Confucius Institute for Scotlands SchoolsClaire McCarthy

Claire McCarthy

• Name

Claire McCarthy

• Age

20

• Scholar Year

2017/18

• Current Job/Degree

Film at Edinburgh Napier University

• Currently based in

Edinburgh

• How long have you learned Chinese?

2 ½ years

• Other Languages

Currently learning Spanish, but before the scholarship I’d never studied any languages or shown interest in them until I went to China in 2016!

• Hobbies/Skills

Filmmaking has been my passion since I knew what a camera was! At university I look for every excuse to combine my new love for languages with my old love of cinema.

• Describe your Tianjin experience in one sentence

A rollercoaster from start to finish, and a year I’ll definitely never forget

• What do you love about China?

It’s such a different world to Scotland! The people are some of the most welcoming I’ve ever met and they’re so patient and helpful when you mess up your Chinese. Each day is different, and gives you new opportunities…not to mention the food is amazing

• Best Opportunity learning Chinese has given you

Presenting to Nicola Sturgeon at the British Embassy in Beijing, as well as all the networking events were definitely highlights of my year away. Upon returning to Scotland speaking Mandarin has given me a job at Johnston’s of Elgin (Scotland’s largest cashmere company). So China has definitely shaped my future for the better!

• Do you have future plans involving Chinese?

I am definitely planning on returning to China in the near future, whether to travel or to work. China is slowly becoming a major export for cinema so I definitely feel speaking Mandarin and the cultural understanding I gained from the scholarship will give me the opportunity to put myself at the heart of their growing film industry in the future”