In 2016, after I came back from the Philippines, I needed to prepare for a Chinese exchange student program. I was so worried about my future life in China because I hadn’t used Chinese for a long time. Besides, the only thing that I could do was just have a few basic conversations.
As soon as I arrived in China, other students from CBNU and I had a problem. The pick-up service car that had to welcome us didn’t appear! We had just arrived at the airport, but none of us could get a word from the service, so we had no way to go to the school. To contact the school, we needed to borrow a phone. However, all of us barely spoke Chinese, and we were also afraid to talk with strangers. At that time, we found out there were other Korean students. I thought they were also struggling about how to go to school. Luckily, one of them was fluent in Chinese and very brave. She borrowed a phone and made a phone call, and finally we could get to the school.
When she became my roommate, I was so happy to be friends with her. She had piles of information about anything, and unlike me, she wasn’t afraid to say something in Chinese. She could say everything that she wanted and always helped me when I struggled. I envied her in that point. On the other hand, I thought I was too shy and passive to talk with other people. Every time I went out with her, she did everything, so I didn't need to talk. She was just helping me, but the fact that I could not do anything without her made me disappointed about myself.
I needed to do something, otherwise I could not improve my Chinese. I tried to believe myself, and did my best as much as I could. The first thing that I tried was making a friend. I made my own friend. Before I met her, I was worried about how to make conversation with her because she was my first Chinese friend who I had met without my roommate. She was so kind and also studied Korean language. It was perfect to help each other. We studied Chinese and Korean day by day. My speaking was so slow, but she listened to me with patience every time. After I could speak Chinese without any nervous, I made more friends and tried to make conversation with them. And finally, I got full of confidence in speaking Chinese.
Of course my Chinese is still not perfect, and I am still afraid to speak Chinese. However, the important thing is that I got confidence. That confidence makes me try and try again, and that makes me improve myself. I learned the importance of believing in myself, and I am sure that we can do anything with confidence.

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