SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ENGLISH DEPARTMENT PRACTICUM REPORT SCHOOL YEAR 2015 -2016 Name of student: Nguyen Quoc Tai Date: 11/04/2016 Practicum place: Thien An Energy Joint Stock Company Name of supervisor at your practicum place: Dinh Viet Nga Duration of student’s practicum: 04/01/2016 – 28/02/2016 Could you briefly introduce the main tasks of your practicum place? (Maximum: 100 words) Thien An Energy Joint Stock Company (TAE) does a variety of tasks in business field, but there are three main tasks that stand out First, they give consultation about project planning, survey, design, construction, and installation of industrial works (thermal power plant, hydropower, oil, and gas) Second, they supply manufacturing, mechanical processing, and installation of machinery, equipment, raw materials for industrial, civil engineering, and transportation Finally, they process, install and repair lifting equipment, pressure equipment (tank, pressure piping), mechanical equipment, electrical equipment, non-standard steel structure Could you briefly introduce your tasks at the practicum place? (Maximum: 100 words) Clerical work, translation document, and written report were my main tasks at the practicum place My clerical work was to deliver some materials and official documents to other offices and I also answered the phone calls, and got everything ready such as setting up projectors, along with organizing tables and chairs Moreover, I familiarized myself with printer, photocopier, projector, and all To my another task, I translated “risk management in construction” document from Vietnamese to English Last, I wrote two reports to submit my supervisor, risk management in construction projects, and quality assurance checklist What advantages and disadvantages did you experience during your practicum time? Practicum is a good way for getting first-hand experience before graduation, but there are some advantages followed by disadvantages during my time practicing at TAE Gaining work experience, having potential job after graduation, widening knowledge are my advantages When I was at the practicum place, I felt like I was a staff, instead of a student anymore I did many things such as clerical work, translation document, and written report Those things gave me very much experience Take translating document as an example, when I completed my translation, I checked it by myself and asked my practicum friends for their ideas I also had checked my papers many times before I submitted them To so gave me carefulness at the practicum place in particular as well as my career job in general Additionally, if I my duty well at the practicum place, they may consider and invite me to work for the company This is a great opportunity for me after university That is why I Page of always tried my best to complete everything well Furthermore, my practicum field was about construction work Therefore, I learned so much from the field Acquiring new vocabulary, name of machines, and some official documents, for example, were my knowledge when I spent my time practicing at TAE This could widen my knowledge and help for my future job Besides my advantageous points, I sometimes faced with some disadvantages My on-class knowledge prevented me from fishing my practicum well I, for example, lacked of vocabulary in my translation work This led to a short delay in translation and written report work When I did know my limitation, I tried to collect as many vocabularies as possible to enrich my knowledge and my translating work as well I often read news, articles in English and made sure that I really understood them Moreover, I was not familiar with the working style there It was much pressure in comparison with being on class I had to be on time, wore formal clothes and did many translation work, submitted many reports This caused some stress for me at the last few weeks of my practicum time From all of my pros and cons at the practicum place presenting above, I think that I will try to acquire some benefits while I also have to reduce my shortcomings in future career Do you have any recommendations for the School of Foreign Languages and future practicum students? Practicum is considered as an important opportunity for students to learn and experience new things in an unfamiliar working environment To have good results for the practicum, I think the School of Foreign Languages should organize a workshop before practicum time for students to discuss together about problems that may happen during the practicum time Soft skills also play a crucial part in the practicum period Therefore, it will be better if every English major student should be guided to prepare certain courses related to soft skills, especially presentation and time management As a practicum student, I understand their anxiousness and hesitation in choosing available practicum places That makes some students leave their practicum places after a few days due to unexpected situations This could not only bring many disadvantages to them, but also to the places where they are practicing Therefore, I would like to recommend that future practicum students should find suitable practicum places where are relevant to their future jobs I think that some faculties and offices at TVU are very good places for English majors practicing such as Center for International Collaboration in Education and Training, Center for Teaching and Training, Victory Center for Informatics and Foreign Languages Students can contact with those places for further information More importantly, students should meet their instructors before going to practice so that they can grasp useful information timely about how to write a report or how to arrange appropriate information I hope that my suggestions can give students of the next course insight into the practicum period Signature Nguyen Quoc Tai Page of