Caromarlyse wrote:If I'm allowed to ask some non-language-related questions... Are you carrying on with the maths in the autumn then? How big a time commitment has it been?
I haven't made a decision yet about whether to continue in the autumn, but at the moment I am leaning towards no. I've actually bought myself a couple of textbooks to follow up some areas of maths I am personally most interested in, and I'm inclined to see how far I can get with self study alone. I've also recently been reading
Mathematics: A very short introduction by Timothy Gowers, which, like most books in that series is a nice little introduction to the kind of things mathematicians in universities are interested in, but it keeps the actual maths at a very accessible level. It's useful because it has given me a better understanding of the extent of my own interest in maths - that is, I am interested in having reasonable facility using mathematical methods which can help me solve real world problems, but not so interested in rigorous proofs.
In terms of time commitment, it has been much bigger than I expected. I had to study a couple of hours a day most days to not get behind. Once I did get behind, it was then quite an effort to catch up. I think it would be possible to pass the module maybe making less effort than I have done, if you're willing to accept a lower grade and less thorough understanding of the materials.
Caromarlyse wrote:Interesting what you said about assessments. I've found doing homework for online tutors, who obviously don't need to - and don't - give grades has been good because it completely removes the pressure to get something right first time. You have room not to understand something, and demonstrate that, and then to learn from it and move on, with no bad feelings. If you get pretty much everything wrong (which I have done with some Russian), it is just an indication that you need more teaching on that area, and doesn't impact on you in any other way. The flip side for me though has been I do miss the fuzzy feelings you get from doing really well! I should probably learn to be less dependent on external praise...
I think useful feedback is always really valuable, wherever it comes from. The problem with formal assessments, especially examinations, is that by their very nature, they're not the best way of generating useful feedback. I've also noticed that I seem to have solved the more general problem of how to give examiners what they want (regardless of the subject), which gives my results a boost without necessarily reflecting my abilities and the pattern of strengths and weaknesses unique to me. I don't want to jump on the bandwagon of people griping about kids these days only studying for the test (which often seems to come from people who never tested that well themselves), but it is still fair to say that studying to pass a test and studying to develop a deep and meaningful understanding of a subject are two different problems, although there's a lot of overlap between the two. As for the fuzzy feelings, nothing beats a compliment from someone who knows you well, has high standards, and really means it.