Opening Ceremony Speech for Freshmen of 2016

Tao Wenhao

3 September, 2016

Good evening, boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen.

On behalf of the School of ForeignLanguages, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai, I would like to extend mycongratulations to you for the excellent performance you have done at thenational college entrance examinations. My warmest welcome to the beautifulvalley university, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai!

A day like this is always such a specialoccasion for our freshmen and of course the school of foreign languages. Forour new students, it marks a culmination of your hard work, dedication andperseverance during the past years. It is also the commencement of a newchapter in your life. Meanwhile, for the school of foreign languages, it is thestarting point to accompany you through a new phase of your life. It is timefor us to shoulder the task of providing you with on-going education of higherlearning. In the following four years for the undergraduate, and two years forthe MA candidates, the school of foreign languages will witness your marvelousprocess in pursuit of academic learning. I have confidence that each of you,youthful and full of spirit, will be the elite with vision, mind and wisdom inthe future.

On this wonderful occasion, full of joyand expectation, I am filled with many things to say and I will make the choiceof starting with the introduction to the School of Foreign Languages. TheSchool of Foreign Languages established on June 16th, 2003 is one of thelargest schools of the university. The school of foreign languages is staffedby 80 dedicated and professional teaching faculty with relevant expertise andworking experiences. Of all the teaching staff members, there are 30 nativeteachers of English or Japanese which account for nearly a half. Most of ourteachers graduated from prestigious universities at home and abroad. Some ofthe staff hold PhD degrees and some hold full and associate professorship. Somehave been the supervisors of master students.

Since its foundation, the school offoreign languages has emphasized the teacher’s professional development andcared about how to develop the effective teachers so as to enhance the teachingquality of the school of foreign languages. The school of foreign languages haslaunched summer programs on teaching strategies and academic research inoverseas countries for our teachers. In recent two years, 10 of our Chinese staffhave taken the summer program in Australia and Canada to explore the teachingstrategies on international level. And some of the teachers present on theopening ceremony of our school tonight have just been back from Australia andCanada. As a member of our school, you will have the chance to sit in thewonderful and enlightening lectures from our distinguished teachers andprofessors, and can experience their energy, enthusiasm and creativity at thesame time.

With excellent faculty and richresources, our school is targeting to foster first-rate interdisciplinary,innovative, independent English professionals on an international perspectivefor various fields. In order to strengthen the aim of our school, the schoolhas been exploring the possibilities of fine-tuning its features of majorteaching. One of the features is that we have set up bilingual orientations forstudents of both English and Japanese majors, such as English-French,English-Portuguese and Japanese-English, etc., which provide the chance forstudents to experience the multicultural background of two foreign languagesand broaden their horizon. Meanwhile, the school of foreign languages offersmore practical or practice-oriented courses for the juniors and seniors to pushforward the cultivation of qualified English and Japanese professionals. We arekeen on establishing more credit points from native English countries and Japanfor both majors. Thus the students of both English and Japanese majors haveopportunities to the languages in a native environment. The bilingual, as wellas the bi-credit points mode of education will make you unique and morecompetitive than other students of foreign languages from other universities.

Besides the multicultural environment,our school also enables our students to have international learning experiencesthrough international educational exchange programs. In the past years, manyJapanese and English major students have taken such programs, which definitelyenhance their multicultural understandings, enrich their study experience andbroaden their international vision. With such a solid foundation for theirfuture study and career, I am confident that more opportunities are waiting foryou and your all-round competence on international level is surely ahead ofyou.

Thanks to the high-quality education andstudents'''' diligence, every year more than twenty percent of our BA graduates goon to read for MA degrees in the prestigious universities at home and abroad,such as Beijing University of Foreign Studies, Sun Yat-sen University, ChineseUniversity of Hong Kong, University of Edinburgh ,Guangdong University ofForeign Studies，University of London, etc. I strongly believe that bythe time you graduate, more of you will be enrolled by more prestigiousuniversities all over the world .

On hearing the teaching quality of ourschool and data of graduates going for higher degrees, I am sure you aredetermined to make full use of the sources in our school and strive to achievemore in the future. At this special moment, the threshold of what is sometimescalled critical period of your life, I would also like to give you some advice.

Firstly, put study on top of the list.As soon as you enter the campus of the university, you may see there are morevarious activities than those in senior high school. You are free to check themout but always remember that you are here first and foremost for youreducation. Please go to classes well prepared and on time. Make sure yourprofessor knows you and realizes that you care.

Secondly, set goals for your new life.Some students might have a little anxiety about the life in the new place. ButI want to remind you that as long as you set your goal for the next stage ofyour life, know exactly where you want to go, you will find true success andhappiness. I like the following quotation: “success is the continuous journeytowards the achievement of predetermined worthwhile goals.”

Thirdly, be creative in your academiclearning. We live in an age of innovation, when creativity is of increasingvalue. Without creativity，there would be no progress. To be creative,you should be open to new ideas and different perspectives and be of criticalthinking ability.

Last of all, be thankful in your life.Every time you celebrate an achievement, be thankful to those who made itpossible. Thank your parents and friends who supported you. Thank your teacherswho were inspirational for you to make a success.

To conclude myspeech tonight：I would like to quote the motto of both the university as well as our school.

Of Study, be the Master. Of Behavour,be the Model.

Love, Knowledge, Morality andIntegrity.

Thank you!

亲爱的同学们，女士们、先生们, 晚上好!

我代表北京师范大学珠海分校外国语学院向你们在高考中取得的优秀成绩表示祝贺。在此也对你们表示热烈的欢迎。欢迎你们来到美丽的山谷大学，北京师范大学珠海分校。

像今天一样的日子对于我们的大一新生，尤其是外国语学院都是非同寻常的。对于我们的新同学来说，今天标志着过去多年的努力、付出和坚持不懈终于取得了成果。今天也是你们人生新篇章的开始。同时，对于外国语学院来说，今天也是即将参与到你们人生又一重要阶段的起点。从此刻起，我们外语学院要肩负起为同学们提供高等教育的任务。对于本科生来说在接下来的四年中，对于研究社生来说在今后的两年中，外语学院也将会见证你们追求学习的非凡过程。我坚信，今日朝气蓬勃的你们在将来定会成为有眼界、有胸怀、有智慧、有理想的精英。

在今天这个充满喜悦和期待的美妙时刻，我有很多话要对同学们讲。首先从外国语学院介绍开始。外国语学院始建于2003年7月16日，是本校最大学院之一。外国语语学院现有80位乐于奉献的专业教职员工，他们都具有相关的专业技能和工作经验。在我们的教师队伍中，有30位外教，几乎占了我们教师人数的一半。大部分老师毕业于国内外知名大学。目前，已有部分老师拥有博士文凭，也有一些已获得副教授和教授职称。还有一些已经成为硕士生导师。

自建院以来，外国语学院就非常重视在职教师的专业发展，也非常关注如何发展优秀教师来提高学院的教学质量。学院已经启动了教师海外暑期有关教学策略和学术研究的进修项目。最近两年，我院共有10名中方老师赴加拿大和澳大利亚参加了国际化层面的教学策略探究项目。今晚在座的就有一些老师刚从加拿大和澳大利亚进修回来。加入我们学院，你将会有机会参与到我们优秀老师美妙而又富有启发性的课程，也会感受到老师们散发出的活力、热情和创造力。

拥有优秀的师资和丰富的资源，我院的目标是为各个行业培养一流的复合型、创新型、有特色的，具有国际视野的外语人才。为了加强我们的特色，我院一直不断积极探索专业办学特色。其中特色之一是我们已建立的双语方向，比如英法、英葡和日英双外语方向。双外语方向的培养为我们学生提供了体验多元文化的机会，并拓展了他们的视野。同时，学院也增加了更多的实用、实践类课程来促进实用型外语人才的培养。我们也在为英语专业和日语专业的同学们建立更多的海外学分。这样英语专业和日语专业的同学都有机会在本土学习他们的语言。双语方向、双学分的培养方式以及丰富的实践课程使我们的学生区别于其它院校的毕业生，更具有竞争力。

除了在院内创造多元文化环境，学院还给学生们提供真实的国际化学习机会。我院已经建立了国际化交流项目，发展很好。在过去的几年中，我院日语和英语专业的部分学生已经参加了国际交流项目。这些项目加强了他们多元文化理解，拓展了他们的视野，丰富了他们的学习经历，为他们进一步学习和工作打下坚实基础。我非常有信心，我们的同学们会获得更多机会，国际化层面的全面发展能力得到了充分保障。

由于学院高质量的教学和学生们的勤奋努力，每年我们学院有百分之二十的学生考入国内外的知名大学攻读硕士学位，考上的大学有北京外国语大学、中山大学、香港中文大学、广州外语外贸大学、伦敦大学、爱丁堡大学等等。我坚信，到你们毕业时，将会有更多的同学进入国内外著名学府攻读硕士士学位。

听到有关外院的介绍以及我院攻读硕士学位的毕业生数量，在座的部分同学肯定会暗下决心一定要充分利用学院资源，努力进取，获得更多成绩。在此特殊时刻，即将跨入人生另一个重要阶段，我也想给大家一些建议。

首先，请把学习放在第一位。一进入大学校园，你可能会感受到大学校园里名目繁多的活动远多于高中生活。你可以随意去参加这些活动，但是要记住，你来大学的首要目的是为了接受教育。上课前先做好准备并按时到达课堂。参与到课堂的活动中，确保教授们认识你并知道你在乎这些课程。

第二，为你的新生活设定目标。一些同学可能会为新环境的生活感到焦虑。但是我想提醒大家的是，只要你为下一个阶段的人生设定了奋斗目标，明确你想要什么，你就会获得真正的成功和幸福。我喜欢下列引言：成功是不断向领先确定的有价值的目标前进的过程。

第三，要保持学习的创造性。我们生活在一个创新的时代，创造力的价值不断提升。没有创造力，就没有进步。要富有创造性，我们学生要学会接受新的思想和不同的观点，并且具有批判性思维的能力。

最后，生活中学会感恩。每一次庆祝成绩时，都要感谢帮助你成功的人。感谢你的父母和朋友对你的支持。感谢你的老师给予你灵感，促使你获得成功。

我想引用我们的校训和院训来结束今晚的讲话。

学为人师，行为世范！

博文博爱，厚德厚道！

谢谢大家！