Hi guys I know I haven't updated IN AGES even though I really wanted to but the thought of uploading like 1000 photos from my Eastern Europe trip just turns me off so much hahaha. But I'll definitely blog about it + my Jay Chou concert!!! :D Meanwhile let me give a brief update on life and do smth much easier which is to do a small module review since I really honestly benefitted a lot from the module reviews seniors gave and hope this would be of help to juniors/those who want to take these mods! Here goes:
EL1101E: The Nature of Language
When I first went in I wanted to take Theatre Studies for my humanities exposure mod but eventually succumbed to peer pressure (my OG was taking this tgt HAHA) plus my senior said it was easy (ok very loser-ish of me). But honestly I was interested in it also la HAHA. Ok the thing about me is that I'm interested in a lot of things so I was debating between TS, Lit and EL and I was honestly okay with any so I decided to go with this in the end! Spent about 4 points bidding for it (my most expensive mod of this sem cos my other mods were 1 point HAHA).
Ok sorry too naggy but the main point is that I have no regrets taking this mod! In fact I think it is my fav mod hahaha (unpopular opinion). Quite many people didn't like this mod but I honestly had a lot of fun studying it! Some didn't like the prof too hahaha I thought she was quite nice though, not very good but definitely not very bad either, I quite enjoyed her lectures HAHA. Workload was really quite chill, 1 hour tutorial every week and each group take turns to present about their chosen topic during each tutorial (graded). Not those super serious presentation though it's just going through the problem set given for that week hahaha. Unfortunately got a difficult topic (sociolinguistics) but the good thing about it is that it's more flexible and open to interpretation, and my tutor (Leslie) was really open-minded as well so there wasn't like a fixed set of answers. So as long as you tried it's fine!! :)
There's a project too and I also thought it was quite fun cos the project topic was interesting! Also I had a lovely group (they're more passive so I had to initiate stuff but once I initiated they always get stuff done on time + quality work) so yes lots of love for them!!! /inserts heartshapes/ They're like my closest project group this sem hehehe.
Bell curve was really quite high tho, like our group got 17/20 for the project but average is 16/20 HAHA yes life is a struggle. I didn't really do that well for mid terms too I think I was just slightly above average. For finals I was more familiar with the type of questions they were gonna ask so I guess I was better prepared? Managed to get an A- in the end, rather satisfied with it since I didn't do exceedingly well for the others. But all in all it was a great mod to take because I really liked it :) Studied consistently for it and did every problem set because I liked doing it HAHA ok I guess interest really plays a big part! But yeap mid terms and finals are all MCQs and the workload is pretty chill so I would say it is an easy mod. Doesn't mean it will be easy to score though! So please don't just take it cos it's "easy" because you might suffer in the end if you don't like it :)
Also it's not an artsy-fartsy mod (common misunderstanding because it's English...), it's more like linguistics stuff and it's pretty science-y actually.
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NM1101E: Communications, New Media and Society
Took this because I want to major in NM! First couple of lectures made me want to reconsider my choice because I kept falling asleep HAHAHA idk is it because the lecturer's monotonous voice/the dim lighting of the auditorium/my lecture buddies were all falling asleep/I have no self-discipline but yeah.
Lectures were honestly pretty useless because everything could be found in the textbooks, except some examples he might mention it during the lectures (but can be found in readings/lecture slides). But I still went for the lectures because there were no webcasts + I wanted to major in it...... But yeah you could see the turn up rate declining HAHA it was pretty sad.
Pretty slack 1 hour tutorial every week hahaha they'll upload some discussion topic and you'll go there and form groups and discuss for like 20 mins and share and that's it. Had a really interesting tutorial group though (lots of exchange students! so fun to hear about their stories) and I made a few really good friends :)
There are 3 assignments though, 1 individual one and the other 2 are in groups (randomly assigned). So it all depends on luck! Was fortunate enough to get awesome groups both times so yay. :D I think my individual assignment was the most cui one HAHA but I think it was also partly because I wasn't sure how things worked. Honestly the assignments were kinda burdensome but my groupmates made it a good experience :)
Midterms and finals were all MCQs as well. Didn't do well for mid terms so I studied extra carefully for finals (got to know how they structure their questions etc better). Thank goodness I did though because it was really quite tricky! Like they asked those really detailed/obscure questions. Managed to get an A- in the end and it's really quite unexpected because I've been quite cui all these while hahaha. Like my assignments were always average (around 70+) and there were people getting 96s and 99s... So I'm guessing my finals probably pulled me up quite a bit. So yeah don't slack just because it's MCQs! Gotta study extra carefully for it. :)
In general I'd say it's quite an easy mod too, just study the textbook and you're good to go! Need to read the readings for some of the additional examples/info though, but don't really have to read so in-depth :)
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SC1101E: Making Sense of Society
Took this because I was thinking of majoring/minoring in Soci too hahaha. Went for like 2 lectures before I decided to just watch the webcast because the webcast was honestly better. Like I could pause the video and type the notes down anytime I wanted to!! Yeah so there were 2 profs and I didn't even know how one of them looked cos I wasn't physically present for his lectures hahahaha. The lectures were really good though, very informative and interesting and the lecturers are very knowledgeable! I really like the topics too. :)
However soci tutorials were a huge burden (for me). 2-hour tutorials every 2 weeks and it required actual intelligent discussion and I just couldn't follow what was going on HAHAHA. I'm the kind that needs more time to process thoughts and form opinions and stuff and the discussions were going way too fast for me to actually contribute so I just sat there absorbing everyone's opinions. Also I prefer writing things down than talking so .... :/ I felt so tortured sitting there HAHA so it was a terrible burden. Had a really nice tutorial group though! People were nice and not overly competitive or anything :) My tutor was not that clear (like sometimes the more he elaborate the more confused everyone gets???) but he was nice and tried really hard to prompt us hahaha.
There's an individual assignment (an essay about your chosen topic), mid terms and finals! I chose the social phenomenon of online dating and my tutor said he likes my topic HAHA. Got a B+ for it and it already exceeded my expectations (shows how low my expectations were LOL). Managed to get an A+ for my midterms essay somehow which was really shocking and yay my first A+ in uni! (might be my last too) Scored an A- in the end HAHA but it's already way above my expectations since initially I was so confused by soci! Like there weren't any specific structure or what so it's really up to your own style and I was so disoriented at first because I couldn't wrap my head around it. Like there were just lots and lots of information and I had no idea how to organise them and the info were just floating around in my head. Yeap but once you understand it it was pretty interesting. Don't really have to memorise much (like the perspectives and stuff) because many were just there to show how there are many different ways to look at one thing. But if you do remember then it might be good la HAHA maybe that was the reason I didn't get A+ HAHA. But the essay questions didn't really require you to just regurgitate the perspectives though, it was more of an open discussion thing where you express your views + back it up with theories. So you do have to memorise the theories or else you'll have nothing to back you up! :) Kinda confusing at times because some topics kinda overlap with each other but overall it's not that hard :) I didn't go and memorise examples either I just used examples in normal daily lives/common examples hahaha.
OK I'M RAMBLING AGAIN but in summary this mod is not that easy! Really need to listen to the lectures AND READ THE TEXTBOOK. Don't read blindly though because some stuff are not really useful, just use it to cross-reference with the lecture notes. Readings were kinda useless for me though.......... But do read through them and at least have a sense of what's going on.
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LAF1201: French 1
I signed up for the Language Preparation Programme (LPP) before school starts so I got this module at 1 point hahaha. A language mod is really not easy because it takes up like x2 the time of a normal mod, two 2-hour lectures and one 2-hour tutorial per week. But it was honestly fun! There are reading, writing, grammar, listening, oral tests and it's all continual assessment so no finals but every test will be graded. So you really need to study consistently or else you'll just fall so far behind.
Honestly it can be quite intimidating sometimes and I always leave my lectures not knowing what's going on (LOL) but tutorials help a lot! Because you'll really get to apply what you learn and the tutorial forces you to speak French and interact with others. I had a very nice and fun tutor and I loveeeee her :') No need to worry about speaking in front of everyone though because everyone sucks HAHAHA. And we get to do all these random activities e.g. speed dating, looking for a roommate etc and you're supposed to tell others what you like/want blah blah blah all in French. Most of the time everyone just mumbles in terribly broken French and hope others understand though HAHA.
So yeah even though it really takes up a big part of my time, I really had lots of fun studying it and sometimes when you're getting so overwhelmed with chim theories and stuff it's great to be learning smth like how to spell numbers in French. HAHAHA. Must be funny for the French tutors to see a bunch of young adults struggling to say smth as simple as asking for directions.
But yeah the bell curve is pretty high as well, I thought I did quite well consistently but this module ended up being my worst mod HAHA. (I legit thought I was gonna score the best for this, what a reversal). Got a B+ which is not that bad I guess so I'm still gonna continue with LAF2201 next sem! All the best to those who's gonna take a language mod! :)
My other mods are my RVRC mods (GEM1917 and ES1601) and they span over 2 semesters so I can't do a review yet yeah :) This review thing ended up longer than I expected (maybe it's because I'm so long-winded) HAHA. Sorry for all the irrelevant ramblings! Hope this is able to provide some sort of help :)