International Stories
International Lecturers at WUT
Zhao Chunmeng
International Lecturer of Chinese Language and Culture at WUT 2015/2016
How time flies! About nine months ago I came to Timișoara, Romania and I can still remember every detail that happened during that day. But now it’s time to say goodbye. Romania is a very beautiful country, with friendly people who are always eager to give a hand. Even though not everybody speaks English, they will try their best to communicate with foreigners and I was really moved by this. I would like to give my thanks to everybody. I was really lucky to be the Chinese teacher at WUT. Everybody was really nice, from my students to my colleagues. Thank you very much, I will never forget those beautiful memories.
At the same time I would like to transmit to all of the students: Chinese is not difficult and it’s very interesting, you’ll see! I also hope to see my former students making progress in the future.
Keep in touch!
International Students at WUT
Dongping Fu
China, 1st year master studies, Faculty of Sociology and Psychology
Even after 4 months of studying at WUT, I can still say that I am very happy I chose to come in Timișoara. The Department of International Relations at West University of Timișoara was always helpful and indeed it helped me a lot whenever I had issues regarding documents or regarding my studies. The courses at West University of Timișoara are very interesting and useful, and I believe they will help me in my future studies and career. Moreover, the professors are very open minded, which is very important for a foreign student. There are two reasons why I have chosen WUT: firstly, WUT is the only university in Timișoara that offers psychology studies in English; secondly, WUT has good cooperation with other universities in Western Europe (a criteria that was very important to me, because I am interested in enrolling for a PhD later on). The only set-back was that some of the courses were taught in Romanian, and even some English classes were explained in detail, in Romanian and it is not fair for foreign students. I would also like to give feedback regarding the relation with CNRED (National Centre for Recognition and Equivalence of Diplomas). In my case, the documents were processed slowly, and never got feedback from them, and their office phone is busy 99% of the time. This is a big problem for foreign students. Because we would like to offer any papers it needs, but we need know which papers, and how it is going. We can’t accept CNRED affect our study program, waste our 2 year time.
Oluwafemi Odeyemi Michael
Nigeria, 2nd year undergraduate studies, Faculty of Economy and Business Administration, Finance and Banking
UVT is an institution that tries to cater for your each and every need, the academic staff make time for the student needs. To me it’s like a family where you're never alone along the way.
Nataliia Fenicheva
Russian Federation, Preparatory Year of Romanian Language, followed by master studies in English language, Faculty of Letters, History and Theology
I first came to West University of Timișoara in October 2014 when my University in Moscow sent a group of students for a month of practice in Timișoara. It was an unprecedented experience for me. My first impression of WUT was positive because is a place where I have met a lot of new and interesting people, took classes correspondent with my curricula from Moscow University, and even had the opportunity to teach Russian at WUT. I am very grateful for this wonderful experience. As soon as I got back home in Russia, I made the decision to return in Timișoara and continue my education at WUT, because here I have found the Mater programme I would like to continue. The courses are very interesting and useful, and the academic staff is very attentive with each student. You can grow at WUT both academically and socially, as the student life can develop very well here. I am comfortable here and I am very happy I have chosen WUT.
Larisa George
Serbia - foreign citizen of Romanian origin, master studies, Faculty of Letters, History and Theology, American Studies
Je m’appelle Larisa et je viens de Serbie. J’ai suivi des études de Licence en section des Langues Modernes Appliquées à la Faculté des Lettres, Histoire et Théologie. Actuellement étudiante au Master d’Etudes Américaines, je peux dire que pendant toutes les années universitaires (2011-2016) j’ai eu l’occasion de rencontrer de nouvelles personnes, collègues, professeurs, qui sont par la suite devenues des ami(e)s, venant de partout à l’Université de l’Ouest de Timișoara. Ensuite, j'ai pu effectuer beaucoup des voyages grâce à la mobilité Erasmus en Roumanie, en France et même en Serbie et en Suisse. Toujours dans le désir d’enrichir mes connaissances, j’ai aussi participé aux actions scientifiques et culturelles qui sont déroulées par la Faculté des Lettres, Histoire et Théologie et j’ai assisté à plusieurs conférences en anglais, français, roumaine et serbe aussi. J’ai eu la possibilité de m’impliquer activement dans le projet transfrontalier (Roumanie et Serbie) - LIVING HERITAGE - AN UNLIMITED RESOURCE FOR TOURISM DEVELOPMENT, puis dans l’Association Hexagone Timișoara, Cinecultura, The Symposium of Students in English, Mot à Monde, FIFITUT, British and American Studies Conference etc. C'est tellement riche que j’ai l'impression d'avoir vécu une nouvelle vie ! J’aime toujours le Département des relations internationales et cette Université, car ils nous permettent de socialiser dans un premier temps et puis plus on avance et plus on se rend compte qu’ils nous permettent de nous former individuellement et en collectivité.
AL ASAAD Bashar
Stateless student, 3rd year undergraduate studies, Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, language of instruction Romanian
Stateless student, 3rd year undergraduate studies, Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, language of instruction Romanian
1. What do you think of your experience as an international student at West University of Timișoara so far?
“It is an interesting experience. I am living as an international student at WUT. The professors and students are so helpful and collaborate with international students to achieve the best possible results. The Preparatory Year in Romanian Language was important in order to learn the basic rules of the Romanian language, but also to meet new people and get to know the Romanian culture more. During the next years, the Computer Science section was full of new things to learn, but all the people in the university helped me with detailed information about the life in Timișoara, especially at the beginning.”
2. What is the best and worst part of being an international student in Romania?
“The best thing is the people. People here are so kind and hospitable, they welcome the new people regardless of their nationality or origin. The cities are beautiful and full of nice places. The life cost is always reasonale and acceptable for a student. For me there are no disadvantages of being a student here, but if there is one thing that can be considered a disadvatage is that international students are not included in the same scholarship program as the Romanian students.” 3. Would you recommend West University of Timișoara to your friends? Why?
“Yes. The education program in WUT is good, they help the new students to get over the difficulties they may face at the beginning. Professors are so understanding and support the students when they have an educational problem or a problem related to language. In general, the university is very good and they always try to progress in the educational domain. They usually organise events for students, also help the students get jobs related to the specialization they have graduated from”. 4. How would you describe your experience as a stateless student in Romania?
“As a stateless person I did not find any difference in how people treat you in general. They treat stateless people as if they were from any other nationality. I would suggest more intensive Romanian language and culture lessons during the Preparatory Year of Romanian Language.”
“It is an interesting experience. I am living as an international student at WUT. The professors and students are so helpful and collaborate with international students to achieve the best possible results. The Preparatory Year in Romanian Language was important in order to learn the basic rules of the Romanian language, but also to meet new people and get to know the Romanian culture more. During the next years, the Computer Science section was full of new things to learn, but all the people in the university helped me with detailed information about the life in Timișoara, especially at the beginning.”
2. What is the best and worst part of being an international student in Romania?
“The best thing is the people. People here are so kind and hospitable, they welcome the new people regardless of their nationality or origin. The cities are beautiful and full of nice places. The life cost is always reasonale and acceptable for a student. For me there are no disadvantages of being a student here, but if there is one thing that can be considered a disadvatage is that international students are not included in the same scholarship program as the Romanian students.” 3. Would you recommend West University of Timișoara to your friends? Why?
“Yes. The education program in WUT is good, they help the new students to get over the difficulties they may face at the beginning. Professors are so understanding and support the students when they have an educational problem or a problem related to language. In general, the university is very good and they always try to progress in the educational domain. They usually organise events for students, also help the students get jobs related to the specialization they have graduated from”. 4. How would you describe your experience as a stateless student in Romania?
“As a stateless person I did not find any difference in how people treat you in general. They treat stateless people as if they were from any other nationality. I would suggest more intensive Romanian language and culture lessons during the Preparatory Year of Romanian Language.”