Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Captian's Log #9 Stardate 6742
While I can already safely say that being in this new culture for over five months has changed me in several regards, I can also say I will forever be a procrastinator. Granted, the essay I'm suppose to be writing is due on Friday; however, its original due date was today: Wednesday. Maybe I like the anxiety of barely meeting a deadline? Perhaps I should become a journalist. . .
I'm currently in my last week of classes here in Germany, which, when thought of in terms of where classes are in the states, is strange. What's even stranger is, when I start class again in April, American Unis are entering the home stretch of their Spring Semester.
I haven't been up to a anything exceedingly new. I go to class, hang out with friends, cook occasionally, pretty much what I do in the States. What is different is how normal it is to go into the kitchen and chit-chat with my floormates in German. Its also surprising how similar the chit-chat is.
"Hey, how's it going?" "Good, you?" "Same, busy with studying" "Same here. I have X tests coming up in the next couple of weeks, plus a presentation" "Sounds pretty rough. I have a bunch of essays to write" "Dude man, that sucks" "Yeah. . .Well, I have to go back to studying :( " "Good luck"
In addition, my recall on English words has slowed down considerably. For example, it took me a good two minutes to think of "discourage." I was stuck on "hinder," which didn't have the connotations I wanted.
One of the biggest difference between German and American Unis that I've come across is the end of the semester. While there does exist an exam week here, it mostly applies to Students at the school for Educations, and about half of final exams are oral. The student gathers with a few other classmates in front of a panel and answers the question without the benefit of forming an outline or any other such tatics. Super scarey, and I hope I never have to do that, especially in German.
Instead of tests, most classes require a Hausarbeit (House-work, literally translated), which is an approximately 10 page paper about a self-chose topic that incorporates what was taught in the class. It is expected that the Student find out of Class reasourses (usually around 5-8). And these Hausearbeits (pronounced House-are-bites) are due usually abut a month after the actual last day of class, although there are some professors that really don't care when they get them. For most classes on the University (with noticable exceptions such as the Political Science department), there are no prerequisitves for taking a course, and whether or not you get your degree depends on a final "ultimate" test.
But the attitude towards learning here is a lot different. There isn't as much complaning about having to go to class, just about the presentation each student is required to give (called a Referate: ref-er-raht), and many students choose to audit a class instead. Also, they have proper Lectures, where the professors literally read aloud and students listen (/take notes). For these, its rare to recieve a noted graded, rather you recieve a piece of paper that indicates that you showed up. I avoided those classes, seeing as the German language, if too much all at once from one person and especially if that one person has a wonderfully melodious voice, puts me to sleep.
I'm currently in my last week of classes here in Germany, which, when thought of in terms of where classes are in the states, is strange. What's even stranger is, when I start class again in April, American Unis are entering the home stretch of their Spring Semester.
I haven't been up to a anything exceedingly new. I go to class, hang out with friends, cook occasionally, pretty much what I do in the States. What is different is how normal it is to go into the kitchen and chit-chat with my floormates in German. Its also surprising how similar the chit-chat is.
"Hey, how's it going?" "Good, you?" "Same, busy with studying" "Same here. I have X tests coming up in the next couple of weeks, plus a presentation" "Sounds pretty rough. I have a bunch of essays to write" "Dude man, that sucks" "Yeah. . .Well, I have to go back to studying :( " "Good luck"
In addition, my recall on English words has slowed down considerably. For example, it took me a good two minutes to think of "discourage." I was stuck on "hinder," which didn't have the connotations I wanted.
One of the biggest difference between German and American Unis that I've come across is the end of the semester. While there does exist an exam week here, it mostly applies to Students at the school for Educations, and about half of final exams are oral. The student gathers with a few other classmates in front of a panel and answers the question without the benefit of forming an outline or any other such tatics. Super scarey, and I hope I never have to do that, especially in German.
Instead of tests, most classes require a Hausarbeit (House-work, literally translated), which is an approximately 10 page paper about a self-chose topic that incorporates what was taught in the class. It is expected that the Student find out of Class reasourses (usually around 5-8). And these Hausearbeits (pronounced House-are-bites) are due usually abut a month after the actual last day of class, although there are some professors that really don't care when they get them. For most classes on the University (with noticable exceptions such as the Political Science department), there are no prerequisitves for taking a course, and whether or not you get your degree depends on a final "ultimate" test.
But the attitude towards learning here is a lot different. There isn't as much complaning about having to go to class, just about the presentation each student is required to give (called a Referate: ref-er-raht), and many students choose to audit a class instead. Also, they have proper Lectures, where the professors literally read aloud and students listen (/take notes). For these, its rare to recieve a noted graded, rather you recieve a piece of paper that indicates that you showed up. I avoided those classes, seeing as the German language, if too much all at once from one person and especially if that one person has a wonderfully melodious voice, puts me to sleep.
3:02 PM
1 commented