Whenever people ask me "What are you studying?", I simply reply "English". I normally get two reactions on this: People who know me nod in recognition and say "Of course...", and people who don't know me that well ask: "What are you going to do with that? Are you going into teaching?" The truth is I don't really know. I might become a teacher. But for now, I just chose to study English for a year because it was always my favorite subject in school.
But what does actually it mean to study English? I want to explain it to you, because it is quite different from what I've been used to up until this point. The course is built up of six units. This semester we are doing American Studies, Phonetics and pronunciation, and English grammar and practical usage.
American Studies focuses on American literature, and also the American history and culture. It is a heavy subject because we always have a lot to read, but it is also interesting. Occasionally.
Phonetics and pronunciation is the study of the sounds of the language. We learn about pronunciation of words, about stress and intonation... and we have learnt the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) so that we are able to transcribe texts. This is handy because we are now able to learn the pronunciation of words in any language. I find this unit very interesting, but it is also very demanding at times.
English grammar and practical usage is probably what is most similar to what I have done in school before - however, the grammar is on a much higher level, and to be honest I find it difficult. It is very detailed. The "practical usage-part", however, is very useful (obviously), but having lived a year in England I think I have picked up a lot of the things we learn while I was there without noticing it.
Next semester we will continue the Grammar-unit, and we will be doing British Studies and a subject of our own choice. I have chosen to do Contemporary British Fiction. I have a lot of reading to look forward to...
The two modernist novels we have read this semester; "As I Lay Dying" by William Faulkner and "Beloved" by Toni Morrison.
And just to add some nerdy humour:
