‘I’m thinking of starting my own channel to teach English songs on social media, as well as doing more studies.’
BingJie was working in a nursery school, but is now building a career as a bilingual Master of Ceremonies.
When I was a little girl growing up in Sichuan province my dream was to become an MC – a Master of Ceremonies – hosting events, meetings and even weddings. It is a cool job!
But when I left school, I failed the Gaokao, which is our National College Entrance Examination. This meant that I could only go into college and couldn’t get a Bachelor’s degree. That was a very dark time because my whole family was very disappointed for me.
After graduating from college in pre-school education I worked in a nursery. It was my first job. It was very hard work and it wasn’t very well paid.
I can actually say that English literally saved me from that dark time. I went to sign up at a language centre six years ago to improve my English. The tuition costs were really high, more than half of my salary. So I had to get a loan from the bank and my family. I eventually paid them back with my salary.
I had a hunch that English would be a good skill to learn – and my hunch proved correct! Chengdu where I live was growing rapidly and now there’s a big demand for people who speak English. I thought English would help me become a bilingual MC, particularly as lots of foreign companies opened branches in Chengdu, and people who are fluent in both Mandarin and English were in demand.
English has given me confidence I can use in my daily life and in my work.
My teacher at the language centre has been my role model for a long time. He pushed me to get a business English qualification as he said it would be better than taking a Bachelor’s degree.
Preparing for the business English exam was a very different experience for me. I was able to develop real-life communication skills. I’ve not just acquired a skill, and now I feel that I have lots of opportunities – I can be a bilingual MC but also an English teacher or a Mandarin teacher as well.
Through my studies I also got the chance to go to Cambridge, winning a competition after sharing my story on social media. People voted for me and I won!
It was the first time I went to Europe – before my friends thought it wouldn’t happen, that only people from rich families could go abroad, but I always believed that I would win it and I was right.
Now my parents are very proud. They never posted anything about me in their social media before but after I went to Cambridge and there were articles about me, they reposted them and shared with my family. They realised it was a very big deal!
Now I’m looking at different options – I’m thinking of starting my own channel to teach English songs on social media, as well as doing more studies. In the future I’ll be a bilingual MC and aim to be an English teacher!
English has given me confidence I can use in my daily life and in my work.
About BingJie
BingJie has taken BEC B1 Business Preliminary and BEC B2 Business Vantage, part of our Cambridge English Qualifications. At present she is also studying to become an English teacher to help achieve her dream of helping others.