Last year at about this time I started a part time course at Manchester College, a one year GCSE course in Russian. To be honest I was quite scared to go back to school.
When I finished high school it was expected that I'd continue my studies at university or college. I wasn't sure what to study - I had so many different ideas. My dream was to be an Estonian language teacher, I was interested in fashion (mainly sewing), I found biology really facinating and my friends said I'd be a good hair stylist. In the end, I chose Fishery at the Estonian University of Life Sciences. My 3 years at university was fun - I met amazing people, made a lot of good friends and lived alone, away from my family! Sadly, I didn't like my choice at all! At the end of my last year at university I got really stressed and depressed. I felt like I had wasted all of these years for nothing and I didn't have the motivation to continue. I deferred from university and didn't return. Thinking back, I wished someone would have told me that it is okay to take a year off after high school and think about what I want to do with my life, think of where I could see myself and what career I would love to have!
For the first 2 years after moving to England, I didn't want to think about studying. I just lived, worked, explored and met people. I had a rest from school, pressure and responsibilities. At one point I felt that I was ready to go back, so I applied at Manchester College and chose a course in Russian.
The class was once a week on Thursdays, 6pm until 9pm. It was only three hours a week but my teacher Antonina gave a lot of homework at the end of every class. Some weeks I studied every day at home for at least a couple of hours! I was inspired and excited. Russian was my 'thing' and I felt that I was good at it. We had a small class, about 10 people or so. Antonina had time to speak with everybody individually and she made studying so much more interesting. She was very organised and every lesson there was something new. A couple of times we visited the art gallery and talked about Russian history and art. We also had a dinner at a Russian restaurant in Manchester, where she brought a lot of course work and tests. It was actually fun to eat and study at the same time!
This year in June I had my exams - speaking, writing, listening and reading. I was really nervous and had to wait 2 months for my results. I finished my Russian course with grade A! I was so happy! Still am. I thought it would be quite a challenge to study a foreign language in a foreign language environment but it wasn't that hard!
I didn't continue with my Russian this year as I have so many other things planned. I also received an email a couple of weeks ago saying that there won't be a higher Russian course level (GCE AS) this year because of the lack of numbers. So it seems like I won't be missing much! I am definitely thinking of going back next year and maybe adding a couple of extra courses.
When I finished high school it was expected that I'd continue my studies at university or college. I wasn't sure what to study - I had so many different ideas. My dream was to be an Estonian language teacher, I was interested in fashion (mainly sewing), I found biology really facinating and my friends said I'd be a good hair stylist. In the end, I chose Fishery at the Estonian University of Life Sciences. My 3 years at university was fun - I met amazing people, made a lot of good friends and lived alone, away from my family! Sadly, I didn't like my choice at all! At the end of my last year at university I got really stressed and depressed. I felt like I had wasted all of these years for nothing and I didn't have the motivation to continue. I deferred from university and didn't return. Thinking back, I wished someone would have told me that it is okay to take a year off after high school and think about what I want to do with my life, think of where I could see myself and what career I would love to have!
For the first 2 years after moving to England, I didn't want to think about studying. I just lived, worked, explored and met people. I had a rest from school, pressure and responsibilities. At one point I felt that I was ready to go back, so I applied at Manchester College and chose a course in Russian.
The class was once a week on Thursdays, 6pm until 9pm. It was only three hours a week but my teacher Antonina gave a lot of homework at the end of every class. Some weeks I studied every day at home for at least a couple of hours! I was inspired and excited. Russian was my 'thing' and I felt that I was good at it. We had a small class, about 10 people or so. Antonina had time to speak with everybody individually and she made studying so much more interesting. She was very organised and every lesson there was something new. A couple of times we visited the art gallery and talked about Russian history and art. We also had a dinner at a Russian restaurant in Manchester, where she brought a lot of course work and tests. It was actually fun to eat and study at the same time!
This year in June I had my exams - speaking, writing, listening and reading. I was really nervous and had to wait 2 months for my results. I finished my Russian course with grade A! I was so happy! Still am. I thought it would be quite a challenge to study a foreign language in a foreign language environment but it wasn't that hard!
I didn't continue with my Russian this year as I have so many other things planned. I also received an email a couple of weeks ago saying that there won't be a higher Russian course level (GCE AS) this year because of the lack of numbers. So it seems like I won't be missing much! I am definitely thinking of going back next year and maybe adding a couple of extra courses.
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