Hello all, it’s Lok Kwan here today!!
How’s your first week of Monkey year going? It must be full of good food I guess.
My life resumes to a normal master student again since last week and it’s exciting to get to see my friends in classes again! Apart from the classes of my programme, my GGA (Global Graduate Award) class resumes as well. GGA is basically a language programme and it is open to all students at Surrey. It is free of charge, so we are highly encouraged to learn a new language, brush-up a half-forgotten one, or just continue with the one you are doing it. There are in total of 11 different languages such as French, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Spanish, at various levels. Since I had been learning German during my undergraduate studies in Vienna, I’ve continued to take my German class here in Surrey at stage 4 (B1 on the Council of Europe’s proficiency scale). The lesson style is interactive and it covers all aspects including speaking and writing for the language. 15 credits would be accredited for undergraduate students while they are only recorded on the transcript instead of counting towards your degree. For postgraduate students, it is not credit-bearing but a certificate of attendance listing the grade achieved on successful completion of the course will be received. Though it gets a lot more difficult for me at stage 4, it is still interesting to and worthwhile for me. Being able to speak another language obviously gives you advantages in your future career and learning a different language is always fun. However, I’m a little bit behind the class now so I need to work harder to catch up!
When you would like to work hard, going to the library is always a good idea. The University of Surrey library contains 6 levels in total and a seating capacity of 1340 study spaces, offering a wide variety of learning spaces including group study spaces and rooms of silent study. The rooms of silent study are my most favourite place to go since a silent area is significant for me to be concentrated. The best part of the library is that it is open 24/7 during the semester which means you can study in the library at any time of the day or even at night according to your study habits and routine! You can also check the computer availability across the university online if you need a computer. Group study rooms are also available for booking in advance. My colleagues and I often book a room for either discussing group projects or rehearsing our presentation if needed. Regarding the academic area, the library offers access to extensive online journals and articles as well as print collections. They are important to our studies no matter in undergraduate or postgraduate levels. Borrowing and returning can be easily done by using self-service kiosks or self-return machines so that we do not need to be in a long queue to do them. Of course, you can always place a request if the item you’re looking for is borrowed by someone else. The borrowed items will automatically renew if they are not reserved by another borrower. Also, you can print, copy or scan anything in the library which helps a lot with your studies. The small whispers café is a place that must be mentioned since you can get refreshment there whenever you want to take a break.
So, it’s time for me to be in the library again! Until then~
P.S. I have uploaded a photo of our Taekwondo fight camp last week. Go and check my last post out:)
