July 2007

A QUT engineering student has won second place in the prestigious Shanghai Cup Chinese Language Speaking Competition after starting to learn Mandarin a few months ago.

A short holiday in China was enough to spur Jacob Power, who is in his final year of a double bachelor degree in engineering and mathematics, to learn to speak Chinese.

"It was an intensive based course designed to allow you to learn the language quickly," Jacob said.

"After travelling to China I had a real interest in the culture - one day I would like to work there and use it. It keeps career doors open and is an enjoyable experience."

The Shanghai Cup is supported by the Queensland Department of Education, the Queensland Trade and Investment Office in Shanghai and in China, the Foreign Affairs office of the Shanghai Municipal Government and the Shanghai Education Commission.

Jacob began learning Mandarin during the last summer semester when he used his elective subjects to study two QUT introductory subjects on the language.

He is now continuing his language learning privately as his final year studies in engineering and mathematics.

QUT Mandarin Chinese programs coordinator Dr Ingrid Yingxian Wang said Mandarin Chinese had become a popular choice of subject with university students and with the general public.

"In the last summer school there was a total of 88 enrolments and now QUT has, in answer to demand, introduced practical Mandarin courses to cater for people who aim to acquire language skills, not gain credit points," Dr Wang said.

QUT's intensive, general interest, practical Mandarin Chinese courses (levels 1 to 4) will be run from July. For information, see www.cpe.qut.edu.au/events/PMCC207.jsp 

By Michelle Mills, QUT Journalism student

Mother of one, Yunxian Zhou, has taken the brave step of leaving her family at home in Zhejiang Province near Shanghai, to undertake nursing research for three years.

Yunxian is one of several Chinese scholarship recipients to undertake PhD programs at QUT.
 
The three-year scholarships are a joint initiative of QUT and the China Scholarship Council (CSC), and are awarded to students in seven priority areas of research, including Life Sciences and Public Health.
 
Yunxian is a nurse educator at a university-affiliated hospital in Zhejiang Province and is researching at the Faculty of Health.
 
Her research focuses on Chinese nurses working in Australia.
 
“I will explore and analyse the experiences of Chinese nurses who are working in the Australian health care system to determine whether existing support structures for such nurses are adequate and how to better support them,” she said.
 
Yunxian said her studies at QUT in qualitative research have been valuable because it provided the chance to learn a different research methodology that is not easily accessible in China.

She found the library resources and information retrieval systems at QUT to be very advanced.
 
“From my perspective, I can find almost anything I need for my research,” she said.
 
Yunxian is enjoying the opportunity to improve her English communication skills, especially her listening skills at workshops.
 
This is her first time to travel overseas by herself, but she has appreciated the friendly nature of people in Brisbane.
 
“You can always solve problems by asking people, people are always helpful,” she said.
 
She has also taken advantage of trips run by the International Student Services, to see some of the local area, visiting the beaches at the Gold Coast and Stradbroke Island.

To find out more about the joint QUT and CSC scholarships for Chinese students, visit http://www.rsc.qut.edu.au/future/scholarships/CSC.jsp