Before starting my PhD
I’m officially starting my Ph.D. studies in January, but before that and at the beginning of my studies, there is quite a lot of paperwork and administration to be done. As I have mentioned before, I always enjoy writing about my studies and I wish to document these first steps of my Ph.D. as well. I have also seen blog writing being used in research writing courses as one tool to improve your writing skills, the more you write, the better you can get! And being a non-native English speaker doing my research in English, I definitely hope to improve my language skills as well. Verification of my diplomas As…
My Ph.D. Journey Begins!
It’s quite incredible to be able to share this news that I’ve dreamed about and prepared for over a year now. At the same time, I’ve been utterly scared that it would never become a reality, but here we are! I will be starting my doctoral studies this coming January! In October 2021 I shared on the blog that I had decided to apply for a doctoral program and in March 2022 I shared how I actually applied. What I didn’t share is that I was denied once last Spring when I applied for the first time. It was devastating news to hear, but at the same time, I got…
Application sent! How I applied to a PhD programme in Finland
Last year I wrote about my big decision to apply to a PhD program in Finland. I just sent in my application last week and wanted to take the time to write down my experience from the idea to actually finishing up that research proposal. After all, most of my blogging “career” I’ve been writing about my studies. In October I had just started to find out if it would be possible for me to apply to a PhD program and do it remotely from Guangzhou. Via Facebook, I got in touch with a university lecturer from Helsinki University who had expertise in China and the Chinese language. He shared…
What makes someone motivated to learn Chinese?
My story My own journey of learning Mandarin Chinese is perhaps not the most usual one. My parents lived in Beijing in the 1980’s for a few years when my mother was working at the Finnish Embassy there. During their last year in the Northern Capital, my mom started expecting me, therefore I can say I was in China even before I was born! My parents didn’t continue the diplomatic adventure, instead returned Finland to their hometown. I was born and lived in Finland for the first 21 years of my life. My earliest memory of being interested in China and in Chinese culture is from 5th grade when I…
