Right, Easter is looming like a big loomy thing. I still have quite a personal few things to do before the trip to Spain on Thursday but I managed to get quite a lot cleared up last week so college shouldn’t be too much hassle.
Spanish – got feedback from Jordi on the 2 essays, put in the hours on updates & rewrites, and re-submitted them. Jordi seems happy with my “Lengua” effort so that should be that. Dieca cast an approving eye over my “memoria historica”, and will see what Jordi has to say. This week in class we’ve got a NAB and the Advanced Higher prelim so I’ll have stay focussed for them!
Lit – I’ve been happily re-reading and highlighting HOD, but Madeleine somewhat confused the issue by giving us “Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, which is some kind of TS Elliot masterpiece. It is a good poem, but very dark and with commentary and symbolism on a number of levels. I’ll be missing the class tomorrow (as I’m through in Glasgow) so I guess I’m taking HOD & Prufrock to the beach!!
French- my writing was fine, and I’ve not had any real problems with the listening practice. Once again I found the class a bit dull to be honest. Dieca suggested speaking to Deborah and asking if I can use the class time in the self-study centre. We’ll see what happens after Easter. We have a listening NAB on Wednesday so clean ears!
Communication – 2 presentations given & passed. Thursdays are my day off! Yipee!!
History – Interesting stuff on German unification and the build up to WW1. I downloaded some info on the Treaty of Versailles, so I can get an overview on that.
This week I’ve got the IELTS class starting, a trip to Glasgow and I’m away to Mallorca on Thursday…so I’m not going to do much college stuff outside Stevenson. Perhaps the most important thing is to decide which books to take to sunny Spain...HOD stuff obviously, and maybe one of the History books.
Hasta la proxima…..
Monday 29 March 2010
Monday 22 March 2010
Monday 22nd
As we draw ever nearer the Easter break, we find motivation slipping.
Spanish & French in particular seem to be concentrating on preparing for the exams; obviously this is important, but it can be a bit repetitive and some of the material seems not too well put together!
The Spanish essays are still a bit vague. I think I know what I want to write but I’m not sure what Jordi wants!!
I did have a wee French practice with Marta and that stood me on good stead for the oral test. It was what I wanted to do before Spanish, but couldn’t find a native!
Lit involved a good chat about Heart of Darkness, and we were given a good summary. I think I just need to keep reading & highlighting the text, and get the essay topics ASAP.
Had group discussion in Communication, and now just have to give 2 presentations. One is finished and just needs a bit of practice, and I have images for the other. Then I’ll be finished and Thursdays will be mine, all mine!
Evan gave us some good info on the French revolution, and I think we’ll be moving on to German reunification. Roll on Otto Van!!!
Here’s a Future Timetable for your delight and edification:
Spanish Complete Essay 1 31/03 2 hours
Write Essay 2 31/03 4 hours
Exam preparation June hour a week
Literature Finish analysis of HOD 30/03 2 hours
Essay 1 After Easter 4 hours
Essay 2 After Easter 4 hours
French NAB prep Before Easter hour a week
Communication Presentation 1 25/03 1 hour
Presentation 2 25/03 3 hours
History Project June 20 hours
Essay 1 After Easter 6 hours
Essay 2 After Easter 6 hours
Spanish & French in particular seem to be concentrating on preparing for the exams; obviously this is important, but it can be a bit repetitive and some of the material seems not too well put together!
The Spanish essays are still a bit vague. I think I know what I want to write but I’m not sure what Jordi wants!!
I did have a wee French practice with Marta and that stood me on good stead for the oral test. It was what I wanted to do before Spanish, but couldn’t find a native!
Lit involved a good chat about Heart of Darkness, and we were given a good summary. I think I just need to keep reading & highlighting the text, and get the essay topics ASAP.
Had group discussion in Communication, and now just have to give 2 presentations. One is finished and just needs a bit of practice, and I have images for the other. Then I’ll be finished and Thursdays will be mine, all mine!
Evan gave us some good info on the French revolution, and I think we’ll be moving on to German reunification. Roll on Otto Van!!!
Here’s a Future Timetable for your delight and edification:
Spanish Complete Essay 1 31/03 2 hours
Write Essay 2 31/03 4 hours
Exam preparation June hour a week
Literature Finish analysis of HOD 30/03 2 hours
Essay 1 After Easter 4 hours
Essay 2 After Easter 4 hours
French NAB prep Before Easter hour a week
Communication Presentation 1 25/03 1 hour
Presentation 2 25/03 3 hours
History Project June 20 hours
Essay 1 After Easter 6 hours
Essay 2 After Easter 6 hours
Monday 15 March 2010
Monday 15th...the ides are here
Yo! I have now received conditional offers from all 4 unis! Aberdeen & Stirling sent the letters last week, so now I’ve got to think about visiting & making the final decision. I’ve booked on the Glasgow Open day for Tues 30th March, and Stirling has a couple of options in the Easter break but I’ve missed Aberdeen and Edinburgh doesn’t bother with such nonsense! I’d like to get in touch with Edinburgh anyway. We’ll see! And I need to suss the SAAS site, and start looking for finance.
Godhonkit! I’ve forgotten my USB stick, which has my Lengua de las Mariposas essay on, so I’ll have to nip back at lunchtime. I got a lot of background info for the Memoria Historica essay, so I think now I just need a good question. “Can the renaming of streets help eliminate the pain of the past?”
I’ve read all of Heart of Darkness, and it is pretty damn dark! I’ve been highlighting key quotes and that, so that’s an ongoing task. Tonight I’ll fill in Madeleine’s quote sheet and all will be good.
We’ve got a French speaking NAB this Friday, so I need to practise my L’ane derniere story. I wonder if I can persuade Marta to listen to me. Deborah didn’t seem to think I’d have any problems. The class last Friday was not very inspiring. Angela & I did the speaking exercise without problem, but then just chatted in Spanish. I should have given her my holiday spiel.
I’m very clear about what I need to do for Communications: 2 essays, 2 presentations and a group talk. Hopefully, we can plan the talk a bit today, and give it on Thursday. My afternoon / evening work should focus on the essays & presentations this week.
And there will be more free time, as the TLI classes have stopped for a while. I will get back into the habit of doing evening work on Mons & Weds as I’ve been enjoying the weekends too much!
I finally got 2 Thomas Cochrane books, and I flipped the Chile chapters of 1…Looks like I’ll have to expand the question to include the liberation of Peru. I’ll flip the other book this week, and then start taking notes.
Godhonkit! I’ve forgotten my USB stick, which has my Lengua de las Mariposas essay on, so I’ll have to nip back at lunchtime. I got a lot of background info for the Memoria Historica essay, so I think now I just need a good question. “Can the renaming of streets help eliminate the pain of the past?”
I’ve read all of Heart of Darkness, and it is pretty damn dark! I’ve been highlighting key quotes and that, so that’s an ongoing task. Tonight I’ll fill in Madeleine’s quote sheet and all will be good.
We’ve got a French speaking NAB this Friday, so I need to practise my L’ane derniere story. I wonder if I can persuade Marta to listen to me. Deborah didn’t seem to think I’d have any problems. The class last Friday was not very inspiring. Angela & I did the speaking exercise without problem, but then just chatted in Spanish. I should have given her my holiday spiel.
I’m very clear about what I need to do for Communications: 2 essays, 2 presentations and a group talk. Hopefully, we can plan the talk a bit today, and give it on Thursday. My afternoon / evening work should focus on the essays & presentations this week.
And there will be more free time, as the TLI classes have stopped for a while. I will get back into the habit of doing evening work on Mons & Weds as I’ve been enjoying the weekends too much!
I finally got 2 Thomas Cochrane books, and I flipped the Chile chapters of 1…Looks like I’ll have to expand the question to include the liberation of Peru. I’ll flip the other book this week, and then start taking notes.
Monday 8 March 2010
8th March
Back in the college and I have my Spanish oral this afternoon at 2pm. I bumped into Jordi last Friday and he very kindly offered to give me a practice session. I went along after French and managed to switch languages OK. Obviously it was far more relaxing just chatting away to someone I know but Jordi said I did fine, and that was at 3.30 on a Friday at the end of a fairly hectic week. He did say I should make sure I took advantage of the opportunities to speak in the past or future when the examiner asks a suitable question. I have a tendency to switch to the present to make general observations so I should try and stick to specifics from my past. Unfortunately I celebrated my return to health by enjoying the weekend too much so I didn’t do any further practice, but I’ve got my “Lengua de las Mariposas” stuff to read and hopefully I’ll be able to find Leticia (is Sara still in Berlin?) and have a wee chat with her.
We had an assessment to do in French, so my quick revision of the imperfect enabled me to recognise it in action. I’ve got 2 pieces of written work to do and they should both include examples of the imperfect & the compose. That’s Tuesday afternoon’s work. Oh, new glasses to pick up on Tuesday as well. That was something else that needed to be done, and I finally got round to it!
Evan is on holiday but Aga sent me the stuff we’re supposed to investigate: The reformation .The Baroque period (around 1650-1750; music, art, architecture (Bernini , J.S. Bach )). The Industrial revolution in Britain - how did it start? (agricultural changes too). The Enlightenment (around 1750 - 1832). I didn’t go to the library to ask about Cochrane book: just printed a list of potential titles.
I visited Scott’s webpage and watched about 12 mins of the ‘brain’ presentation. I took some notes but failed to write them up. That can be a 2nd level Tuesday priority, or Wednesday lunch time 1st level!
I started marking key quotes in Heart of Darkness section 1, but didn’t complete this….lost weekend syndrome I’m afraid! The book would be good for reading/marking on the bus. Ah, I need a new highlighter pen; the old Tadel one is nearly out of ink. Found some info on ‘Angel Heart’, which should be good for talking about the personification of evil.
We had an assessment to do in French, so my quick revision of the imperfect enabled me to recognise it in action. I’ve got 2 pieces of written work to do and they should both include examples of the imperfect & the compose. That’s Tuesday afternoon’s work. Oh, new glasses to pick up on Tuesday as well. That was something else that needed to be done, and I finally got round to it!
Evan is on holiday but Aga sent me the stuff we’re supposed to investigate: The reformation .The Baroque period (around 1650-1750; music, art, architecture (Bernini , J.S. Bach )). The Industrial revolution in Britain - how did it start? (agricultural changes too). The Enlightenment (around 1750 - 1832). I didn’t go to the library to ask about Cochrane book: just printed a list of potential titles.
I visited Scott’s webpage and watched about 12 mins of the ‘brain’ presentation. I took some notes but failed to write them up. That can be a 2nd level Tuesday priority, or Wednesday lunch time 1st level!
I started marking key quotes in Heart of Darkness section 1, but didn’t complete this….lost weekend syndrome I’m afraid! The book would be good for reading/marking on the bus. Ah, I need a new highlighter pen; the old Tadel one is nearly out of ink. Found some info on ‘Angel Heart’, which should be good for talking about the personification of evil.
Wednesday 3 March 2010
3rd March
It seems February was doomed to be a month of confusion and loss and that has dragged over into March. I haven’t been in college since last Wed, and it doesn’t look like I’ll be back until next Monday.
Still let’s start with the positives.
Last week I spoke to Jordi and registered for the Adv Higher exam. The oral is next Monday so I’ve written some notes about “El uso de los moviles”, and I’ll need to do some planning for “Cambios demograficos” & “Efectos del turismo”. I think it’ll be fine as I have no problem in waffling away, although I must make sure I prepare some subjunctive phrases.
I’ve read the 1st section of “Heart of Darkness” and quite enjoyed it. Conrad certainly knew how to set a scene and build anticipation. I’ll re-read it, and take notes on symbolism / themes / characters as per Madeleine’s email suggestion.
I reviewed my Oral Presentation Skills Assessment, watched “An Inconvenient Truth”, amended & improved my work and emailed it off to Scott. I’ll need to look at his web page to see what the class did this week, but I think I should just do some more planning for a presentation: can I use the Barca presentation?
I borrowed Evan’s “Civilization” DVD and watched the first episode about the so-called Dark Ages. Interesting stuff; did you know the crucifixion wasn’t used as a symbol of Christianity until the 10th century? Well, would you join a club that had a painful death as its emblem?? Kenneth Clarke had an old-school presenting style, and I can see how today’s youth might be bored! I still haven’t got any further planning my project: I think I need a good book about Tommy Cochrane to get me going.
I thought I had something to read for French, “Mon frefe”? but I can’t seem to find it in the stuff I’ve got with me. Never mind, I should just review the Past compose and try and write out a few examples of the imperfect past.
I didn’t see Leticia before I was off ill again and I don’t even have her number in my old mobile! Hope she got her essays sorted.
OK, that should keep me in touch with college while I’m physically elsewhere!
Still let’s start with the positives.
Last week I spoke to Jordi and registered for the Adv Higher exam. The oral is next Monday so I’ve written some notes about “El uso de los moviles”, and I’ll need to do some planning for “Cambios demograficos” & “Efectos del turismo”. I think it’ll be fine as I have no problem in waffling away, although I must make sure I prepare some subjunctive phrases.
I’ve read the 1st section of “Heart of Darkness” and quite enjoyed it. Conrad certainly knew how to set a scene and build anticipation. I’ll re-read it, and take notes on symbolism / themes / characters as per Madeleine’s email suggestion.
I reviewed my Oral Presentation Skills Assessment, watched “An Inconvenient Truth”, amended & improved my work and emailed it off to Scott. I’ll need to look at his web page to see what the class did this week, but I think I should just do some more planning for a presentation: can I use the Barca presentation?
I borrowed Evan’s “Civilization” DVD and watched the first episode about the so-called Dark Ages. Interesting stuff; did you know the crucifixion wasn’t used as a symbol of Christianity until the 10th century? Well, would you join a club that had a painful death as its emblem?? Kenneth Clarke had an old-school presenting style, and I can see how today’s youth might be bored! I still haven’t got any further planning my project: I think I need a good book about Tommy Cochrane to get me going.
I thought I had something to read for French, “Mon frefe”? but I can’t seem to find it in the stuff I’ve got with me. Never mind, I should just review the Past compose and try and write out a few examples of the imperfect past.
I didn’t see Leticia before I was off ill again and I don’t even have her number in my old mobile! Hope she got her essays sorted.
OK, that should keep me in touch with college while I’m physically elsewhere!
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