One of the toughest challenges I have ever faced, uh, was studying for master’s degree in engineering in Czech Republic. This was particularly difficult because the entire program was taught in Czech. And when I started I didn’t have a strong grasp of the language. Although I had taken uh, three months, uh, Czech language course organized by university administration. When I started the program, uh, I had already learned some basic Czech grammar and vocabulary, uh, during the course. But I soon realized that understanding lectures and uh, completing assignments required a much higher level of fluency. My professors were often speaking very quickly and uh, using advanced engineering terms and I hadn’t, which I hadn’t encountered before. At first I had been trying to manage by translating my lecture notes, uh, and textbooks after every class. But this process was incredibly time consuming. Uh, one of the hardest moments came when I had to give my first presentation in check. Despite preparing for days, I, uh, felt nervous and was worried about uh, my pronunciation and sentence structure. However, I pushed through and took it as an opportunity to learn from my mistakes. Uh, at the time I felt overwhelmed. But I decided to tackle the challenge head on. I decided to step out, step out of my comfort zone and I started talking more to check people. Additionally, people there were very kind and patient and they even helped me correct my errors, which made the process much easier. And over time I had been practicing not only in everyday conversations, but also during group uh, discussions and presentations. And uh, after that I started to feel some improvements, significant improvements in my understanding and speaking skills. And now looking back, I’m proud that I didn’t let fear hold me back. Ah, this challenge taught me, uh, the importance of perseverance and embracing mistakes as a part of learning process. Uh, completing my engineering degree in Czech was not just an academic achievement, but also it was a personal triumph.
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Polished transcript:
Male
Female
One of the toughest challenges I have ever faced was studying for a master's degree in engineering in the Czech Republic. This was particularly difficult because the entire program was taught in Czech. When I started, I didn't have a strong grasp of the language. Although I had taken a three-month Czech language course organized by the university administration, I had only learned some basic Czech grammar and vocabulary during the course. But I soon realized that understanding lectures and completing assignments required a much higher level of fluency. My professors often spoke very quickly and used advanced engineering terms that I hadn't encountered before. At first, I tried to manage by translating my lecture notes and textbooks after every class, but this process was incredibly time-consuming. One of the hardest moments came when I had to give my first presentation in Czech. Despite preparing for days, I felt nervous and was worried about my pronunciation and sentence structure. However, I pushed through and took it as an opportunity to learn from my mistakes. At the time, I felt overwhelmed, but I decided to tackle the challenge head-on. I stepped out of my comfort zone and started talking more to Czech people. Additionally, the people there were very kind and patient, and they even helped me correct my errors, which made the process much easier. Over time, I practiced not only in everyday conversations but also during group discussions and presentations. After that, I started to feel significant improvements in my understanding and speaking skills. Now, looking back, I'm proud that I didn't let fear hold me back. This challenge taught me the importance of perseverance and embracing mistakes as a part of the learning process. Completing my engineering degree in Czech was not just an academic achievement; it was also a personal triumph.
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Speaking Time: 122 seconds