Basic stuff you need for College

Hello everyone! It's been a while since last time I wrote in here but you know I've been busy studying. Today I want to tell you which are my college’s essentials. I speak from personal experience and belief, I don't like to accumulate a bunch of thing that I will use for a year or less. When studying my degree (English Philology) or any similar you will need:

Essential

• Class books

You won't have one for every class, some teachers will provide you their syllabus

• Several folders

At least one for each class, in my university it is not widespread the use of laptops during classes, they make noise

• A nice backpack

You will carry it for 4 years so pick a nice one

• An e-book

This is my favourite option since you have plenty of free ebups on Internet

          

• A laptop

This is so convenient, you will need it to make group projects or just study from bed         

Optional

• Printed books

I buy books after reading them on my e-book, that way I can choose which one I want to own. I usually buy them on amazon and I opt for Collins Classics, they are pocket size, the quality is good and most important they are really cheap

Well, I hope you can have an idea of what is really essential. I know there things left in this list but I wanted it to be simple and on a budget. I hope you enjoyed it and please comment below! Bye bee~

English I, II, III & IV Books

Hi everyone! Here I come again with the books we've used in English I, II, III & IV. Like I have said before maybe you will not use the same books on the following years. This is just to give you an idea of the materials we used.

English I & II (1st year)

a

English III & IV (2nd year)

Though the teachers give extra material, this is essentially what we used to strengthen B2 level on the first year and C1 level on the second. I have used some extra material, if you want me to talk about it please let a comment below! Bye bee~

Bye bye Arabic!

Right now I have finished the four subjects of Arabic and I feel very proud of myself for learning such a difficult language. I want to share with you the materials we have used in class and the webs that I have used to solve doubts. This may change from year to year so checking the guidelines is a good idea. I am not saying that you will use the same things in the following years. Moreover, I know that the teacher of this subject is currently working on new material to include more Moroccan Arabic.

As I told you before when you choose Arabic you study both Arabic (fosha) and Moroccan Arabic (dariya). Since dariya is not a written language is very difficult to learn. We have books of dariya but they are just a little help, they are used to explain basic concepts like conjugations or vocabulary. We have 4 hours per week of Arabic, 1 of them is used to give Moroccan Arabic.

Here you have the materials we used for the subject which are written by the own teacher, Victoria Aguilar (Alatul & Mabruk).

1. Arabic I & II - Alatul

 In this book we learn how to write and read Arabic letters. We also have listening. This one has both Spanish and Arabic.

1.2. Moroccan I & II - Labas

We used this as extra material because the Moroccan Arabic is told orally.


2. Arabic III & IV - Mabruk

This book is used to achieve an A2.1 level so the book is fully written in Arabic. At this point we are supposed to write and read well so it focuses on vocabulary, reading and grammar.

2.1. Moroccan III & IV - An introduction to Moroccan Arabic and Culture

We used this as extra material because the Moroccan Arabic is told orally.

Finally, I will tell you which websites or books I have used as an extra help:

1. Online Arabic Dictionary Al-Qatra (Univerisity of Murcia)
http://www.um.es/alqatra/

2. Arabic Language (Blog)
http://lenguarabe.blogspot.com.es/

3. Moroccan Arabic
http://www.arabemarroqui.es/Dialogos.html

4. 200 Moroccan Arabic Verbs
https://es.scribd.com/doc/294569930/200-Verbos-Mas-Usuales-Del-Arabe-Marroqui

5. Moroccan Arabic book. Chuiya A1 

I hope this information would be helpful for you and I hope you like it. Please let a comment below and let me know what you think about this language. There are many things I want to tell you in detail so please keep coming!

Choosing a second language

I want to tell you today that you will have to choose a second language which is 4 semesters long. In the UM the options are: French, Arabic, Italian, German and modern Greek. As you can see there's not much variety. This is a matter of taste but you also should bear in mind the difficulty of each language. It is briefly explained in the guidelines of each course, you should pay attention! French is the only one which doesn't start from scratch. You are supposed to have a Bachillerato level.

All the languages are difficult in some aspects. They all have oral exams, presentations, a lot of homework... You will have to work hard. I just wanted to tell you this few things, I will try to comment more things about the degree as soon as I have time.

I hope this information would be helpful. Should you have any question please let a comment below. Bye bee~

What to expect when you're studying English Philology

I consider this career absolutely vocational, if you want to earn much money or don't work too much you better think twice. As many young people my head was filled with party expectations created by American movies. However, college is by far the hardest thing you will have to pass through to get your desired job. I mean, we have parties but you must study and study.

When I said myself "I want to be an English teacher" I knew I had to do this degree, even it's more literature than other things. I did a little research and I compared many universities of Spain but the one I liked was Murcia because of the modules and its structure.

The first year we had mostly introduction material. The whole career is taught in English which is perfect to practise and feel more comfortable speaking in public. We had five modules in the first semester: Spanish, we revised text with typical errors; Culture, we learnt and analysed history, geography and political features of United Kingdom and United States; English, just English grammar; Writing practise, you will learn the structure and some tips to create a good text; and finally a second language. I chose Arabic because I thought it would be helpful in my curriculum. I have to say it's such a difficult language but you will feel happy with every little step you make. Those modules are not necessary hard but they will take you a lot of time to do all the homework they require. On the other hand, we had many group presentations and you will need to practise a lot.

The second semester is quite hard. Although you have only five modules: Linguistics, just an introduction but there are many concepts you have to study whether you understand them or not; Literature, text analysis but you may practise a lot too; English II, more grammar; Arabic II, more Arabic; and finally Spoken English practise, you will learn to improve your pronunciation and your intonation. 

For those who think this degree will be easy, just don't waste a year finding it out. Do what you want or not but something that makes you happy everyday in your life.

I hope this info would be helpful and I wrote it just because I didn't find it when I had to decide what career should I do.

If you want me to explain something with more details please comment below. 
Bye bee~

New Year's Resolutions - 2015

Last year I made everything I purposed and this year won't be different. I proved my mental capacity studying harder than ever and this year I want to prove my physical capacity. I want to change my lifestyle to be healthier, prettier and happier!

First of all, I have made some changes in my diet, I stopped drinking Coca cola/Pepsi and eating chocolate. The Coca cola has been the worst part, my body really need it and I felt badly and really weak. On the other hand, it is difficult to avoid eating chocolate because most sweets are made with it, but I don't miss it that much. Furthermore, I drink more water everyday but I can't even reach the amount I am supposed to drink, it's too much considering sometimes I used to drink one or two glasses per day. 

Secondly, in order to change my body and mentality I started to do some sport.

I'm going step by step because I have a terrible physical condition but everything is in my mind and I know I can do it.

To sum up, I decided do this little but tough changes because I have been too busy to think seriously about this year. I don't know what would happen but I will try to be happier, no matter how.

Fear of...

Fear of darkness
Fear of being alone
Fear of not being good at work
Fear of not passing the exams
Fear of not reaching my goals
Fear of weakness
Fear of illness
Fear of being shout
Fear of losing all I have
Fear of being broke
Fear of death
Fear of confusion