Three exams down and one to go! My last
exam for this semester is on Wednesday and then I’ll finally be able to relax
for a couple of days (well almost, I will still have dance classes and several
rehearsals to attend!). And truth be told, I always find myself having
something to do while I’m at uni. I’ve now also made plans to meet up with a
couple of my old flatmates from first year which will be a lot of fun. One of
them helped me a lot over the summer while I attended a three week intensive
Mandarin language training course for beginners. While my mum does know some
Mandarin, she never thought of teaching my sister or me. I suppose since my
dad’s first language is Swedish it was just easier if we all spoke English at home.
(He never taught my sister or me any Swedish until we moved to Sweden when I
was twelve.) Anyway, I’ve always though that knowing several languages was very
valuable (and cool!), so I tried my best to secure a place on the course, which
only had a limited number of places available. The course was funded by the
Confucius Institute, which meant we were lucky enough to be given the lessons
and learning material for free! Our teacher was super enthusiastic and very
encouraging, I’m so grateful I was given the opportunity to take part. By the
end of the three week course our final task was to give an entire presentation
in Mandarin and this is where my old flatmate came in. He was born in China and
had a good knowledge of Mandarin, so he was able to help me a lot, especially
with my pronunciation which was (and still is) terrible! If I was to compare
learning Swedish and Mandarin, Mandarin is hands down much harder. (I know
living in the country of the language you are trying to learn does make it a
lot easier but I think that even if I hadn’t lived in Sweden for seven years,
Mandarin would still be much harder). Since I rarely use Mandarin in my daily
life, I am beginning to forget a lot of what I worked so hard to learn over the
summer. I’d actually like to continue to build on my knowledge because I think
it would be a very useful language to know and it would make communicating with
many of my relatives on my mother’s side a lot easier. So once exams are over I
plan on revising what I learnt over the summer. My former flatmate has even agreed
to continue to help me learn more Mandarin. I suppose he’ll at least get a good
laugh seeing as my pronunciation resembles how an infant would speak (his words
not mine). Nevertheless, I am excited to get back into it and grateful for the
help.
Me and the other students who took part in
the summer course, after receiving our certificates.
I’m also excited to start new modules once
semester two begins. However, I think once I’m finished with my last exam I’m
going to give my options another think over. I have quite a lot of freedom on
my course to choose the modules which I find most interesting and to create my
own path (biology is very broad). This is a luxury but it’s also a bit of
pressure. It forces you to make decisions about your future and to really think
about what YOU want to do. I’m still trying to decide which area of biology I’m
most passionate about. I may even want to take a module completely unrelated to
my course. In any case I’ll be sure it give it some thought once my last exam
is over. Also related to my course, the Biosoc (Biological Sciences Society)
committee have arranged for Simon Watt from Inside Nature’s Giants to come
to Southampton and talk about life behind the scenes of filming the programme. I attended a number of really interesting and inspiring seminars
from various guest speakers last year so I’m excited to see what this year will
bring.
Photo of me holding a model of a baby (used
for special effects) after attending a talk Faking Science for TV from
David Barlow (who has worked on programmes including Life on Earth and Fight
for Life) on how scientific research can be used in special effects.
Anyway, it’s back to the books for me! The
next time you hear from me I will have finished my last exam… I can’t wait!
Kristin
No comments:
Post a Comment