Nguyen Hoai Linh

Hi everybody, my name is Linh, I'm a Vietnamese student. I've been in New Zealand for more than 1 year now and I'm doing a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) degree at The University of Auckland.

Before coming to university, I completed The University of Auckland Certificate in Foundation Studies at ACG New Zealand International College, which proved to be an invaluable experience to me. It was not only a great opportunity for me to get used to studying in an English speaking environment  but also helped me built a strong knowledge base supporting my first year at  tertiary level. From a range of different subjects available, I got a chance to choose the ones most relevant to the major that I intended to study in the future. Moreover, if I had any doubts about choosing them, there was always a career adviser to help me out. It was good to know that somebody was there to help you all the time.

The course is well-constructed and designed for international students who have not studied in New Zealand before so I was able to follow without knowing much about the subjects. All I needed was my English and a willing-to-learn attitude. My teachers were all great and very friendly. Even though in my country I did not ask questions in class regularly, at ACG the teachers always encouraged students to participate. Therefore, I found myself being much more active by asking questions in class so that I could understand clearly what I was learning.

At the moment I'm at university and I still find the subjects I took at ACG really helpful. As a first year student, it took me quite a while to adapt myself to the university study environment. If I didn't have such a good base of understanding from the Foundation Programme, I might have felt overwhelmed to meet all the requirements.

However, studying is not the only thing that I enjoy while being in New Zealand. At ACG, the students come from many countries so I was able to make a lot of new friends with different cultural backgrounds. Besides, the school also found a great homestay for me and I have been staying there ever since. The family is warm and friendly so I don't really feel homesick. Best of all, I think this is the most practical way to learn how to speak English fluently because I have to use it everyday to communicate.

Moreover, New Zealand is one of the greenest countries I have been to. When I first came here, I was impressed by the fresh air and beautiful landscape of New Zealand. Some of the places that I have visited were magnificent, especially the perfect view of the sea and the mountains. I also feel more close to a natural environment when living in this country because I can go for a walk or stay in the garden whenever I feel tired of studying and need to relax a little bit. 
 
I think I made the right decision when choosing New Zealand and I hope that I get more chances to travel around the country to get to know more interesting things.