Vu Minh Thao: "An unexpected path to Viet My College and the field of Japanese Business and Trade Translation"“

From a shy, directionless girl from Dak Nong province, struggling to choose a future career, to a confident, talented, and beautiful student majoring in Japanese Translation. This is Vu Minh Thao, a student majoring in Japanese Translation for Economics and Commerce, class of 2017, at Viet My College. She recently achieved the N2 level in the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). Today, Viet My reporters share Vu Minh Thao's story about her journey into the field of Japanese Translation.

The pressure of choosing a career path in her final year of high school for a girl from Dak Nong province.

“"Lack of clear direction, uncertainty about the future, and constant pressure when choosing a career" were the dilemmas faced by Vu Minh Thao as a 12th-grade student at Nguyen Binh Khiem High School in Dak Nong province. Thao struggled to overcome this pressure by taking a risk and choosing Hanoi Law University, despite not liking it, partly because her family wanted her to become a lawyer. However, any profession requires passion to pursue it to the end, and lacking that passion, Thao failed the entrance exam. Minh Thao shared, "At that time, I felt very tired of choosing a major." Her family was worried and suggested she learn a second language. Thao researched further and discovered that the Vietnamese market currently has many foreign joint ventures, including those with Japanese companies. Suddenly, she remembered a time when she really enjoyed Japanese manga, movies, and especially Japanese culture, but had to put it aside because of the importance of the National High School Graduation Exam, which required her to focus on studying and preparing. She felt much happier and realized, "Everyone has their own passion and interests. Because there are so many choices around us, we often miss the passion right in front of us.".

Viet My College helped Thao take the first step towards a career as a Japanese translator and interpreter.

Having finally overcome the pressure of choosing a major, Thảo began seriously researching the Japanese language and searching for Japanese language schools. After a series of searches and consultations, Thảo discovered that Viet My College in Ho Chi Minh City offered a major in Japanese for business and commerce. After receiving thorough advice on the program's features, such as: obtaining a formal college degree in just 2 years and 8 months, a degree that allows for easy university transfer, and a practical training program up to 70%, Thảo didn't hesitate any longer and decided to choose Viet My College as the bridge connecting her with the Japanese language.

Giving up when faced with many difficulties is something I would never consider.

Thao shared:“My biggest challenge is my Japanese communication skills. Because I'm not very talkative and don't speak much, I'm hesitant to interact with Japanese people. Even though I've tried things like watching movies and listening to music, I haven't improved much.”"Many students face this situation when learning a second language because they lack fluency. Even after trying to improve through watching movies and listening to music, they still don't fully understand what native speakers are saying. This is because native speakers are used to informal communication; they don't use the structures we've learned, so even with extensive textbook studies, their communication skills remain weak. Thao also faced this difficulty, but she didn't give up. She tried to interact more with foreigners by working part-time at several Japanese restaurants, and from there, she realized that..."“Because I'm shy and don't talk much to foreigners, they are very cooperative and correct my pronunciation whenever I make a mistake.”"Over a long period of time, her communication skills have improved significantly.".

The magic of the teachers at Viet My College helped the Japanese translation student achieve her goal.

In the first few semesters, she shared, "“I felt very discouraged having my head crammed with 16 Kanji characters by my teacher every day. (Kanji are Chinese characters used in the modern Japanese writing system and are very important in the JLPT exam.) Therefore, Thao and her classmates hated having to study with Mr. Hoang Long. It wasn't until she passed the N5 and N4 levels of the JLPT exam that she felt more admiration for him and regretted her previous dislike of his class. She shared, "”After taking the exam, I felt very impressed with Mr. Long because, if I hadn't built up enough Kanji vocabulary beforehand, I wouldn't have been able to pass the JLPT exam rounds. During the exam, there's very little time to review all the knowledge. If I had built up my Kanji vocabulary from the beginning, I could have focused on grammar and vocabulary during the exam, saving time and making the test more effective.”.

Thảo shared another exam preparation tip:“During her exam preparation, Thảo focused less on vocabulary and grammar separately, instead concentrating on reading comprehension. Studying reading comprehension indirectly added a significant amount of vocabulary and grammar knowledge to her repertoire. Therefore, Thảo passed the N5, N4, and N3 exams without much difficulty.”.

Wonderful youth at a happy school.

“I've always felt proud and secure studying at Viet My for the past two years.”"That's what Minh Thảo shared in the interview. Because, Viet My College has excellent teachers who always care about students and a cheerful, sociable student community centered around extremely lively bonding events. Thảo shared her impressions..."“I was once surprised by Mr. Khang's actions when he reminded everyone to come to class every day. I never felt shy around the teachers because they were very approachable and kind. When I first entered the school, my shyness made me hesitant to interact with my peers, but thanks to the networking events at school, I became much more confident, and my circle of friends has grown wider.”"Thao answered the interviewer with a happy smile; she must have had a memorable student life filled with happy memories here.".

A dream of cherry blossoms and a passion for the Japanese language.

After overcoming numerous difficulties and rigorous training to obtain the N2 level of the JLPT exam, Minh Thảo wants to use the knowledge she has diligently acquired over the past two years of schooling to pursue her dream of working in Japan. Working and gaining experience in the restaurant industry is what Thảo hopes to achieve when she goes to the land of cherry blossoms. She shared,“Because I've had the opportunity to work part-time in Japanese restaurants and really enjoyed it, I want to go to Japan to continue gaining experience in the restaurant and food service management field. After acquiring enough knowledge and experience in Japan, I will return to Vietnam to open a small restaurant and focus on my main profession: Japanese translation.”"With a clear goal evident in her confident expression while answering questions from the APC reporter, Thao's dream of going to the land of cherry blossoms is now within reach.".

Minh Thảo's advice for new students and those passionate about the Japanese language.

Through her determined sharing, Thảo also shared some advice and experiences she had gained during her studies and in achieving the N2 level.

• First, when participating in the reading comprehension section of a test, put aside any vocabulary you don't understand and don't focus too much on it. That's really pointless and wastes more time. Instead, read what you understand first and then answer the questions.
• Secondly, regarding speaking practice, Thao shared a learning method called "Shadowing." Simply put, when you hear a phrase or sentence, listen to it many times until you memorize it. Then, when you hear a question, you can respond spontaneously without having to think about or remember vocabulary or grammar.
• Finally, regarding Japanese communication: to communicate effectively, you must first be confident. Try to talk to Japanese people as much as possible; don't be afraid of them laughing at you for making mistakes. They are willing to correct you if you mispronounce words or don't understand them clearly. Japanese people are very approachable. Thao gained all this experience through her efforts over the past two years, and achieved some success with a Level N2 certificate in the Japanese Language Proficiency Test.

“"Learning Japanese can be discouraging at first. There are many difficulties when you first start, but once you overcome those difficulties, it will be much more fun and enjoyable later on. Keep trying!" Thao shared.

Author: Viet My College - Date written: May 18, 2020

Category: Alumni, Student life, Japanese business and trade interpreter, News - Events

Tags: Japanese Translation for Business and Economics