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
Monday, 22 March 2010
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!
Monday, 22 February 2010
Monday 22nd
Well. I’ve dragged myself back in following a mid-term week of coughing, sneezing, spluttering and milling around aimlessly…yup, if it’s February in Edinburgh so it’s FLU time! I missed History (when we watched a video about the Dark Ages), French (I think we did a listening assessment, but I haven’t checked) and Study Skills (when I missed presentations on how good Study Skills is!).
I came back in for the last hour of Spanish, and all of Literature. Jordi mentioned that I don’t have to do some things for Spanish if I don’t want to, but I’m still not sure exactly what my options are!
In Lit we read a passage from a rock biography and did a wee assessment, but the questions were more concerned with the sentence structures than the content; I wasn’t concentrating on that enough and suspect I wrote too much in the wrong direction. Lesson – read intro carefully and mark KEY words in questions before starting to answer. We’re going to read “Heart of Darkness” & “A Streetcar Named Desire” for the class, so I did a bit of background research on them…
The big loser last week was my planned mid-term reading and research; I did nothing! I didn’t have the concentration powers available…I’d pick up a book or folder, but within about 5 mins I had to put it down again. I managed to complete the assessment about “An Inconvenient Truth” for Scott, but it’ll need a proof read.
Anyway, this week:
Today: Try to speak with Jordi to find out exactly what I’ll have to do if I want to take the actual Adv Higher.
Tues – I should speak to Letecia (if she’s in!) and plan out intercambio. Finish Communication assessment. Do some prep for the Philosophy of Lang class. Is Sara back?
Wed – Speak to Deborah about missed class.
Thurs – Ask Scott for planned dates, as I need to start working on presentations etc.
Fri – Speak to Evan about missed class.
Maybe get some cough medicine!!!
I came back in for the last hour of Spanish, and all of Literature. Jordi mentioned that I don’t have to do some things for Spanish if I don’t want to, but I’m still not sure exactly what my options are!
In Lit we read a passage from a rock biography and did a wee assessment, but the questions were more concerned with the sentence structures than the content; I wasn’t concentrating on that enough and suspect I wrote too much in the wrong direction. Lesson – read intro carefully and mark KEY words in questions before starting to answer. We’re going to read “Heart of Darkness” & “A Streetcar Named Desire” for the class, so I did a bit of background research on them…
The big loser last week was my planned mid-term reading and research; I did nothing! I didn’t have the concentration powers available…I’d pick up a book or folder, but within about 5 mins I had to put it down again. I managed to complete the assessment about “An Inconvenient Truth” for Scott, but it’ll need a proof read.
Anyway, this week:
Today: Try to speak with Jordi to find out exactly what I’ll have to do if I want to take the actual Adv Higher.
Tues – I should speak to Letecia (if she’s in!) and plan out intercambio. Finish Communication assessment. Do some prep for the Philosophy of Lang class. Is Sara back?
Wed – Speak to Deborah about missed class.
Thurs – Ask Scott for planned dates, as I need to start working on presentations etc.
Fri – Speak to Evan about missed class.
Maybe get some cough medicine!!!
Monday, 8 February 2010
Monday 8th
Morning,
So last week we did some presentations in both Study Skills & Communication. On Monday Marta & I got a chance to practise our Spanish presentations, which was useful: having the opportunity to have a dress rehearsal really makes you realise what you have clear and what requires a bit of work. In the Spanish class everything went well, and I slipped a few subjunctives! Observing others on Monday was interesting; the way people used their personalities to overcome nerves & technical issues, the importance of the voice, eye contact and smiling!
Thursday was a little less serious, although the Dragon’s Den programme showed the absolute necessity of good appearance, being very well prepared, being able to deal with tricky questions and keeping cool. From our ‘sales’ presentations I observed that enthusiasm and humour worked well, and it was best not to get too technical.
I worked away on the Communications assessment as planned on Tuesday, did a proof read on Wed, and handed it in on Thurs. I read up a bit for the night class and arranged to meet Sara in a café…but by the time she got there, it was nearly time to go! Again I felt quite confident during the 1st half of the lecture, but the 2nd part just went too deep too quick. I know Sara feels about the same, and I reckon the older lady in the class is similarly bamboozled but what does the girl next to me scribbling away about??? I guess in a ‘heavy’ lecture you will feel a bit worried that you are the only one not getting it…so that’s when talking to other students is really important; you also have to recognise the bluffers!!!
I went over my history essays again noting key points, names, dates, acts etc. The Chartists seemed the most interesting, and I hadn’t written it in such a historical style so I picked it for the exam. I reckon I wrote a good essay which answered the question, covered the main points and was written well…but it sure hurt my hand!!! I haven’t had to write that much by hand since….I don’t know the 80s?? Are there any exercises to toughen up the hand muscles??
I reckon I’ve got those 13 verbs that take etre in the past: aller, venir (venu), retourner, rester, arrive, entrer, partir, sortir, monter, descendre (descend), tomber, morir (mort) and naitre (ne) …As Cedric said, there are a lot of opposites so that helped. Also trying to say a sentence seemed a good idea: Je suis allé au cinema, mon grand-pere est mort en 1992.
At the weekend I realised I had no outstanding work…sure there are always things to do: tidying folders, reviewing notes, revising, etc. but I did feel pretty free. I really enjoyed the gym -I didn’t feel that I should be hurrying myself so I could get back and do some work. It’s important to be able to turn one’s mind off from work and “detach from oneself”!
This week:
I should do some more prep for the Communications presentation: Peru? The History project: Thomas Cochrane? Spanish chat: (what did I agree with Jordi??) Cambios en nuestra sociedad and el turismo?
Tues– gotta get the bike fixed! So do that after Literature, then back to library for a couple of hours…. try for a haircut.
Wed – use time between French & Spanish
Thurs – there’ll be less time as we restart the tutorials, and I have evening work.
Right that’s yer lot!
So last week we did some presentations in both Study Skills & Communication. On Monday Marta & I got a chance to practise our Spanish presentations, which was useful: having the opportunity to have a dress rehearsal really makes you realise what you have clear and what requires a bit of work. In the Spanish class everything went well, and I slipped a few subjunctives! Observing others on Monday was interesting; the way people used their personalities to overcome nerves & technical issues, the importance of the voice, eye contact and smiling!
Thursday was a little less serious, although the Dragon’s Den programme showed the absolute necessity of good appearance, being very well prepared, being able to deal with tricky questions and keeping cool. From our ‘sales’ presentations I observed that enthusiasm and humour worked well, and it was best not to get too technical.
I worked away on the Communications assessment as planned on Tuesday, did a proof read on Wed, and handed it in on Thurs. I read up a bit for the night class and arranged to meet Sara in a café…but by the time she got there, it was nearly time to go! Again I felt quite confident during the 1st half of the lecture, but the 2nd part just went too deep too quick. I know Sara feels about the same, and I reckon the older lady in the class is similarly bamboozled but what does the girl next to me scribbling away about??? I guess in a ‘heavy’ lecture you will feel a bit worried that you are the only one not getting it…so that’s when talking to other students is really important; you also have to recognise the bluffers!!!
I went over my history essays again noting key points, names, dates, acts etc. The Chartists seemed the most interesting, and I hadn’t written it in such a historical style so I picked it for the exam. I reckon I wrote a good essay which answered the question, covered the main points and was written well…but it sure hurt my hand!!! I haven’t had to write that much by hand since….I don’t know the 80s?? Are there any exercises to toughen up the hand muscles??
I reckon I’ve got those 13 verbs that take etre in the past: aller, venir (venu), retourner, rester, arrive, entrer, partir, sortir, monter, descendre (descend), tomber, morir (mort) and naitre (ne) …As Cedric said, there are a lot of opposites so that helped. Also trying to say a sentence seemed a good idea: Je suis allé au cinema, mon grand-pere est mort en 1992.
At the weekend I realised I had no outstanding work…sure there are always things to do: tidying folders, reviewing notes, revising, etc. but I did feel pretty free. I really enjoyed the gym -I didn’t feel that I should be hurrying myself so I could get back and do some work. It’s important to be able to turn one’s mind off from work and “detach from oneself”!
This week:
I should do some more prep for the Communications presentation: Peru? The History project: Thomas Cochrane? Spanish chat: (what did I agree with Jordi??) Cambios en nuestra sociedad and el turismo?
Tues– gotta get the bike fixed! So do that after Literature, then back to library for a couple of hours…. try for a haircut.
Wed – use time between French & Spanish
Thurs – there’ll be less time as we restart the tutorials, and I have evening work.
Right that’s yer lot!
Monday, 1 February 2010
Monday 1st
So, let’s start with Tuesday’s plan –
Go to the library at 1pm – Nope, didn’t go at all.
45 mins on Philosophy of Language notes – 15 mins at home = 15 mins on bus. That did aid considerably my understanding of the 1st half of the class. Sara cancelled the planned meet up beforehand.
45 mins on Spanish presentation – Nope. Nada. Zilch. Had to be put back, and was more of a priority.
45 mins with voila – 10 mins on bus on way home. I still don’t really like the layout or structure of the book, but it’s what the teacher uses, so needs must!
What went wrong with the plan? Well, for one thing I agreed with Jordi to give the presentation next Monday, so it immediately became much more important. It’s a bit pointless making any kind of detailed plan on a Monday morning when teachers are going to give you work during the week, which will require preference.
Then my cousin came round for lunch and a chat. Now, for those of you who don’t know cousin Helen; she speaks Italian, works at student recruitment in Dundee Uni, studied Philosophy and is studying French part time. So, we had a chat about my applications, some general Philosophy basics, and the pleasures of learning French when one is fairly confident in a Latin language. I left the house feeling satisfied, stimulated and motivated. Did I regret not following my study plan?? Did I hell!!
Of course, it’s important to get into good study habits, and there will be time with assignments and exam revision that it’ll be crucial to organise a detailed timetable but on a weekly basis? WHY? To prove I can?? It seems a bit of a waste of time to prepare something every week, only to adapt it every time. Is that a failure, or just realistic adaptation??
I’m afraid it just reminded me of a kind of 9 to 5 job...you always feel you should be doing something, and if I wanted that kind of job, I’d be working in one, thank you. Studying is not just about learning facts or techniques; it’s about developing as an individual, finding your own way of thinking, you own preferred work methods. If it makes you happy, gets you through the course and keeps your grades, teachers and college happy, then it’s good!!!
I felt good following the exchange of ideas with Helen; just as I do when I chat with nearly anyone I know, about what I’m doing and where I’m going. That I feel is a crucial part of this process: getting positive vibes about the whole damn thing.
Anyway….Deborah did a revision class and said we WON’T be using Voila much, so I did quite an hour’s work on the Spanish presentation on Wed.
On Thursday, I got a conditional offer from Glasgow…yeah!! I also went to the library, and continued with the Communication assessment. I also finished off the Spanish presentation…now all I need to do is practise speaking!
I read through my Chartist and Women’s vote history essays…it was very interesting to look back over them!
As for next week:
Tuesday: finish Communication assessment. Spend an hour preparing for the Language class: go back over last week’s notes and read up a little on the next part. Do some more history revision…although Thursday pm & Friday morn are the most crucial times!
Go to the library at 1pm – Nope, didn’t go at all.
45 mins on Philosophy of Language notes – 15 mins at home = 15 mins on bus. That did aid considerably my understanding of the 1st half of the class. Sara cancelled the planned meet up beforehand.
45 mins on Spanish presentation – Nope. Nada. Zilch. Had to be put back, and was more of a priority.
45 mins with voila – 10 mins on bus on way home. I still don’t really like the layout or structure of the book, but it’s what the teacher uses, so needs must!
What went wrong with the plan? Well, for one thing I agreed with Jordi to give the presentation next Monday, so it immediately became much more important. It’s a bit pointless making any kind of detailed plan on a Monday morning when teachers are going to give you work during the week, which will require preference.
Then my cousin came round for lunch and a chat. Now, for those of you who don’t know cousin Helen; she speaks Italian, works at student recruitment in Dundee Uni, studied Philosophy and is studying French part time. So, we had a chat about my applications, some general Philosophy basics, and the pleasures of learning French when one is fairly confident in a Latin language. I left the house feeling satisfied, stimulated and motivated. Did I regret not following my study plan?? Did I hell!!
Of course, it’s important to get into good study habits, and there will be time with assignments and exam revision that it’ll be crucial to organise a detailed timetable but on a weekly basis? WHY? To prove I can?? It seems a bit of a waste of time to prepare something every week, only to adapt it every time. Is that a failure, or just realistic adaptation??
I’m afraid it just reminded me of a kind of 9 to 5 job...you always feel you should be doing something, and if I wanted that kind of job, I’d be working in one, thank you. Studying is not just about learning facts or techniques; it’s about developing as an individual, finding your own way of thinking, you own preferred work methods. If it makes you happy, gets you through the course and keeps your grades, teachers and college happy, then it’s good!!!
I felt good following the exchange of ideas with Helen; just as I do when I chat with nearly anyone I know, about what I’m doing and where I’m going. That I feel is a crucial part of this process: getting positive vibes about the whole damn thing.
Anyway….Deborah did a revision class and said we WON’T be using Voila much, so I did quite an hour’s work on the Spanish presentation on Wed.
On Thursday, I got a conditional offer from Glasgow…yeah!! I also went to the library, and continued with the Communication assessment. I also finished off the Spanish presentation…now all I need to do is practise speaking!
I read through my Chartist and Women’s vote history essays…it was very interesting to look back over them!
As for next week:
Tuesday: finish Communication assessment. Spend an hour preparing for the Language class: go back over last week’s notes and read up a little on the next part. Do some more history revision…although Thursday pm & Friday morn are the most crucial times!
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