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Pre-sessional student profile: Wenhao Wang

Pre-sessional student Wenhao Wang at CSM. Image credit: Spoon Shao.
Written by
Becca Fowles Published date
03 March 2022

Wenhao studied Pre-sessional English Online with us in summer 2021, he is now studying his Masters in Narrative Environments at Central Saint Martins (CSM).

What are your favourite memories from your Pre-sessional English course?

It has to be the final writing examination. For writing just one essay, the process took me quite a long time. To be honest, that was my first time writing such a long essay, but I learned so much from it. I amended my essay a lot from morning to midnight at that time. Our tutor was so patient to help me through it. Meanwhile, the support from classmates was marvellous. We video-called each other frequently and talked about how to write a good essay. I think that is why our friendships now have such strong connections.

Sounds like you made some good friends. How did this work online?

Our class had 10 people and everyone was kind and friendly. We helped each other and we passed the final test together. We have really good relationships. I think it’s because our teachers used good teaching strategies. We always changed groups to practice our English. So we had a lot of opportunities to practice English or chat with classmates in different groups. Even though it was online, we spent a lot of time together. All in all, the course atmosphere was excellent.

Did you join any extra activities outside of the Pre-sessional English course?

Yes I joined the Pre-sessional Art Club and I totally loved it. Art Club made the course more interesting and relaxing. It also helped make Pre-sessional more practical. In addition, I noticed that Art Club is not just relative to Pre-sessional but also my main course. It helped my logical construction to present work about design and art. The interesting part of Art Club was that everybody had different skills and backgrounds. I enjoyed seeing so much good artwork from other students.

Eye-catching created by Wenhao, Pre-sessional Art Club 2021

Don’t be afraid to talk in English, that is why you are here. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, just do it. It will help you change and improve. Making mistakes gives you more opportunities to fix them and learn from them. This will help you pass your final examination.

What were your teachers like, how did they help you?

We had two teachers with different characters, but they both helped me improve my language skill so much. They were kind, interesting and patient.

What did you like about studying the course online?

It helped break my mental barriers so I could speak English well. I found myself less nervous speaking English in front of the laptop screen.

Do you have any advice for future students?

I found a lot of things difficult: Essays, different logic between my mother tongue and English, fear to talk. However, what matters is when you have any questions, just email your tutor, and talk with them. Don’t be afraid to talk in English, that is why you are here. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, just do it. It will help you change and improve. Making mistakes gives you more opportunities to fix them and learn from them. This will help you pass your final examination.

Also, if you get the chance, be a student rep for your course. It's a great opportunity to practice your English with the leaders of the Pre-sessional courses, your classmates or even student reps from other pre-sessional classes. Attend Art Club as much as possible. It’s like an extra fun pre-study before you go on to your main UAL courses.

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