Yet another belated update...
Sorry for the big pauses in between updates! I promise once summer semester begins in a week and a half, things will be much calmer. It's just been a busy time between hosting people, learning a new language (German), and traveling a lot myself. Plus, I have my last final today!! I have been studying nonstop for the past few days and I feel like I know the material backwards and forwards. The exam is in my Diachronic Linguistics class, not an easy subject, but I do enjoy it so that helps. It will be an oral exam which I have to give to my very tough professor and a "team of experts" - other professors I assume. Nerve wracking!!!! I'll let you all know how it goes when I'm done in a few hours. I just need to take a break from studying right now to clear my head.
February has been a great month but it's gone by so fast! After classes ended, I traveled to the Netherlands which was an amazing experience. What a unique and beautiful country. Amsterdam is a fascinating place, a mix of old and new, tradition and progressiveness. Bits are filthy, but for the most part it is beautiful. I love the canals and I had a blast with all the bike riding. The Dutch people I met were all very kind people and reminded me of the Swiss in many ways...very similar dispositions. I also had a great time in the rural north of the country, where I ate traditional Dutch food and everything! Saw the weird architecture in Rotterdam and the beautiful countryside around Groningen. And yes it was rainy, there is water everywhere, and windmills... :-)
Thursday I am off to London!! Class starts back on March 12th with a brand new semester full of French classes. I'm planning on starting with:
-Scottish poetry (love the Scottish professor here, she's the coolest!)
-Epistémologie: langues et littératures en dialogue (a comparative lit class, for native French speakers...scary!)
-Littérature francophone
-Séminaire (on the French poet Baudelaire)
-Bilingualism (another linguistics class)
-Grammaire avancé
-Traduction de l'anglais
-Histoire de la littérature
-Dickinson & Whitman
May not actually earn credit in all of these, but the system is flexible here...we'll see! I'm really looking forward to all of these, in particular the translation class and the French literature courses. Guess I'll find out if I enjoy French literature enough to study it at a master's level! All of the French classes I'm taking are at an advanced level, which I feel like I can handle, but it's still daunting. I'm really amazed at my progress recently. I find myself understanding pretty much any French that comes my way, and that's a great feeling. I hope to really master the grammar in the next several months, while I still have ample time to practice.
German class was interesting and I learned the basics of grammar, plus a few key phrases. I can tell you basic information about myself now! :-) I feel much more capable now traveling to Zurich, etc. without Cora. I even understand a tiny bit more than before. Hey, every bit helps!! And the professor said I was one of the best students in our class. Of course I have the advantage of English as my native tongue, but still, quite a compliment. I did work hard to learn during the intensive course though because I really do want to get to an intermediate level of German before I leave here. Well, I should go back to my studying...I just needed a break after so many hours of it in a row! Wish me luck on my exam, and I'll try to update before London! Miss you all!!!!
P.S. A very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Dad today, who is turning 51! I miss you Dad!
February has been a great month but it's gone by so fast! After classes ended, I traveled to the Netherlands which was an amazing experience. What a unique and beautiful country. Amsterdam is a fascinating place, a mix of old and new, tradition and progressiveness. Bits are filthy, but for the most part it is beautiful. I love the canals and I had a blast with all the bike riding. The Dutch people I met were all very kind people and reminded me of the Swiss in many ways...very similar dispositions. I also had a great time in the rural north of the country, where I ate traditional Dutch food and everything! Saw the weird architecture in Rotterdam and the beautiful countryside around Groningen. And yes it was rainy, there is water everywhere, and windmills... :-)
Thursday I am off to London!! Class starts back on March 12th with a brand new semester full of French classes. I'm planning on starting with:
-Scottish poetry (love the Scottish professor here, she's the coolest!)
-Epistémologie: langues et littératures en dialogue (a comparative lit class, for native French speakers...scary!)
-Littérature francophone
-Séminaire (on the French poet Baudelaire)
-Bilingualism (another linguistics class)
-Grammaire avancé
-Traduction de l'anglais
-Histoire de la littérature
-Dickinson & Whitman
May not actually earn credit in all of these, but the system is flexible here...we'll see! I'm really looking forward to all of these, in particular the translation class and the French literature courses. Guess I'll find out if I enjoy French literature enough to study it at a master's level! All of the French classes I'm taking are at an advanced level, which I feel like I can handle, but it's still daunting. I'm really amazed at my progress recently. I find myself understanding pretty much any French that comes my way, and that's a great feeling. I hope to really master the grammar in the next several months, while I still have ample time to practice.
German class was interesting and I learned the basics of grammar, plus a few key phrases. I can tell you basic information about myself now! :-) I feel much more capable now traveling to Zurich, etc. without Cora. I even understand a tiny bit more than before. Hey, every bit helps!! And the professor said I was one of the best students in our class. Of course I have the advantage of English as my native tongue, but still, quite a compliment. I did work hard to learn during the intensive course though because I really do want to get to an intermediate level of German before I leave here. Well, I should go back to my studying...I just needed a break after so many hours of it in a row! Wish me luck on my exam, and I'll try to update before London! Miss you all!!!!
P.S. A very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Dad today, who is turning 51! I miss you Dad!