My Experiences at Junior College

After two-week time, the JC immersion is over. I am appreciating this opportunity to go to the JC immersion very much. I’ve found this activity of great importance. It not only helps us gain a lot of friends but also makes us get more knowledge about the Singapore’s education. It is excellent to have this activity.

During the short eight days, I have made a lot of friends. My buddy is nice and warm-hearted. He introduced me to his friends and classmates. Through the effort of him, I was accepted by his friends. It is nice to have so many new friends. We often spent time together chatting and laughing during the break. We talked about habits. We shared our dreams and ideas about cultures. We found we had a lot in common. The eight days’ experiences also recalled me of the experiences of my high school. It was so nice to found someone just like the classmates of mine in China not only in the tones but also in characters. It was seemed that I was back to high school again. After school, I joint them in their CCA. I experienced canoeing, which I had never tried in China. It was fascinating. At weekends, they invited me to visit the zoo. There were different types of animals there. We took many photos. We toured around all the afternoon. \Although we were exhausted, we were all very happy; I very appreciate what they had done for me.

During this short experience, I also experienced a different education system. In Singapore, the classroom is always changing. Students go to different places to have different classes, sometimes they even have lectures. While in China, the class is fixed at a specific room. They are not students but teachers who move from one room to another. Students even can choose what they want to learn besides these which are compulsory. Compared to China, the atmosphere in class is more relaxed. The teachers often encourage students to be active and to speak more. Students can sit wherever they want. They often discuss about something and solve things together. While in China, class is a very serious place, we must sit as ordered. Teachers pay more attention to knowledge while students in Singapore are forced to do projects which give them experience of survey. Although we are encouraged to be cooperative, we are more likely to solve problem by ourselves. Their after class activities is much richer than that of us. They can join a variety of activities and developed their hobbies.

Although the JC immersion is over, the friendship won’t. I also have a better understanding of the lives of the contemporary. It is the one of the best memories that I have ever had. I will treasure this experience forever.

JC Immersion--Memorable Experiences

I had never expected that I could have the chance to experience the life in Junior College, and I have been looking forward to it since I knew this news. After two weeks immersion, I can definitely say that it is a beneficial and rewarding experience.
Firstly, I really appreciate students in Tampines Junior College, especially my buddy and her friends who were hospitable and responsible. My buddy was one of the first to come and meet me; her smile eliminated all my worries about the following days in Tampines JC. I met her at the hall every morning, and, after morning assembly, I followed her to every tutorial, lab work, or lecture. She always sat beside me, sharing her handouts with me. She and her friends asked me to join their discussions and activities and were happy to explain to me what I couldn’t understand. They took me to the canteen or cafe to have meals or drinks during each break. Although I couldn’t always join their conversations, they sometimes asked me questions and talk to me on their initiative and regarded me as their friend. Besides my buddy and her friends, other students there are also friendly to us. I was especially impressed by two Chinese students and one Singaporean student who came to us, chatted with us, and greeted us whenever we met. Two weeks is too little for us to become very intimate friends, but I will never forget their smiling faces, their care, and their help.
Apart from students, what also impressed me is their teaching style. Unlike the lessons in China, lessons here in Junior Colleges are active and relaxing. Students are able to express their opinions freely and teachers are fairly friendly. Students learn things in a quite easy circumstance. General Paper class is the one which gave me the deepest impression. Teachers distributed handouts or magazines to each of them and picked a passage before they began to read fast in silence. Then, questions were raised by the teacher, and discussions began. There were both class discussions and group discussions. The articles were about social issues around the world and students expressed their opinions on these issues and compare the conditions in Singapore to that in other concerning countries. It is a very effective way to broaden students’ range of knowledge, cultivate their abilities to reflect on different social issues, and provide opportunities for them to express their point of views. In my own opinion, except from the fact that handouts may seem a bit mess and students are not given enough time to discuss problems they met in doing homework, other aspects of educating students are quite good. I appreciate their easy but effective way in which knowledge is imparted.
Besides having made new friends and having absorbed knowledge during classes, I have also learnt a lot about life. I realized that a smile can make one look more beautiful and make others feel more comfortable. I will try to wear a smile on my face every day. I also found that no matter where you are, you can never avoid competitions. Only trying hard can help you stand out. In addition, the experience aroused my memories of school life in China, which is simple and happy. We shall always cherish the time in schools, in universities, when we are still young.
I am really grateful that I could have this opportunity to experience Junior College life. I am also grateful for students and teachers in Tampines Junior College for treating us so well. I will always kept it as a precious memory and treasure what I obtained all my life.
Long Yuanjie

TPJC,forever S06

I know for a long time that I am, to some extent, nostalgic. So the JC immersion to me means the last days of high school life: wearing school uniform, carrying schoolbag, and participating in morning assembly every day. Though we had to get up at 5.30 every morning, and have all the courses with buddies for the whole day, I enjoy the experience. It made me think of my own high school life, busy but colorful. Now, these two weeks in Tampines Junior College become part of my unforgettable memory, together with my meaningful life in China. And I learned a lot during this immersion, not only from my buddy and classmates, but from the lessons and the tutors as well.
My buddy is so kind. We became good friends after the first day I was in TPJC. She was sweet and I really love her smile. I remember that she walked in front of me and turned around, smiling. She never abandons me, no matter in class or in canteen during break time. We had a lot of happy time together, at school, at Tampines Library, and at Tampines Mall with her good friend, that amiable, handsome boy. He is so nice and I like him as much as her. I asked my buddy to bring him to our barbecue last Sunday, but I was amused to see all our buddies thought they were couple. Actually they do look like.
And there are the others, from TPJC S06. Everyone is just so kind and enthusiastic. I enjoy the time when we had classes together. Our GP tutor was always encouraging us PRC students to speak out in class, and we did a good job. In MA and CA, I became my buddy’s helper because these courses were really easy for us. But BA is the opposite. There are too many academic new words and we had to check them during the class. In all, I am proud of myself that I exerted one hundred percent concentration in each class, and acquired a lot.
These two weeks of JC immersion is just too short. I hope it to be a month, or two months, or even longer, for we want to know each other better, and to become closer friends. I treasure this experience in the same way that I treasure my high school life. One week ago, I was counting the days left to be with you. Now, I am missing you all, TPJC, S06, everyone. And I feel a bit sad to think of the reality that we cannot meet often since we are back. If you, my dear fellows, feel the classroom becomes a bit empty this week, please remember us. And we will always missing you.

Wang Haitian

The Highs and Lows of My JC Experience( Yu Hefei)

My two-week JC immersion program has completed in a complicated mood. In my view, whether we regard our JC immersion a good time or bad one largely depends on the nature or gender of our buddies. I think my experiences are bittersweet; sweet for I made acquaintance with a lot of local students, bitter for the little sleep for 2 weeks and the poor time I stayed together with my buddy.

I still remember the stirring PE class I have attended in TP JC in which I got a good grade in the 2400-meter running. The P.E lessens in Singapore which have more task are quite different from those in China. Before running, my buddy told me that maybe it was hard for me to complete the race. I didn’t have assurance either owing to the lack of the experience of running so long. But as the race progressed, reckoning my strength was still enough for the rest of running, I started to speed up. Finally, I got the third place in that race.

I think my proudest high happened in the ping-pong CCA club. I played with players from different counties, and I had a good time with them. It was not the result but the process that made mine feel happy. Now many members of that club are good friends of me and we chat online frequently. It was a pleasant memory from my JC experiences.

As for my lows in my JC immersion, the worst thing I think was the fact that I didn’t become a real intimate of my buddy. Maybe the reason was that there existed some cultural gaps between my buddy and me and the class I attended in TP JC didn’t appeal to me so that I spent much of my time sleeping in the school library. There was an air-conditioned reading room attached to the library. From my experience, it was a veritable comfortable resort for sleeping.

My JC immersion program has already finished, I think whether we had a good time or bad memory is not important. The things we learned from it were more valuable to us.

Junior College Experience ( Guo Rui )

Junior college immersion was an interesting journey. It is good for Chinese students to know Singapore education. According to the experience, I am cognizant of the differences between Singapore and China. Although I felt a little tired, it was still meaningful.
The junior college I went to is Tampines Junior College, which is located in the eastern regions of Singapore. It is established in the year 1986 and it is Singapore’s 13th junior college. The college arranged a buddy for every Chinese student. My buddy is an enthusiastic and hard-working girl. She has many good friends. They are all friendly and kind to me. They ask something about our bridging course and something about China they are interested in. It is a pity that my buddy says Chinese to me all the time, even if I say English.
Every morning, I got up at 5:30 and got on the bus at 6:20. When I reached Tampines, it was just 7:00. The sky was still dark, there were several stars. At about 7:40, we went to the playground, the whole college song Singapore national anthem and made a pledge. At 8:00, we started having classes. One class lasted one hour and one lecture lasted a bit longer, one hour and a half.
Tampines Junior College offers a number of course programs to the students. The project work is an essential subject for the students, which they need to complete. The college offers combination as well as several compulsory subjects to the students like mother tongue language. Science students can choose the subject which they prefer to learn. But in China, every science student must learn six subjects, including Chinese, mathematics, English, physics, chemistry and biology. Attending a class style is also diverse. Singapore students change the classroom for different lessons. In surprise, there may be no break between two lessons. By contrast, Chinese students have a regular classroom. When we finish a lesson that is forty-five minutes, we will have a ten-minute break for relaxing.
In class, my buddy and her classmates are quite lively. They have varies activities, such as discussing answers in groups, debating. They can share their opinions with others. They will ask questions as soon as they do not know the answer. Even if the problem-solving process on the board, they cannot copy, only write down the answer. After they go back home, they will do it individually again. In China, we are busying taking notes in class and afraid to leave out anything important. Generally speaking, when the teacher asks a question, the whole class will keep quiet even though we know the answer. It is probably Chinese characteristic.
Among the subjects, I am impressed by PE. In China, it is the most relax lesson. It is likely to run two laps, and then you can do anything you want, for instance, playing badminton, basketball, table tennis. On the contrary, there, in the whole class, students continue running and doing exercise, they have no chance to do others.
In fact, for me, the easiest subject is general paper, because I cound understand everything I heard. Other science subjects have a lot of specialized vocabularies, it is difficult to understand what the tutor say. To my surprise, economics is science subject, which is the arts subject in China.
My buddy’s CCA is tennis. I regret to say there are competitions between Victoria and Tampines. I do not have an opportunity to play it with my buddy. From the bottom of my heart, I hope we can keep contact with her, because we hardly to make local friends in bridging course.
In these two weeks, I learnt something about Singapore education and Tampines Junior College. It is quite different from China. In truth, it is hard to which is better, they can learn from each other. I also made new friends. In a word, the junior college experience is unforgettable.

LIFE IN TPJC!!!

Two weeks was such a short period of time that I had to leave TPJC wistfully, and said goodbye to my lovely buddies. I will never forget my precious experience there, and cherish it as a treasure of my life.

Though it has been two weeks since I first stepped into TPJC, I can still remember it clearly just as it happened yesterday. On the first morning, we stood on the “higher stage” together with the leaders of TPJC, in front of all the junior one students. With the rising sun, surrounded by its glorious rays, we saw the national flag of Singapore rising slowly and the national song of Singapore was sung by the students. It was not in China, and I was not faced with the five-star flag. However, on that moment, the solemn and familiar scene did touch something deep in my heart. It was my first time to experience a flag-rising ceremony in a foreign country. What’s more, it had been almost a year since my last time to experience personally such a ceremony. It reminded me of my days in high school back in China, which I missed a lot. So how couldn’t I be excited? Every morning after that, we would have such an assembly inside the hall or in the stadium. Though I did not know how to sing the song or how to make a pledge, I really liked the assembly, for it gave me a chance to experience the typical routine of Singaporean students.

Actually, there are too many other things that I was impressed with in TPJC, such as the complicated classroom buildings, the different teaching methods, the special ways of the arrangement of classes and so on. Obviously, I cannot elaborate them all. If I have to pick one out, I would like to talk about my buddies. In fact, only one buddy was arranged for me, and her name is Yuqing. I was rather moved by her beautiful hand-made schedule for me on the first day, which made my days in those two weeks much easier. Luckily, because she was very enthusiastic and friendly, she introduced her two good friends to me, and we four were all together every day. We would have classes, have lunch, chat happily during the breaks and do many other things together. We did have a great time and I felt extremely fortunate to make friends with them. I know more about what the real Singlish is by listening to their talks and I also get to know that their life is not so relaxing as I thought before. They have pressure as well, but theirs is different from Chinese students’. On my last day in TPJC, they three bought a school sports T-shirt for me, which I had mentioned to them before that I liked it very much. It was such a surprise and I was deeply touched by their sweet gift and warm words on the card!

As long as we got close to JC and to be there for a period of time, we can truly know what on earth the life of our peers in Singapore is like. The JC immersion is a great chance for us to learn more about the education of Singapore, and to make good friends with the local. I will remember the bright and friendly smiles on their faces; I will remember the solemn assembly every morning; I will remember each tutorial and lecture I have had; and I will remember my eight days in TPJC, which are short but meaningful, forever and ever.

-----WANG TINGTING

TPJC in the eyes

The Tampine junior college!