Personal Statement

Since young, I have spoken Cantonese with my parents, Mandarin with my

grandparents and English in school. It was always one of my tasks to translate for my friends
and family due to the linguistic differences between these languages. As a bilingual (trilingual
if Cantonese is counted to be linguistically separate as a language), I was able to experience
the life of local Chinese people as well as the English view of different matters. This was even
more exemplified the moment I began to keep in touch with political matters, both locally and
internationally. Languages also have the connotation of the cultures behind it, and not being
able to understand each other is a cause for numerous conflicts in the world. Therefore, if I
ever have the chance, I would like to be the one to bridge the gap between these two
perspectives and provide the opportunity for another alternative.
In university, I decided to take translation as my minor, because despite studying
English Studies, it was still difficult to forget the joy of mixing two to three different languages
together in the classroom and translating for others. Later on, I was lucky enough to carry out
the skills I learnt in class by helping with various interpreting and translation jobs in Macau,
one of the more prominent jobs being a student interpreter in the Macau Global Tourism
Economic Forum and a simultaneous interpreter for the Macao Government Tourism Office
annual press conference. In 2020, I was able to work as an intern in one of the local translating
and interpreting companies in Macau and was able to participate in translating numerous
documents as well as interpreting for various events. Hong Kong is the best place to study
translation and interpretation between Chinese and English due to its unique background,
which I have experienced for the majority of my life. As an international financial centre, as
well as global hub, I believe that studying here would definitely provide much more
opportunities to put my skills into practice, and improve my abilities. Therefore, I hope that I
can study translation in your university for my Masters, also due to the fact that you provide
one of the best courses in interpreting in Hong Kong. After taking this course, while it may not
be a guarantee for me to become an accomplished interpreter, but I hope that with the skills I
learnt, I will be able to contribute to cultural exchanges between the East and the West.