A thesis prepared over two years in two different countries was awarded full marks by both the supervisor and the examiner. A contributor to ussh.edu.vn had a conversation with Tran Dieu Linh - the author of the thesis - right after the defense.
-Hi Linh, can you share a little about the topic you are working on?- My topic is "The role of Japanese KOUMINKAN as a social educational institution". Kouminkan is equivalent to a cultural house in Vietnam. Kouminkan is a place to organize voluntary social educational activities, serving residents in the area with the functions of education, culture and arts, sports and group activities... I compared Kouminkan with the Youth Cultural House in Vietnam. -
How long did it take you to do this project?- I did the project for 2 years, 1 year in Japan and 1 year in Vietnam. I was in Japan from April 2008 to March 2009 under a full scholarship program of the Faculty of Oriental Studies.
Tran Dieu Linh is a student with a very high ability to work independently, with a passion for the topic she chooses. The topic Linh chose is a new topic that no one has exploited, the preparation process is long and elaborate. In terms of the content of the report, I only read and helped Linh edit small errors in presentation and logic, the rest of the content inside I completely did not interfere. The thesis is equivalent to some theses at Master's and Doctoral levels.
— Dr. Phan Hai Linh, Instructor
? - My thesis was done in both Japan and Vietnam. While doing it in Japan, I had to go to many places to conduct investigative interviews. Having to travel far, not being used to the weather in Japan, and the cultural differences made it very difficult for me to conduct interviews. My Japanese was not very good at that time, and I said many sentences that people did not understand, so a lot of the information I collected was not as expected.
- Living alone in Japan, surely it is not small difficulty?- There were many difficulties. Going to Japan was my first time away from home, and it was also a foreign country where I had to be independent. At first, I was very nervous, but because of studying, I had to try to overcome it. Japanese people are not as warm as in my country, or maybe I was not used to it, so I felt that way. When I first came, my Japanese was not very good, so I found it difficult to live and communicate, but now it's OK. I was also not used to the food in Japan, but after a while, I overcame it.
- What is the happiest memory you remember most when living in Japan?? - Oh, a funny memory. When I first came here, I got lost on the subway several times. Those times I got lost and came home late. When my friends asked me questions, I was confused and didn't know how to answer.
Student Tran Dieu Linh has clearly shown her passion for the topic. The thesis topic is not repetitive and elaborate. I highly appreciate the author's awareness of preparing the topic during her time studying in Japan. In my opinion, the graduation thesis of student Tran Dieu Linh deserves to be a reliable reference material for the Japanese studies system.
— MSc. Pham Hoang Hung, reviewer? - My future plans are to continue studying for a master's degree in the major I'm studying and do some things that I wanted to do but didn't have time to do while I was still in school.
- Do you have any experience or anything you want to say to the students in the next class who will also do their graduation thesis like you?? -
Try your best, don't be discouraged when you encounter difficulties, if you try you will succeed, good luck.
- And with your teachers and friends before graduating? - I would like to thank my classmates in class K51 Japanese Studies, the teachers in the department, especially my supervisor, Dr. Phan Hai Linh, for their dedicated guidance to help me complete my graduation report in the best way possible. Mr. Pham Hoang Hung gave me very good and practical comments that helped me find my shortcomings and make timely corrections. And I would also like to thank my family for supporting and being by my side throughout the past time.
Thank you. I wish you success on your chosen path!
