3 . I had been standing there for five minutes, trying to get across a busy traffic circle in the middle of Istanbul, Turkey. A police officer was gesturing and shouting at me: Olmaz! Olmaz! I thought he was saying Go! I started across the street. Suddenly there was a loud noise as several cars hit their brakes (刹车). One of them almost hit me. The officer had actually been saying, Don’t. I returned to my hotel and didn’t go out again until the next morning.

During my first few months in Turkey, I dealt with the difficult task of learning Turkish. Knowing a little bit of the language kept me from getting in trouble more than once. One day when I got sick, I had to get some medicine from the drug store but, I didn’t understand the instructions at first, and almost ended up taking too much. Having a Turkish friend explain it to me really helped.

After about a year, I was able to speak and understand quite a bit of Turkish and I discovered that I could use this skill to save money. When I went to the Covered Bazaar, I listened to the salesmen bargaining with tourists in English. There appeared to be a drawback to bargaining in English. The prices didn’t go down very much. However, when I started bargaining in Turkish, the process became much warmer and friendlier and the prices really dropped!

Probably the most important benefit of learning Turkish was that it enabled me to develop a deeper understanding of the Turkish people and their culture. Once someone saw I was trying to learn the language, they immediately opened up to me. I would get various insights (见解) into ways in which our attitudes toward life differed and ways in which they were the same.

My own personal safety was the main reason I decided to learn Turkish. However, as time passed, I also discovered other benefits. If I hadn’t decided to learn this second language, my time in Turkey would have been much less interesting and rewarding. What I learned has changed me in some very fundamental ways.

I have always been a language enthusiast, especially of the languages more distant from my mother tongue (Spanish). I learned that only a year before,     1     new degree called Modern Languages and their Literatures, which included Chinese among three other languages,     2     (establish) at the University of Granada. I chose to study Chinese though I didn’t know a word of it.

The four years were a journey of hope and     3    (disappoint) in equal parts. I wanted to quit several times in the third year,     4     (see) that after two years of hard study it was impossible for me to keep a simple conversation in Chinese.

Thinking of all the     5     (invest) time, I determined to finish my degree. After that, I would look for an opportunity to go to China for further study. During my study period, the one that     6     (real) helped me to start speaking Chinese was the Chinese Bridge, a contest     7     which I participated with zero talent and great enthusiasm. The preparation for the contest benefited me a lot and     8     (strength) my desire to improve. Thus, I graduated with honors and applied for a one-year scholarship to study Chinese in China. So in August of 2015 I arrived to Nanjing University,     9     I lived and studied for nine months. A year later, I headed to Yunnan Normal University     10     (pursue) another Master’s Degree in teaching Chinese to foreigners.

When I look back to my past study life, I know it was many unknown paths that took me to the right places.

6 . I had never thought how much fun I would have on the trip prior to my arrival in Salamanca, Spain, but when I am writing this case study now, a huge flood of memories from that exciting week come!

My placement (实习工作) was at a nursery and that in itself was hardly “work” — playing with the children, reading to them and taking them to see local children’s performers was by far the most enjoyable work I have ever undertaken. In the afternoons it doubled as an English-teaching after-school club of sorts, which was incidentally a brilliant way for me to learn Spanish while the pupils picked up some English.

On Monday during the siesta (午休), I went with friends to an amazing restaurant for lunch, where we enjoyed delicious Spanish food and drink. In the evening, we visited local restaurants and cafes and had a brilliant time! This was a pattern that I tended to follow throughout the week.

Besides the social activities, I also made good use of my camera and used it to capture the stunning beauty of many of Salamanca’s buildings.

The trip was definitely an invaluable experience — the large amount of independence that we were given taught me to be more responsible, and the few people that were initially (起初的) homesick got over it almost immediately. Having now visited Spain, I can honestly say it is by far the best way to learn a language as you are immersing yourself in it by being in a situation where you are effectively being forced to speak the language, thus improving your speaking skills.

The week-long trip benefited me linguistically as my speaking and also listening skills improved considerably as a result of everyone’s positively speedy talking. Culturally, as I learnt a great deal more about the Spanish culture, not to mention socially as I made plenty of friends.

In a sentence, the trip was brilliant because I was not just learning the language — I was also learning about the people and culture behind the language and even better, I made lots of new friends along the way!