Zhang Rui is the president of the student union at Kent School’s Shulan campus. His hobbies include: English speech contents, debate, soccer, rugby and music.
Q: Can you share your experience of learning English with us?
A: When I was little, my dad bought me a whole set of “SpongeBob Square Pants” and “The Simpsons” CDs without subtitles. My father had set up a learning mechanism at the time to improve my English sensitivity, and I had to complete the corresponding tasks after watching the animation every day. I was exhausted at the time, but looking back, I see that the cartoon learning had a significant impact on my English phonetics and intonation, as well as sparked my curiosity in English. Because I enjoyed it, the next step in my English learning process was much easier.
Q: Do you have any advice to share with students about learning English?
A: For learning English, I think the most important thing is to practice more. I always believe in the saying, “Learning a language requires practices, the more you apply it in real situations, the more natural it will become.” The more you accumulate and practice, the more you can make a big difference.
Activities & Hobbies
Hobbies: English speech contests, English debates, soccer, rugby, self-composed songs. As my English improved, I became more confident in myself, and I began to demonstrate my abilities in the English field by participating in various study abroad activities as well as English-related speech and debate competitions. In these activities, I have achieved some achievements, including being the runner-up of Hangzhou in the Star of Hope English Style Competition, the champion of Ningbo in the NSDA Public Forum Style Debate, and an excellent debater in Beijing competition.
Most importantly, I met a lot of interesting people and gained a variety of insights, and these competitions and events reinforced my belief in my ability to learn languages well. After school, I like to play soccer, rugby and other sports. Voltaire said, “life lies in healthy exercise”. I believe that health is the basis for moving forward. At the same time, I enjoy writing songs and singing. I have released a number of original songs in the NetEase cloud.
Future Plans
I’ve always thought of teaching as a noble profession, therefore, being a teacher is my ideal work. That is why I am constantly laying the groundwork for my future plans. During the winter break, I worked as an intern assistant teacher, and the transition from student to teacher has made me more aware of the direction of my efforts.
