English

Yves’s Wuxi Mandarin Life

无锡汉语生活

I went to Mandarin Education School in March, 2013. When you arrive in China this school is your first address and a kind of orientation point. They are managing everything you need for your start. And this is the first place where you get connection to other European students and nice Chinese people, either teachers or other staff of the school who are very open minded.

Then on Monday morning I had my first day in Wuxi Mandarin education School. I was introduced to my two French fellow students and my teacher and then we started class. How everybody could imagine it is a very nice atmosphere to study in little groups of three or four students in a mandarin class.

Moreover we were very lucky with our Chinese teacher Minmin. The structure of the lessons and her English are very good, so after one month I got a really good basic to communicate some simple and helpful things for everyday life. But it always depends on you how much you invest outside of the lessons. At the end of the classes you are able to pass the HSK 2. By the way, like I know from the other students that all the teachers are very motivated and good educated.

But also apart of these common activities there is a good spirit existing between students, teachers and the whole staff of Wuxi Mandarin Education School. Everybody is very sincerely and cooperative. The students are organizing regularly some activities on there own and often the teachers are involved. I still have a good relationship to my teacher Minmin and we are still communicating regularly.

My Work takes place at the Franke GMKP Energy Ltd. This company has German investors and acts in the sector of electrical engineering. It has a domicile in Wuxi (very close to Wuxi Mandarin Education School) as well in Berlin, Germany. Our company is specialized in Power Factor Correction (PFC) and produce all components needed for this process. The process of Power Factor Correction reduces the appearance of reactive power in Power Systems.

At the beginning of my work at Franke I was a little bit disappointed but after more than six weeks I could by now affirm, that I took a good choice. Although my German origin helps me to be good integrated in the daily process.My co-workers are very friendly and support me in any kind of situation. The relationship between the co-workers in China is much more friendly, I cannot observe any kind of competition. Nonetheless I think there is a strong command structure, but for me it is not visible at this point of my Chinese working experience.

Yves Schumann