Playlist while writing this: Skrillex – Bangarang; Kaiser Chiefs – Off with Their Heads, The Future is Medieval & Yours Truly, Angry Mob

Hello!

Sorry it’s been a while since I last posted – just been acclimating to school life, which has taken some effort but has also been really fun. Tonight, I’ll fill you in on my classes!

Nirel’s Year 1, Term 1 Courses: 

I can’t speak for the other faculties, but I am SO HAPPY to be in the Faculty of Arts! One thing it entails (usually) is a heck of a lot of freedom to choose your courses for first year! Sooo… I took advantage of that opportunity and signed up for classes I either already have some interest in or think I might find interesting. They are as follows:

            SOCI 100C – Intro to Sociology

I love psychology – and in fact think I’m going to major in it and minor in linguistics – so I thought it would be neat to, rather than delve into the mind of just one individual, explore a social science that looks more at how humans interact with each other and society as a whole (which is pretty much the essence of sociology, at least based on what I’ve learned so far). I proved myself right – I really do like sociology! I also think it’ll come in handy to have some sociology exposure in my back pocket when I eventually do zone in on psych. Also, my professors (since it is a jointly-taught class) and TA (teacher’s assistant) really seem to have a vested interest in the subject, which is always nice!

           LING 100 – Intro to Language and Linguistics

Linguistics is something that, after taking several years of Spanish class prior to coming to university, I thought I might like. After all, I do know three languages (English, Hebrew and Spanish) and am taking up a fourth this year (French) – so I might as well learn a bit about the actual study of language, yeah? Yes! After one class, I found it fascinating and now I am seriously considering majoring in it! Side note: this course is NOT only for those who speak more than one language or intend on learning another language. It is more of a general survey-style course to introduce students to the world of human communication. Also, my prof. and TA are both AWESOME! We have yet to have a boring lecture or unproductive tutorial.

*TIP! My LING lecture has about 270 students in it – so I sit in the front so I can ask questions, hear the prof. better, not be distracted by students talking in the back and feel as though the class is smaller. Trust me, it works! Also, my prof. knows me already from seeing my face up front. (: **Don’t think all classes are this big, though – my Spanish class has fewer than 25 students. Also, tutorials & discussion groups definitely help develop a smaller-scale classroom setting in which students can more easily feel comfortable asking questions and participating in the conversation.

           SPAN 206 – Conversational Spanish I

¡Me encanta el español! (Translation: I love Spanish!) I took Spanish courses throughout high school and at a local college when I did a dual-enrollment program my final year of high school, so, wanting to maintain constant practice, I signed up for this class during registration. I’m so glad I did! My prof. is super enthusiastic, which makes the class so fun and exciting! Also, the other students seem to be at a comparable level of experience & ability as I am, which is really cool because we can all communicate with one-another in Spanish and easily help each-other out if we need it.

           FREN 101 – Beginners’ French

Think a linguistics class and one foreign language class is enough for one term? NOPE! “Must…learn…more…languages…” (says Nirel, the language zombie). For realz though, I’ve been itching to learn French for SO LONG! It just sounds so beautiful. (: Aaaand, I really do enjoy French music – ie. Georges Brassens, Jacques Brel, Charles Aznavour, Edith Piaf, etc… So, yeah. I pretty much had to start learning it. Again, I am grateful to have a really great prof. for this course! She is super sweet and helpful.

*TIP! I’m only taking four classes first term – as opposed to the usual 5 for Arts students – to ease into the university workload. I’m so glad I did this because I feel it really has allowed me to socialize and do things outside of school without feeling overwhelmed by my classes.

My next post will most likely be about some of the cool places I’ve been around the city of Vancouver – so stay tuned!

Adventure on! (:

Love,

Nirel

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