On the afternoon of 28th Nov, School of Foreign Languages (SFL), together with China Daily and Coca-Cola Company, jointly hosted a forum on English study and life plan in the lecture hall 101 of the Science Building. Guests presented were the famous translator and diplomatist, Ambassador Chen Mingming, the CEO Assistant of New Channel International Education Group Limited, and former war correspondent in Xinhua News Agency, Mr. Ran Wei, who is also an alumnus of the EST (English for science and technology) class of theSFLin 1998, and the Media & Interactive Marketing CEO in Coca-Cola Greater China region, Ms. Yang manman.
Before the talk started, the deputy president of XJTU, Professor Zheng Qinghua showed up and spoke to the guests briefly. He pointed out that this kind of enjoyable and educational activity is warmly welcome in our university, because it can help students know about the world outside the campus, and learn what kind of talents are needed by the society, so that they will realize what directions they should pay efforts to besides their hard working.
The dean of SFL, Yang Ruiying, the deputy dean, Chen Xiangjing and the principal of student work, Zhang Chang`an attended the forum. More than 400 teachers and students were also present. This forum was presided by Zhuo Xing, a journalist in "Portrait" magazine.
In this forum, Ambassador Chen Mingming said frankly that although he had spent all the past time on diplomacy and translation, he was more of a diplomatic staff rather than a translator or a diplomat. He thought he would never be able to enter Ministry of Foreign Affairs without his years of hard working in Beijing Foreign Studies University. So it is important to master a foreign language if you want to do a diplomatic job well. In 7th, May 1999, the American air force bombed the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia and caused casualties. It required the diplomat to make the correct judgment, which would influence the development of the Sino-America relationship. At that moment, on behalf of China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made three requests to America: first, must apologize; second, must put the perpetrator into justice; third, must compensate for our loss. This is a very dispassionate decision based on China`s national interest. Ambassador Chen thought, when faced with challenges, a diplomat must be courageous enough to speak the truth, and be calm and objective enough to do judgments. This is the key moment for a diplomat to show his ability to strategize and his professional quality of being independent and dispassionate.
Ran Wei recalled his experience of taking part of the 21 Century English Speech Contest when he was a college student. He was standing on the stage, facing an audience of 500, and getting so nervous that his feet were as totally cold. Through the suffering experience he thought he was not good at delivering speeches in public, however, he did not give up. Thanks to his perseverance and the motivation of aspiration he realized many dreams: being war correspondent in Baghdad, asking foreign minister questions in the White House, going to Harvard University, etc. Now he entered the marketing environment, an even more challenging field, but he was confident that he could handle his work. Ran Wei thought the most effective way of improving one`s learning skill is reading. He thought the time we spend in school was the most beautiful period through the whole life, and he encouraged students to treasure it and to make improvements constantly.
Yang Manman hoped students could pay enough attention to English study. She thought although good English might not be a key factor for one to enter a foreign company successfully, poor English might be an obstacle in this process. Nowadays, in order to know the demands of consumer in the fierce media competition, you have to understand them, keep pace with the time, analyze or even lead the trend. The ability of expression is a very basic requirement in the workplace. Real communication goes in two directions, that is, not only expressing yourself clearly, but also accepting ideas from others, which is true for both English and Chinese. For the young generations, abilities of independent thinking and judgment are also needed.
During the talk, three guests advertised for their own units and invited students to join them, and the host had to "interrupt" their recruitment competition. The atmosphere of the forum thus became very joyful. According to an informed people presented, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recruiting much more people than any other state-owned unit, and it offers employee free accommodation and considerable payment, although the civil-service exam is not so easy for most people. The Graduate Program of Coca-Cola is quiet attractive, and trainees are provided with opportunities to get in touch with seven core departments in the company within 24 months, so there are bright prospects lying ahead. New Channel, as a fast-developing and unlimited potential representative of Chinese educational career, offered competitive payment and welfare as well.
The forum ended in a cheerful atmosphere, and teachers and students took photos with three guests to keep this precious moment. This activity also was a profound reminder to all the attendants that that they should work hard to lay a good foundation and vigorously pursue their dreams in their college days, so as to get closer to their goals step by step.
