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!!
Thursday 5 August 2010
Sunday 1 August 2010
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!
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!
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