Fame At Last?

Hello dear reader(s), and welcome back! I just have one thing for you today, although I'm hoping to have several posts out in the near future. Today I am pondering the idea that I am now famous :)

Well, sort of.

Earlier this academic year, i.e. before Christmas, I enrolled on a module called "Fremdsprachen; Lernen und Lehren" (Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages for those who don't speak German). The aims of this module were to teach us about theories of language acquisition, to explore second language development at various ages, and to essentially teach us how to teach. It was a great module, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who gets the chance to do it (so, German Studies students at Nottingham Uni.) Despite initial worries that it was just a module aimed at German learners to remind us that our only job prospect was teaching (yeah, right), it was actually very informative and interesting in itself.

The assessment for this class was an essay, but the formative assessment, carried out halfway through the module to ascertain how well we were coping with the content, was to create teaching materials for a Beginners' German first year class. We had the option, in groups, of either preparing a lecture and presenting it, or making a video. I worked with Jordan, and we made a video exploring the difficult pronunciations found in German, which just don't exist in English. Our video was, somehow, a resounding success. Sascha, who ran the module, absolutely loved it (far more than we did!) and this made us all very happy.

A few weeks ago Jordan and I received an email from Sascha, asking if he could use our video as part of a report on the module's success, with a link being put on the University's website. We of course said yes. You know, whatever makes you happy, Sascha.

From Helen

Oddly, this has ended with two people, so far, sending me links to my own video, telling me I'm famous. Well, two is hardly thousands, and I don't really need a link to the video - I'm in it! But it's nice to be recognised. By my housemates.

Anyway, here's the link to the original blog, if you fancy a read. The video link is on there:
http://blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/clas/2015/05/21/flipped-roles-german-students-as-teachers/

Much love xx

A Conundrum

Hello Beautiful People Of The Internet (and Becky)! I am here once again to tell you about the things I think about (or stuff I ponder). See what I did there?
Clever, huh?
Well, today I have a dilemma and I am not sure what to do. But I feel I have bugged my friends too much recently. So I have decided to bug the Internet for a change. Sorry :)

I had a letter from a certain University last Friday, telling me that I have been pooled by the college I applied for; that means they're still considering my application, but that my first choice college probably can't fit me in (Not very good at making that anonymous...) This is both good and bad news. It's good, because it means they want me, it's bad because they don't want me enough to offer me a place straight away. Anyway, that's not the problem. The thing is, I haven't heard back from them yet, and every day that I don't hear is another day less likely it will be a positive response. But that's not the problem either.

You see, as much as I'd really love to go to this University (it's definitely my first choice) there are several other universities which I have applied for and would be perfectly happy at, one of which (Nottingham) has offered me a conditional place. But that's where the problem lies: As much as I love Nottingham - the university is beautiful and their course (Law with German and German Law) sounds fantastic, I just fell in love with the whole package - there's one thing that's stopping me from wanting to accept the offer. If I go to Nottingham there's a very strong possibility I'll bump into a certain idiot who can't tell the difference between the words "yes" and "no".

At this point I understand that some people will be confused. Last year I was subject to the stupidity of one individual who could not tell the difference between an affirmative and negative response to what (I thought) was a very simple question. This led to quite a lot of upset on my part (obviously, because I am a girl). Recently, I asked for clarification of this misunderstanding and I was completely ignored. To be honest, this didn't bother me. The quickest way to forget everything good about someone is to be refused help when you ask politely for it. But you see how it could be awkward for me to go to Nottingham now; I think if I were to meet this person again, I might either be (accidentally) incredibly rude, or physically ill. Or punch them.

So, Internet, what do you think I should do? Is this something I should actually be worrying about?