Seems that we’ve now finally reached the point of smooth sailing. After what was an extremely turbulent start to the program, I am now fully confident that I’ve found my groove and have settled into an extremely comfortable and rewarding rhythm. Simply put, I love it here. While at times the unrelenting pace of the program can be discouraging, it is definitely for the better. In my opinion, the best thing a student here can do is to just stop benchmarking their progress on a daily, or even weekly basis, and just trust in the process. It’s amazing how much the mind can actually absorb when battered with a deluge of foreign content. Therefore, you should treat every aspect of your daily life here as a learning experience. Always seek to expand your vocabulary and grammar, even it means hazarding the risk of using more formal structures or words improperly. Just familiarize your mind and mouth with these new phrases and in time, through the help of teachers and locals, you will speak both properly and accurately.
On a side note, you should definitely try to make your study abroad experience about more than just classes, whether it be through going out with friends (even on weekdays), or, in my case, keeping up with the World Cup. Activities like these have done wonders to relieve my stress while also improving my 口头语 and 词汇.