experience. What I learned from it is more than merely English skills, but also a deeper insight about our traditional culture! For us young Chinese students, we should take the mission to spread our profound Chinese culture to more foreign friends. Cultural exchange is always a beneficial activity where you can improve your English, share your ideas and expand your prospects!
Emma – Shanghai University student