Preservation & Presentation of the Moving Image
Wu Di from China
Italian Language and Culture
Educational background
I studied Italian language for four years at Xi’an foreign language university in China. Then I went to Italy for one year to improve my Italian. After that I came to the Netherlands and studied English for half a year at the professional university for Hospitality in Leeuwarden and then I followed a one year international programme in Business Administration, also in Leeuwarden.
Why Italian Language and Culture?
Italy is a very beautiful country and I have always been interested in the language. I want to know this country. I came to the Netherlands because I wanted to improve my English as well.
I chose Amsterdam because this is the best university for me. The tuition fee is affordable and it is the capital of the Netherlands, which makes it a good city to study in.
When I will have finished my MA here I will return to China.
I may want to teach in either Italian language or English or work at a television station; I used to be a professional soccer player in China and I want to do something with sports.
About the programme
In China the Italian language programme was only about learning the language. Here we study literature, linguistics, and culture. It is a lot of hard work, especially studying La Divina Commedia, which was new to me.
But we have very good teachers. We are a small group of seven students, which I find very good. The programme director helped me pick suitable courses, she recommended me to focus on literature rather than linguistics. They also gave me extra help with preparing my presentation of a novel, which was very useful.
At this university it is easy to approach lecturers to discuss the course work. They expect students to participate actively in class, which is very different from the educational system in China.
About the Universiteit van Amsterdam
The facilities are very good. The libraries have a good collection of Italian books. The computer rooms are also great; however we do sometimes have to wait some time for a computer. Me and my wife, who studies American Studies at the Faculty of Humanities, have been accommodated student housing in the city centre of Amsterdam, which is very nice, but also expensive.
The university provides a very good environment to study, to make friends here, go to parties, to communicate with other people.
About the city and the Netherlands
Life here is wonderful. We really enjoy it.
Amsterdam is a very international city. We enjoy this culture very much. It is comfortable and quiet here, in respect to China were it is very crowded on the streets. It is very relaxed here. The temperature here in the Netherlands is very different from China as well, it can be rather cold here.