Languages - OU Community Online

Are you studying Spanish with the Open University? Would you like some extra practice?

Why not attend a Spanish course in Spain or Latin America where the language is spoken. We offer Spanish courses for students of all ages and abilities in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Valencia, Buenos Aires, Playa del Carmen to mention just a few fantastic locations. Students can choose a course of anywhere from 1 week to 52 weeks starting throughout the year. Accommodation is also arranged in Spanish host families for that extra practise speaking Spanish. 

I am a student of OU myself, having studied Portales last year and am set for En Rumbo this year I know how useful it is to practice Spanish outside of the OU and use other resources. I will be offering 10% off Spanish tuition to any student that is studying Spanish or any other language with the Open University.

Contact me for details:

gemma@livelanguagesabroad.com            01736 740000

http://www.livelanguagesabroad.co.uk/

http://www.facebook.com/LiveLanguagesAbroad

We also offer courses in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Greek.

 

The OU’s Department of Languages is planning the OT12 MOOC, a Massive Open Online Course on open translation tools and practices.

The pilot will run for eight weeks from 15 October to 7 December 2012 with the accompanying course website onow open. If you’re are interested in taking part, go to the "Get involved" tab on the OT12 website.

Not sure what this is all about?
MOOCs are free online courses, open to anybody and everybody anywhere in the world. They usually bring together large numbers of learners and instructors across a common field of knowledge. While MOOCs provide weekly topics, activities, discussions and resources, learners actively engage in all aspects of the experience, sharing ideas in forums, undertaking collaborative or reflective activities, and using a variety of social media.

Open translation tools and practices
Open translation practices rely on crowd sourcing, and are used for translating open resources such as TED talks and Wikipedia articles, and also in global blogging and citizen media projects such as Global Voices.

There are many tools to support open translation practices, from Google translation tools to online dictionaries like Wordreference, or translation workflow tools like Transifex. Some of these will be explored in the OT12 MOOC.

Bridge to success (B2S) ... in more than one language!
The content (translations into Spanish and potentially also other languages through the MOOC), includes the highly successful B2S modules available in the free, standards based OpenLearn Labspace:

• Learning to Learn
• Success with Math

There will also be captioning and subtitling activities using a variety of videos in English and Spanish.


 

A self-confessed school drop-out has credited the Open University with giving him the ‘bouncebackability’ that has kept him employed for the last 22 years, despite being made redundant three times.

Simon Moody, 45, is an enthusiastic champion for the OU, having gained diplomas in European Humanities and Geography, a BA (hons) in History and Social Sciences and this year he hopes to finish his MA in Applied Linguistics.

“I dropped out of a comprehensive in the early 80s,” said Simon. “It was a very unhappy experience and I just had a rag bag of CSEs in woodwork and biology.
“The idea of going back to Uni at 28, during the Britpop summer of ’95, did have some appeal to me – but the idea of living on baked beans in baggy jumpers with no disposable income soon waned.”

After seeing general advertisements for the Open University, Simon signed up in 1995, and has been studying on and off with them ever since.

“When I saw the OU materials I was just so impressed, they really are first rate,” he said. “In my view the OU is the only choice for a mature student. And paying in monthly instalments is such a bonus for working people as it takes all the angst out of paying a lump sum.”

Simon works in commercial research and training, and firmly believes that a degree still retains respect.

“Vocational qualifications are coming back into vogue now, but a degree is still a great foundation and retains respect. Everyone needs a foot in the door sometimes, and graduate qualifications give you that.

“I’ve more than doubled my salary since 2000, and haven't been out of work in 22 years even though I’ve been made redundant three times. I have no doubt that my 'bouncebackability' is down to the OU.”

Simon says when he finishes his MA he’d love to study for a Phd: “I feel there are issues which I could genuinely contribute to but ultimately, thanks to the OU, I just love to study. I can’t see that ever changing.”

The Open University journey for Simon so far has, he says, been both hilarious and stressful.
 

Jon Chambers has won this year’s Mathena Kerr Ross Prize, an award made to the student with the best essay on module AA306 Shakespeare: text and performance, given in memory of an OU student who enjoyed her OU studies and in particular Shakespeare.

Jon who now lives in France reveals the surprise of winning the award and shares his experiences of study with the OU, work abroad and offers advice on learning a foreign language.

Winning the prize of £150
It was with delight that I opened an OU letter in early January and discovered that, far from being the expected circular, it brought altogether different news. More wonderful is the knowledge that some families in our midst are generous enough to offer total strangers the chance to compete for such an award and the chance, at the same time, to remember Mathena Kerr Ross. Such prizes are life-affirming and inspiring to us all.

How I came to study with the OU
Physics had been my worst subject at school - although there were plenty of other contenders, like French, ironically enough. One of my fellow menials had just started a PhD course at Birmingham on the strength of gaining a First at the OU. Looking back, his shining example was the first step along my own OU path.

My next career phase was in journalism, where I ended up editing a science and science fiction magazine but my OU course began in 1993, starting with Foundation Science and progressing to Biology, Psychology and Earth Sciences ... then, after a few gap years, veering off to Classics and Shakespeare. This last, AA306, has to be one of the best.

Review of AA306 Shakespeare: text and performance
Before starting the course, I thought I already knew a fair bit about Shakespeare. I’d seen and read nearly all of the plays, including some at the very fringes of the canon.
I advise you approach it afresh (i.e. without necessarily having done much prior reading, and with mind, ears and eyes fully open to new ideas). The course introduces you to what is probably some of the most interesting and thought-provoking criticism of the last twenty years or so. A lot of people might consider Shakespeare an almost fossilised area of study when compared to, say, astronomy, but it’s probably fair to say that attitudes to Shakespeare have changed as much since the 80s as have ways of thinking about black holes.

Jon’s thoughts on living and volunteering in France
My new life in France is very leisurely but provides plenty of scope to reconnect with my previous career in journalism. I’ve recently joined a local (English-speaking) radio group and lend a hand at a local cinema which helps me get up to date with French film. All of these activities are voluntary and, for me, doing the work is its own reward.

Working abroad and speaking the language
The new roles are actually conducted in English, not French. There are lots of English people in Brittany, and there is even an organisation to help with integration which is based in the village near to where I live. But true integration comes with proficiency in the local language and, unfortunately, it’s all too easy to get by without a good grasp of French. My own French is far from adequate at the moment, malheureusement.

Advice for those seeking employment in France or overseas
For those seeking employment, and with sufficient motivation and energy, there are government-sponsored schemes which try to find work for people. Job-seekers are given (free) French lessons which, depending on age, can be quite intensive. Younger people are considered to have the best chance of finding employment and are given the most help acquiring that all-important French language.

However, anyone thinking of relocating and working abroad would probably be well advised to try and become a competent speaker of the local language before arrival, as learning does not take place simply by being there. There are too many English newspapers, television channels and English speakers for that to happen automatically.

Despite having taken an intensive French language course, joined a French-conversation class, tried numerous audio courses and having a couple of hours of lessons per week, I’m beginning to regret not having taken an OU course in French! Like many others, I find that the OU actually works well for me and, given a little determination on our part, the courses are almost guaranteed to succeed where others might fail.

Find out more:

• Study AA306 Shakespeare: text and performance
• Study French with the OU 
• Leaving a Gift to The Open University 
• The Marthena Kerr award and previous winner

There are times in life when it has its ups and downs. And then there are the times when you get trapped in a lift and you have neither. I was taking my left pannier, and my heavier right pannier, and my bar bag, and my tent, and my rucksack down from the third floor of a rickety hotel in Piacenza.

The lift doors closed but then the bugger wouldn't budge. But then, after stabbing the buttons repeatedly, it eerily began to slowly sink, seemingly without power. I quickly remembered my How To Survive Anything book's advice of spreading yourself on the floor if the lift started to plummet. I got close to the second floor and, because the buttons weren't doing their job, I prised open the door, jumped the last bit and escaped.

The rest of the day, however, consisted only of ups: a morning tour of beautifully serene Piacenza's cobbled centre, a pleasant ride in gorgeous sunshine to Parma and then, in the evening, a meeting with brand new Italian OU student and teacher of music to disabled children, Silvia. She'd told me that she wanted me to try some of the food that Parma and its surrounding area is famous for. In true Italian style, that was an offer I couldn't refuse.

I met Silvia and her daughter, Valentina, in Parma's Garibaldi Piazza. I asked her if Garibaldi had any special connection to Parma but apparently he doesn't. But, she said, every town in Italy has a square or street named after him because of how he united Italy. Yes, and because of his biscuits, I offered. I drew a blank look. It's official, folks, Garibaldi biscuits are unknown in the one country that you'd expect them to be eaten on a daily basis.

'I love the OU. I love the fact that I can study with this great university, learning about the English language, philosophy, maths, physics and astronomy, as I have done. And I love that I can get on my bike and cycle halfway across the continent of Europe, still continuing to study, and meet up with fascinating people - fellow OU students and their family and friends'

We went for a prosecco aperitif and then wandered to the classy Antica Cereria restaurant, over an old Roman bridge, on the other side of the river. Along the way we were joined by Valentina's younger sister, Zoe, who had borrowed her elder sibling's bicycle to reach us in time. Silvia may be studying English and French with the OU, but her daughters are both firmly on the science side. Zoe is in her last year of a physics degree at Parma University while Valentina has just completed the Italian equivalent of an MA in astrophysics and is in the process of applying for PhD research opportunities. She's hoping to be accepted by a university in Paris and wants to study the vibrations of black holes.

Time for me to go off on one. Y'know something? I love the OU. I love the fact that I can study with this great university, learning about the English language, philosophy, maths, physics and astronomy, as I have done. And I love that I can get on my bike and cycle halfway across the continent of Europe, still continuing to study, and meet up with fascinating people - fellow OU students and their family and friends.

None of this would be possible without the people behind the OU and, in Italy, to one lovely OU Co-ordinator, Jane Pollard, who sent my details out to all the OU students in this remarkable country. How else could I be sat around a restaurant table with three amazing women who were all strangers only a few hours before and be able to talk about, amongst other things, the vibrations of black holes? Sorry, ignore me. It's the science geek coming out.

Ah, and then there was the food. An Italian meal starts with antipasto, in our case with a pile of prosciutto, pancetta and the most wonderfully rich salami I've ever tasted. The next course was two types of pasta, herb and ricotta stuffed ravioli and an utterly delicious tagliatelle covered with crispy little bacony bits (I'm sure there's a more technical term for these). The main course was the softest parmesan-stuffed brisket with fried potatoes and rosemary. All this was lubricated by a rich and creamy Lambrusco. Finally, there was a perfect chocolate mousse. Much better than my usual camping stove noodles.

The conversation was wide ranging, from the Italian language, Parma's role in fighting fascism, imprisoned parmesan cows, Zoe's ambition to see Edinburgh purely as it's the birthplace of J.K. Rowling (although, now that I've checked this, she appears to have been born in Gloucestershire), the joys of Blackburn, Italian food, and the best cities to visit while I'm here. I had a thoroughly wonderful evening. And I think Silvia, Valentina and Zoe did too.

And then we finished, went outside and Valentina's bike had been stolen. There are times in life when it has its ups and downs.

Pictured in Palma are Italian OU student Silvia with her daughters Zoe and Valentina.