After years of working while teaching herself foreign languages, Linh won three scholarships to study in China.

Linh, born in 1998, is a fourth-year student majoring in Translation and Interpretation at Beijing Foreign Studies University (China). Born into a poor farming family in Nam Sach district of the former Hai Duong province, Linh’s childhood was shaped by witnessing her parents struggle to make a living to send their children to school.

"For 18 years, I heard plenty of gossip about my family just because my parents only had daughters and we were poor," Linh shared.

As the eldest child, Linh always told herself to grow up early to support her parents and care for her younger siblings. After graduating from high school, knowing that her family could not afford university, she decided to put her education on hold and go to Japan as a technical intern.

Studying while working

At the age of 18, Linh moved to Japan, working 11 hours a day inspecting automotive components. Despite her busy schedule, she still went to a community center in town on weekends to learn Japanese.

Initially, Japanese was just a tool for work and daily life. But the more she studied, the more she fell in love with the language. Every day, she dedicated about 3 hours to self-study. During busy times, Linh wrote new words on paper slips or a small notebook she carried around, studying whenever she had a free moment.

After a year of relentless effort, Linh obtained the JLPT N2 certificate. By her fourth year in Japan, she went on to conquer the JLPT N1, the highest level in the Japanese Language Proficiency Test system.

Four years away from home was also a high-pressure period for the young girl. In 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, Linh could not return to Vietnam and used this period to learn Chinese. During her study time, Linh met a Chinese friend who enthusiastically guided and supported her in learning the language.

After half a year of studying Chinese, Linh returned to Vietnam and spent another year preparing for the HSK, the Chinese Proficiency Test. After achieving HSK6, she began preparing her portfolio to apply for scholarships to study in China.

A student in Beijing

For Linh, the scholarship application journey was far from easy. Without a mentor, she had to research information on her own through groups and forums, navigating the application preparation process step by step.

"Another obstacle was that my high school GPA was only around 7.0. I used to worry a lot when comparing myself to many applicants with much more outstanding academic profiles. But my parents always encouraged me to give it a try," Linh recalled.

Unable to alter her past academic grades, Linh chose to compensate with other strengths. She wrote her study plan in Chinese herself, requested recommendation letters from her high school teachers, and added two language certificates - HSK6 and JLPT N1- to her portfolio.

More importantly, Linh wove her own story into the application: A girl who once left her hometown to work as a factory hand but never abandoned her aspiration to learn and transform her life.

That dedication finally paid off when Linh won the Chinese Government Scholarship (CSC) at Beijing Foreign Studies University, the International Chinese Language Teachers (CIS) Scholarship at Jinan University, and a scholarship from Tianjin University.

"When I received the admission and scholarship news, I burst into tears. To someone who once viewed university as a luxury, that was a moment I will never forget," she recalled.

At the age of 24, Linh chose to restart her academic journey at Beijing Foreign Studies University. Initially, she felt pressured seeing her peers already well-established in their careers while she was just returning to the lecture halls.

"I used to worry about the age gap with my classmates. But then I realized that as long as you have passion and a hunger to learn, age is just a number," Linh shared.

According to her, the living environment in China shares many similarities with Vietnam, making adaptation not too difficult.

During her time at university, Linh continued to hone her Chinese and Japanese while picking up English. To her, every foreign language is a doorway opening up new opportunities and experiences.

Thuy Nga