輔大英國語文學系

Department of English Language & Literature, FJCU

『讓他們告訴你為什麼要選輔大英文系Why FJCU English』系列四

Why FJCU English?

大一Frank (游云楚)

 

What I Have Learned over the Past Year

My name is Frank, and I am a student in the Department of English Language and Literature at Fu Jen Catholic University. Now a semi-sophomore in this department, with a year's worth of experience here, I would like to share some takeaways and thoughts regarding the things I have learned and the aspects of myself that have changed over the course of the year.

I remember that after a week or two of entering the English Department, I was overwhelmed with the workload of all the classes combined, as every class had assignments due and upcoming presentations. I was both extremely anxious and terrified, fearing that I would not be able to accomplish things to the best of my ability. Looking back now, it is safe to say that I have indeed grown since then in terms of my ability to deal with pressure. It is not that the pressure or the problems have decreased or gone away, but rather that I am now capable of facing the issues and dealing with them one by one without panicking as much.

Another change in me that I would like to point out is, of course, my competence in English. Compared to when I first entered, I would say that the most significant growth has been in speaking. Since there are many opportunities to speak English in the department, both through presentations and conversations with professors, one can be certain that one’s speaking ability will increase at an immense rate.

Some notable takeaways after one year in the department would be the ability to organize group work as well as the opportunity to gain various knowledge from different lectures. Organization, in my opinion, is the hardest skill to master. It not only requires extreme patience and an unparalleled temperament but also tests one’s ability to control variables (group members) that are, for the most part, uncontrollable. Although I have yet to master the art of organization, one year’s worth of experience has certainly taught me a lot. Obviously, takeaways also include the actual knowledge I’ve obtained throughout the course of freshman year. Pragmatics, Semantics, and Phonetics are part of the Linguistics course, which at first glance might seem tedious and difficult, but it is actually interesting and thought-provoking. Literature is thought-provoking as well, but in a different way. In Literature class, one is asked to read many texts, which is helpful in improving the ability to analyze literary works.

A memorable class, in my opinion, would be the lecture in which we learned about graphic narratives, in other words, comics. I did not expect that we would get to learn about comics in a literature class, but since comics include texts and stories as well, I guess it is not that much of a surprise.

I would recommend that you join Department of English Language and Literature at Fu Jen Catholic University. Although the department may be considered "rough," after reading my thoughts above, it is clear that there is much to take with you that is extremely beneficial, such as the ability to organize and your competence in English, of course.