Interview Transcript – Felix

Describe the course in your own words. How would you describe the course?
I would say it’s a course which meant for international students mainly. For me it was very interesting to get in contact with the other students. And I would say you can profit very much of this course especially if your English skills are somehow rusty or not developed yet. Because you really start talking in that course, which is nice if you had no chance to talk before in English, and it’s somehow safe environment. So people know that you are a learner and a beginner, and somehow they accept that. You can make fast progress during the course, and I also saw it that my fellow students had progressed really fast during the course.

What did you learn on the course?
I learned during the course to communicate with other, like the title already says, to communicate with the other people which I’ve never before had the chance to talk to international students of other countries. So I think the assignments were suitable, because everybody had to tell the others about their national habits and what they are doing in their countries, so I got a little sneak preview of the countries, so that was very interesting and I think, yeah.

Did you acquire any new learning strategies on the course?
Yeah, I realised I shouldn’t do everything at the very end of the course, but I think, learning strategies, no, I mean, yeah, I mean they were offered to us, but I think I was just too lazy to take them. If I would have done more for the course, I would have profited in the way that I would have gained new learning strategies.

Where there any new teaching or studying methods, type of assignments, etc. on the course?
Yes there was the portfolio which we had, where all our exercises were collected and I think that’s very useful, and I think we never had that before. All the work you’ve done in the course is then in one portfolio. And especially if I have to show at home what I did during the semester, it’s very useful, because then you can just give them the portfolio and they can see that you’ve actually done something with your time.

What is your opinion about the pace of the course – was it too fast, too slow or suitable?
I think it was suitable. And if you consider the fact that we’re all from a different learning background, it was amazing because there are people who can’t speak whole sentences in English and then people who can communicate freely. But I think that was also nice about the course that you somehow adapted to the others, I mean it wasn’t always that quickly, I mean when everyone understood then it could be more quicker, but yeah, so it depends on the students who are on the course, but I think it was suitable.

What is your opinion about the course material?
I really liked the exercises we had to do. The material was really interesting and it was something new for me, because normally the material I get during my studies is subject-related and now we could discuss about other topics which were really interesting. And when I started to write about the topics, I really also started to think about then, and I couldn’t stop to write anymore, so I write much more than I should have or that I would have expected me to write, so that was really interesting.

What do you think about the work load of the course?
I think, I think it’s that nobody tells you how much you have to do. I mean you can do, you can write as much as you want, you can spend hours for the course if you want, and if you think your English should improve, then it would be good that you write more than a half a page. It’s all up to you how much you want to, how much time you want to invest in the course. So I think that everybody can decide how much he or she wants to do.

Did the course meet your expectations?
Yes I think the course somehow fulfilled what I expected. It’s called Communication 2, and that’s what we basically did, we communicated with the other students. And it was really interesting.

Was the course suitable for your skill level in English?
Yes I think it was, because I didn’t have the opportunity during my studies to speak a lot of English. So it was somehow smooth entry, and in a safe environment, so no pressure, nobody really forces you to speak, but if you want, you have the opportunity. And that was somehow a nice start.

To whom would you recommend this course?
I would recommend it to people who want to get in contact with other students, because you definitely have the opportunity during that course to get in contact. And I think you can basically recommend it to everybody, because as I said before, you don’t need a certain skill level for the course. And it’s also a safe environment, so you don’t have to be afraid if your English isn’t that good.

What was best on the course?
I liked best at the course that I got to know the new cultural background of the other students and how things are done in their countries, so that was the most interesting part for me.