Joyeux Noël / Fröhe Weihnachten / Happy Christmas!

And yet again another month has passed without finding time to update on here - really must try harder! It has been a busy month with birthdays and moving.

In amongst the chaos has been some good news - I passed my French module! Results came out last week and I gained a level 2 pass which I'm pleased with. Slightly disappointed in the result for my written exam which was lower than I would have liked, but thankfully it was enough to keep me in the same level. Very surprisingly the result for my disastrous spoken exam was much better - whether allowances were made for the technical nightmares I don't know, but I am relieved it didn't affect my grade.

The other good news is that I have received funding for a job shadowing trip to Toulouse next year. I have already started exchanging emails with the school and the children are going to start writing in the New Year. However, just to confuse me I have received a package of letters from another school in the Tolouse area - not sure what's going on there but will have to wait until I can speak to the Languages co-ordinator once we are back at school! Maybe we've been twinned with 2 schools for some reason!

Studying is ongoing, albeit at a slightly reduced rate. I received a good score on my first German assignment so need to carry that on. With two new modules due to start in February I need to make the most of January to get ahead as much as I can. More good news is that the tutorials have been moved from Cambridge to Norwich for the next couple of months, so at least I should be able to get to those.

My other current project is my 40th birthday party! Having not had a party since I was 13, decided this was the time to push the boat out! Have booked a local hotel for the evening and a friend's band is going to play. I'm really looking forward to the evening and hope that friends that I haven't seen for a while will be able to come along. So January will also be a month of healthy eating and exercise as I would like to buy a new dress for the party!

Given my previous form, I am guessing that this will be my last post for the year! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year,

Some positive news for once...

I feel re-invigorated! I had been feeling as though my goal of becoming a teacher was doomed to failure, having been told by various people on the TES forum that my degree wouldn't be good enough to get me on a MFL PGCE course as I hadn't spent a year abroad refining my fluency. But last night I went to a secondary PGCE open evening at my local university (the one I would want to do my PGCE at) and spoke to the tutors. I was delighted to learn from the curriculum tutor that my lack of time abroad would not prevent me from getting an interview (unlike the poor girl next to me who had a linguistics degree and was told it probably wouldn't be good enough!). So now I need to ensure that I: a) get a good degree result, b) get as much classroom experience as I can in the next couple of years, and c) keep practising my languages as much as I can to ensure I am as fluent as I possibly can be.

a) is very much dependent on the grades I get for my modules, so I need to knuckle down and ensure I get the best results I can. Next year will be key - my first level 3 course and the results from that will make a big differene to my overall degree grade. Although I am taking some level 1 courses at the same time, I must make sure I give priority to the level 3. To help keep my French going during the break I am taking part in an OU project on collaboration with 3 other European universities which will ensure I keep speaking and writing French in between courses.

b) needs me to be more proactive - I need to get into some secondary schools to observe classes. I've signed up for a scheme via the university which helps to get into schools, but as yet haven't had the time to go on the induction course! Must do this before February when the level 3 course kicks in!

c) well, this is down to me. I am guilty of taking the easy route and only doing what I need to in order to get through assignments, but I know I need to take my language learning to another level so that my fluency improves - not just in speaking but in listening and writing as well. I have numerous French DVDs and books that I have bought and then not watched or read - well the time has come to unwrap them and learn from them! Moving to a new house with no Sky TV, plus an absent husband, should help as I will have the time to watch French films with no distractions.! Also, I should find out next week if my funding has been agreed to spend 10 days in a French school - that will be a huge help if it happens!

I'm still not 100% sure that I want to teach secondary as primary has its attractions, but I hope that once I have spent some time in a secondary I will be nearer to a decision. At least I know that the doors to secondary teaching are not closed and I will do all I can over the next 3 years to ensure I have as good a chance as possible fo getting the PGCE place I want.

All change in the madhouse

Not sure where the last month has gone! I had my written French exam a couple of weeks ago and I think it went ok. 450 words on the subject 'are virtual worlds useful?' - I think I followed the correct French essay structure and managed to shoehorn in the grammar I wanted to, so now I just have to wait until December to see whether I manage a pass or not! Although my German course doesn't officially start until next week, I have made a tentative start and to my dismay don't seem to have remembered as much as I had hoped...maybe as I get further into it more will come back to me.

As if I don't have enough to do, I have also signed up for a project that the OU is taking part in along with a couple of European universities. It will give me the opportunity to practise my French until my next course starts, as well as using some German. I'm looking forward to something a bit different.

Talking of different, it is all change at home. Hubby is now working away from home during the week, so I am a single parent from Monday to Thursday. Added to that, we are finally moving into our barn conversion next month, so we are frantically getting everything ready for that!

So lots of changes over the next few months - life is never dull!

Un veritable cauchemar...

I'm not sure whether anyone ever reads these, but just in case this post comes with a warning - it consists of me ranting about the nightmare that was my French oral exam this evening!

The brief was straightforward enough - prepare a three minute presentation about a project for an ecological community. Then listen to two other students give their presentations followed by a six minute discussion. Easy you would think?

Well I thought it would be until this evening....my presentation was prepared, I had possible questions to ask and answers to questions that I thought the others might ask me. I logged into the OU online conferencing system where the exam was to take place - so far so good. The other students were there and my heart sunk - one of them was a native French speaker who spoke very quickly and, from previous experience, never had very good sound quality via her microphone.

Before we gave our presentations we all had to give our names and ID numbers and that was when I realised that both of the other students were very difficult to hear - the sound was fuzzy and muffled. But before I could say anything, the tutor had started her introduction and we were underway. We were told that if we had sound problems we could send a written message, but not while anyone else was speaking, which didn't give any leeway!

I gave my presentation first and I think it went ok. Then the next girl started and I could barely hear what she was saying. The sound was so crackly I could only make out odd words here and there and had to guess at her project. As soon as she finished I sent a message to the tutor, but got no response. The next student then started and her sound was as bad - quiet and muffled. At that point I could have cried.

The discussion started and I was asked a question - thankfully I could just about make out the main part of it! I managed a reply and asked another question, but then one of the others decided she wanted to tell us more about her project rather than having a discussion and rambled on! Before I knew it, the exam was over and I felt as if I contributed nothing to the discussion.

As soon as I logged out I burst into tears - I cannot believe that having worked so bloody hard over the past seven months and received great scores up until now, that my course result could be jeopordised by the fact that other people had crap equipment and that somebody decided to monopolise the discussion. the other annoying thing is that her presentation was only just over 2 minutes anyway, so the bit she rambled on about during the discussion time could have been said during her presentation time anyway.

I had defended the OU's decision to use online conferencing for exams previously, as I had no problems at all for my last course. Yet tonight has shown me that it is just not a reliable way to assess students language abilities - technical problems (or microphone hogs) can ruin someone's chances completely.

I have emailed my tutor, but doubt anything can be done. I understand there is a Special Circumstances form that can be sent to the exam board but whether this is worth pursuing I don't know yet. Now is not the time to decide - I am so cross and upset that I can barely think straight. The thought that 15 minutes tonight could have ruined my course result (and ultimately my degree result) is so infuriating.

I know the answer is to put it behind me and move on - and as I have the written exam in 2 weeks I should really concentrate on that - but for now I'm drowning my sorrows in a large glass of wine! Hopefully I'll be able to put it all in perspective tomorrow.

Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome

We held our first ever Languages Day at school today and it was great! The children were split into their 4 team point groups and then went round 4 'countries' learning a little bit of language and some of the culture.

I don't normally work all day on Thursday, but decided to go in and help out. Needless to say, I was in France. The day started with all the children going through passport control to board the aeroplane in the hall - as senior security officer I had to query a few passports and check some dodgy looking photos! The children really enjoyed this - especially the emergency proceedures on the plane ('the exits are here, here and here - I always wanted to be a trolley dolly!') and take off and landing. Then they were off to their first country - as well as France there was Germany, Spain and Estonia (our music teacher is Estonian). In France we had a cafe, a bibliotheque, some games plus food to try. Brioche went down well, brie less so!

All the children seemed to really enjoy the day and their little tasters of other countries. Whilst languages at Primary level may not be seen as a priority, I have seen how keen the children are to learn new words and phrases and particularly how the children who may struggle in other lessons seem to blossom with languages - they come to the subject at the same level as the other children and are not afraid to have a go.

Days like this make me sway towards Primary teaching again - seeing children tackle new challenges with enthusiasm gives me a warm glow! I'm not going to give up on my dream - it may take a while but I'll get there in the end. I need to take every opportunity to be involved in lessons and keep learning; I am very fortunate to work with a great team of teachers who are happy for me to be involved.

(On the downside, my French oral exam is in 4 days and I have a rotten cold and sore throat - don't think that is going to help the accent too much!)

Nothing is ever straightforward

I have spent some time looking into requirements for PGCE and now fear that my degree may not be good enough. Ideally I want to do my PGCE at the UEA - the closest university to where I live. Their requirements for secondary modern languages states that you must have a good understanding of the culture of the target language. Yet, I have not spent much time in either France or Germany. A tentative enquiry on the TES website has lead to a reply which basically says that my language skills will notbe good enough if I don't spend at least a term abroad.

So, I looked at requirements for Primary - that states that as well as a degree, good A level results are needed. I didn't take A levels.

Perhaps I'm fooling myself that I'll ever be able to become a teacher - maybe I should just go and work in Tesco instead.

Oh well - I'll keep plodding on and attend the UEA Secondary and Primary open days to try and talk to tutors and see whether I stand a chance. Starting to feel rather despondent though.

Back to school

The end of the long summer holidays and three out of my four children are back at school today (youngest starts Wednesday) so it is time for me to pick my books up again and get on with some serious studying! I have found it very difficult to keep up with things over the holidays - entertaining - and feeding! - 4 children with very different temperaments, likes and dislikes meant that the books were left largely untouched, other than to write my final assignment for my French course.

A three hour tutorial tonight should get me in the mood for revision - at least it will point out all the glaring gaps in my vocabulary and grammar. The 2 hour drive each way isn't something I'm particularly looking forward to, but with exams looming I can't afford to miss any opportunity to practise French. Just three weeks until the spoken exam and then a further two weeks until the written exam - lots of work to do between now and then. And then only a couple of weeks gap until I start my German course....

My theoretical child-free study time could soon be a thing of the past ae I am on the lookout for another job. DH is not enjoying the new role that he has been pushed into, so I need to bring some more money in just in case things reach boiling point and he ends up leaving work. This could put a huge dent in my plan of completing my degree in another 2 years, but I'll just have to see how things go.

My application for job-shadowing in Toulouse has to be in next week - I'm still wiating for details of my partner school so it is going to be a very last minute application! Would be great if I could go as that may be my only chance to go to France next year.

Back to the books - have to prepare an essay plan before tonight's tutorial!

Relief as the results are in

The results for my English course were due to be released by 6 August, so it was with some surprise that there was a big notification on the OU website on Tuesday saying they were available. As always, I had that moment of hesitation, not actually wanting to click on the link in case it wasn't good news. However, with much relief, I managed to gain a grade 3 pass. I was never going to get a distinction as my coursework results weren't high enough, and a grade 2 would have been a minor miracle, so I was pleased that I managed more than just a bare pass.

So now it's time to crack on with my final French assignment and then revision for both the written and oral exams. If (and its a very big if) I can get 87% in this assignment, I would still be on track for a distinction, but realistically a grade 2 is more likely! I just want to do as well as I possibly can in order to make sure my final degree classification is ok - I don't want to go through all this and come out with a third as that will be no good for anything!

Need to do as much French as I can and then keep it up over the winter until my level 3 course starts next February - less time on the PC and more on the books I think!!

Vive la France! (et les vaches!)

Back home after a tiring but fantastic week in Normandy at the University of Caen for my OU Summer School. My trip started on the last day of term (a day of tears for me as one of my daughters left Primary school and my youngest son left playgroup) when I headed down to London to stay overnight near St Pancras ready for the early Eurostar. Saturday morning at 06.22 the Eurostar departed and I was on my way!

Met up with friends at Gare du Nord and we then all negotiated the RER together to Gare St Lazare for the train to Caen. Have to say that the French rail system is very efficient and everything ran smoothly. Arrived in Caen early afternoon, registered, unpacked (rooms very compact!) and then bought essential supplies in the local shop before beign a proper student and heading for the bar! Saturday evenign mainly involved meeting the other students in my tutorial group, along with my tutor, and having lots of information thrown at us - followed by more wine in the bar later on.

Sunday started early and we were off to the market to chat with the locals and find out more about the French way of life. Have never seen so many 'poulets rotis' in one place! The market was huge and sold pretty much everything you could think off. By the time we got to the office du Tourisme, the pour ladies in there seemd very fed up of endless streams of students through their doors, but they still answered our questions very patiently! More classes and wine followed - a recurring theme of the week! Sunday evening was the Soiree Normande - an opportunity to eat lots of traditional Normandy food, washed down with plenty of cider and Calvados! This was followed by entertainment from Sylvie & Guillame with traditional Normandy music and dance.

The rest of the week followed a very similar pattern - classes in the morning, organsied visits in the afternoon, optional grammar classes and preparation for a presentation on Thursday. Our group - Les etoiles verts - chose as our project 'Les vaches en ville', which was a presentation based on our vision for lots pf painted plastic cows placed around the town of Caen to draw in visitors - much like the current elephants in London. Sadly our group didn't win, but we had lots of fun putting the presentation together and celebrated this in typical style on Thursday evening in the bar!

I was lucky to be with a group of lovely people in a beautiful town - my only regrets being not enough time to see everything I wanted to and the fact that I will never get back the monotonous 2 hours spent in a very stuffy meeting room at the Conseil General. However, I spoke lots of French and have more confidence in my abilities - at least the taxi I booked arrived at the right time and in the right place.

Friday came round very quickly and it was time to say au revoir to everyone - I hope we manage to keep in touch. After heading back to Paris on the train, I then diverted to Maisons Lafitte to spend a lovely evening with the Byrnes. After a trip to the market in the morning I headed back into Paris for a wander round, although my planned route was slightly ambitious as Rue Lafayette was far longer than I imagined from the map! However, I did make it to Galleries Lafayette for some retail therapy before heading back to Gare du Nord and my Eurostar home.

Although glad to be home, I had a fabulous week and am determined to finish this course with a good grade, so next step is my final assignment due in a month, then the final push for both exams. I need to keep up with my spoken French somehow and use every opportunity to improve.

And after chatting to the OU Learning Advisor, I also need to speak to the local university about the PGCE as it appears that the OU degree may not be sufficient for the PGCE I want to do...nothing is ever straightforward! It seems I may need to rethink my plans for the future - update to follow!

Inspirational Day

Spent a fantastic day today at a Languages Conference, with our lovely languages teacher, organised by the local Primary Languages team. It was lovely to see languages in action - the Theatre Sans Frontieres was brilliant. It is such a shame that we don't have any money in the school budget to pay for things like that. I also really enjoyed the ideas for a Languages Day, which we are planning on adapting for our school Language Day in September. The children would love it - we just need to get the rest of the staff on board now!

I also went to a workshop which looked at languages in secondary schools and feel that this is definitely the area I want to head for. On the down side, I also found out today the the local University is not running the Student Associates Scheme for MFL at secondary as their funding has been cut, meaning my plan of spending some quality time in a secondary school has disappeared. I will have to find another route in now.

Anyway, my head is now buzzing with all the things that can be done with languages and I just want the opportunity to put them into practise. Need to get my head down and ensure a good degree classification and really improve my language skills so that I am employable!

Where did the last month go?

Clearly I was busier than I thought, as I haven't managed to post here for a month! The last month seems to have been a blur of revision as I attempted to remember enough to survive a three hour exam on Understanding the English Language! No idea how I did, although I did manage to keep writing for all three hours if that means anything.

So now I'm playing catch up on my French course, which was severly neglected during my revision time, although thankfully I still managed a decent score on the assignment which was cobbled together in amongst learning linguists and theorists! With less than five weeks until I head to Caen for my Summer School I need to get my French back up to speed as quickly as possible. A school French course has left me feeling confident at leading French lessons at Primary level, and the feedback from the native speakers who came in on the second afternoon was positive as well, which was lovely. I am also applying for a job shadowing opportunity in Toulouse, which would be fantastic experience as well as being really useful for the school, as we would gain a link with a school there. I need to apply for funding for the trip, but have a twilight session next week which gives more details.

So - onwards! Have put the English course behind me (until I know if I need to resit!) and need to spend as much time as possible on French. Amazon love me - I have bought so many DVDs, books and CDs it is ridiculous - now I just need to find time to watch / read / listen to them!

Revision, or procrastination?

Hmm, revision isn't going well! Whenever I sit down with the aim of revising, I manage to find so many more interesting things to do - like ironing! I can't keep putting of revising, as in 4 weeks time the exam will be over, so I really need to get stuck in. But it is so demoralising when I go back through the books and can't remember anything!

Clearly I need to hone my revision skills; a study skills session at the weekend didn't really help as I was hoping it would. My current plan is to complete my Glossary of 100 terms that have to be learned (almost done), and try to learn them using index cards and practising writing out the definitions. Then I need to identify and understand the analytical frameworks - I was rather demoralised by some posts on the OU forum where everyone else had loads of great ideas but I had none! Then it's revising the blocks - I'm aiming for 2 out of 4 to revise as thoroughly as I can and then maybe having a read-through of the other 2.

I'm trying to be proactive in my revision - writing notes and making mind maps (I hate those things!) rather than just reading. Notes are appearing on the kitchen cupboards to try and prompt my failing memory, much to the children's amusement.

I would probably benefit from somebody turning off my Internet connection when I am supposed to be revising, as it is too tempting to check e-mails and OU forums then getting sidetracked for half an hour before getting back to the books! And when the weather is sunny, as it was today, going for a walk is a welcome distraction. I would head to the library to revise, but would probably end up reading a novel rather than my textbooks!

Somewhere in amongst this revision, I have a French essay to submit - haven't looked at the French books for a couple of weeks now! C'est la vie!

Is Primary for me?

Don't get me wrong - I really enjoy my job as a Learning Support Assistant. However there are times when I think that working as a Primary School teacher may not be for me, and today was one of those days! I have no problem working with the children on literacy and numeracy, can get stuck into science, geography and history and, of course, relish the language sessions! Yet I come unstuck when it comes to practical sessions.

Today the class was finishing off a session on Roald Dahl that we have been working on for a few weeks. The children have written their own scenes for the books they have been reading and have made puppets and scenery so that they can perform the scene. I find the art / DT lessons so frustrating - leaving the children to try and resolve problems for themselves when I want to get stuck in and tell them how to sort things out! I find it difficult to step back and keep quiet! Plus the whole lack of structure of that kind of lesson is something I struggle with. Clearly an area I need to work on if I am to succeed in Primary, or maybe that is my cue ot look more at Secondary??

Exam worries

In just under 5 weeks time, I am due to sit an exam for the first time in 15 years! Three hours of writing, in silence - I'm panicking already. Have started revision, but it really doesn't seem to be sinking in. How did I remember things when I was younger? I guess I didn't have so many other things floating round in my head and I could concentrate just on what I was trying to remember, rather than thinking about the housework and laundry, or whether I have enough food in the house for the hungry hoardes! (Answer - probably not!)

I am trying to revise 'properly' with lots of sticky notes, highlighters, writing things down, trying to construct mindmaps and so on, which is a far cry from the days of 'O' levels when I just had a read through of the books and miraculously the information stuck. My brain and memory have clearly suffered over the years.

The other thing that is suffering is my time spent with the children - studying and revision seems to be taking precedent over everything else and the children are fending for themselves rather a lot! I keep trying to convince myself that it will all be worth it when I have finished, although the thought of packing it all in and applying for a job at the local supermarket has its appeal as well at times.

Ah well, back to the books and a session on 'Accent as a social status' - can't wait!

A bit about me.

I have decided to start blogging to record some of my thoughts and frustrations on my current 'career' as a mature student and, hopefully, future teacher. Teaching was always the job I wanted, as far back as I can remember. However, the offer of a job at the age of 16, together with encouragement from my parents that working in a bank would be a good career, led to dropping out of college and embarking on 20 years of working for a high street bank -a decision I have always regretted.

Four years ago, after the birth of my fourth child, I finally escaped from the bank! Two years of being a full-time Mum was great, but I started to feel I wanted something to do! After lots of thought, I decided to study towards the degree I always wanted, with a view to going on to train as a teacher afterwards. With 4 children, a traditional university was never going to be an option so, in September 2008, I embarked on my first course with the Open University.

I am aiming to achieve a degree in Modern Language Studies. So far, I have completed four courses at Level 1:

• Understanding Children (10 points) My first OU course completed in December 2008 and taken to try and get back into the swing of studying


• Bon depart: beginners French (30 points) Completed October 2009


• Ouverture: intermediate French (30 points) Completed October 2009


• Action in French (Summer School) (10 points) Completed September 2009

With the two 30 point French courses, I am now the holder of a Certificate in French!

At the moment I am studying two level 2 courses:

• Exploring the English Language (60 points) Started October 2009 and due to finish June 2010


• Envol: upper intermediate French (60 points) Started February 2010 and due to finish October 2010

Still a long way to go but I am enjoying exercising my brain again. With a lot of work (and a lot of luck!) I should finish my degree in October 2012, providing I can take the remaining courses when I need to. Then comes the even harder part - trying to get onto teacher training, either via PGCE or GTP. Before that, I need to decide whether I am going to go for teaching languages at Secondary school, or whether to train for Primary. I currently work in a Primary school for 8 1/2 hours a week as a Learning Support Assistant and am fortunate to work with the language subject leader who is very supportive.

I am aiming to blog some of my thoughts and reflections here so that I have a record of my time as a student.