A corrected collection of recollections

Classes have just begun for 2007 here at Otago Polytechnic. They shall run from Monday through to Thursday, and I shall be teaching morning and afternoon class (busy, busy, except for Fridays. Yummy three-day weekends!)

I am going to ask students to keep a log of what they have been doing during class and also in their own time. Some will keep a spoken record on tape - later on as podcasts - while other students will keep a written record, on paper, as a word document, or even on a blog. The rest of this post, therefore, will consist of a collection of yesterday's recollections.

The First Day

In the first week of the school at Otago Polytechnic, I felt sad because I missed my best friend Teressa. I notice during break time that most of the students speak in their own language rather than English, so I'm sometimes lonely.

But no problem. I've started to cope with this and try to do my work or read in my free time. Don't worry about me.

Magda IBISKMH1@tekotago.ac.nz

I have joined a English class at Polytech. It's so fantastic! My English is not so good. The reason is that I lose confidence when I go to interviews for jobs and communicate with people. But now I am very happy and have fun in my new English class. I can improve more my English and make new friends from all different countries such as Korea, China, Cambodia . . . and especially my New Zealand teacher. He's a good teacher. He teaches with all his heart and is very friendly with students.

I am very interested in my new English class. Because of that I enjoy my life and meet lovely people.

Helena TRINHH1@tekotago.ac.nz

Yesterday it was great because I met many good people in my class. They were so friendly, and I am very happy because I didn't get stressed. I thought I would be shy, but I wasn't.

Safaa SAKARS1@tekotago.ac.nz

Today is the first day of class this year. This year I’m in William’s class, the same as last year. I’m really happy to be there. My class has 14 students, most of whom I knew already. It was great to see them. First we did a survey about how good our English is. Second we did ice-breaking, which was absolutely fun and interesting.

Carol: BAEY1@tekotago.ac.nz

Yesterday I started at the school of English at Otago Polytechnic. My morning class teacher is William, and the afternoon class teacher is Lindsey. I met many new faces. We received an orientation and completed a Needs Analysis. The classroom was chilly, but I was happy to learn English and meet many people from different countries.

After coming back home I was busy preparing a meal and picking plums with my daughter.

Wea Ju HONGW1@tekotago.ac.nz

Yesterday was the start of the year at Otago Polytechnic’s School of Languages. I’m very excited to meet my new lecturer and some new students as well. We felt very delighted to know each other because to be able to learn a lot of things from different cultures and countries.

Rasmey SUOSR1@tekotago.ac.nz

Yesterday it was great because I met many good people in my class. They were so friendly and I was very happy because I was not shy this day. I like to meet new people.

This is my first time at the language school. I belong to the AM4 class; my teacher is William, a couch-type teacher. All I remember doing is a questionnaire for what I need to improve my English capability. I think more practice is very important for me.

Ken PENGCW1@tekotago.ac.nz

At last the School of Languages year has started. It was the first day yesterday. Some new students joined us, and we also met old friends. I could see that they all looked happy. We said hello and introduced ourselves to each other, and my teacher, William Otte Lucas, welcomed us too.

We did a survey, and then the teacher told us about the plan for our class this year. All in all it was quite a busy day yesterday!

Jason PARKIJ1@tekotago.ac.nz

It was the first day yesterday. I met my new teacher and the new students, but I was very nervous because English is getting difficult. Nevertheless, I made a resolution to study hard this year.

Kwi Ok PARKK1@tekotago.ac.nz

I was afraid yesterday because it was decided that my class was AM4 though last year I studied in AM2. I had to strain the first day. We’ll be using computers. I haven’t used them before, but I’ll make every effort.

Sun Young CHOSY1@tekotago.ac.nz

I don’t know why I felt so nervous yesterday. It wasn’t my first time in Otago Polytechnic, but I was happy to be here again. I sat alone in the classroom, and I felt like an outsider because I miss my friends Samantha, Fauzia and Eun Sook.

Hedi STOYAHR1@tekotago.ac.nz

Yesterday was my first day at the School of Languages. I saw some old students and a few new ones. I didn’t see Barbara; she has gone away and I missed her a little.

George HUANGKH1@tekotago.ac.nz

Yesterday was my first day to go to school this year. I tried to find a parking place but it was still hard for me. I thought I had prepared very well because I got rideshare card, but when I arrived there was no park for me, so I drove my car around the building again and then went to the Logan Park. When I walked back, I found that the rideshare sign was covered by plastic cloth!

Sam SULC1@tekotago.ac.nz

Yesterday was the start of this year semester. First of all, at 9.00 a.m., all the students collected together in a classroom and there was a simple opening. Firstly, Susan introduced herself as the New Barbara. She is the new head of the School of Languages. Then she introduced every class teacher’s name to us, and after that teachers announced what class each student belonged to . . . (to be continued)

Hannah YEHLIN1@tekotago.ac.nz

I came back from overseas about two weeks ago, but I still feel tired. I'm going to prune all the plants and hedges, and mow the lawn of my garden at the weekend. During the weekdays, I learn English reading, writing and spoken expression skills at the Languages school. Also I need to learn academic skills for business writing in the business class with some business students. This is a big challenge for me. I'm worried that my English is not good enough to study business and that the writing course will not be useful for me. Anyway, I will study hard this busy year.

Jack WANGC3@tekotago.ac.nz