OUMH1403 – video making process

My assignment for this subject has a few questions. One part is about making sentences based on a picture. The other part is to film a video – a scene asking a friend to come by for dinner. I have a few Chinese friends at work but the challenge is to find time to make that video. I find that we can squeeze at least 15 to 20 mins creating the video nearing the time to punch out at work.

1. Students are required to write the script in Pinyin but first I created the storyline and dialogue in English. I read all the chapters in my module and tried to incorporate all the different elements of everyday speech into the story.
2. I translated English into Chinese using sentences in the OUM module or Google Translate. Using Google translate is inaccurate though. Especially if you type it using the English sentence (grammar) cause the translated lines would be jumbled up.
3. This was evident when I asked my Chinese friend to help check if the dialogue is OK. Turned out I had a lot of corrections to do.
4. I tried to memorize my lines for the scene but gave up. I couldn’t be sure if I could even memorize the dialogue in English, what more in Chinese. So, I placed the script on the table. It was printed in really huge fonts.
5. I recorded my video with my Samsung A32 and a mini microphone I bought from Shopee to enhance the audio.
6. Obviously, there were loads of bloopers as my OCD Chinese friend had to correct a lot of my pronunciations. Ha ha ha. Behind the scenes, it was a session full of roaring laughter.

Here is the final product.

Practicing handwriting

Help.. it looks so ugly 😭

OUMH1403 – The registration

It was a choice between learning Chinese and Japanese by substituting one of my subjects. I swapped SBFS1103 : thinking skills and problem solving with OUMH1403. I figured it would be more interesting to learn a new language. It was a bit confusing for me at first to sign up for this subject. I had thought that when we dropped a subject, we would be automatically enrolled in it. Or it would be offered as one sometime during the semester.

This is why I waited and waited for the subject to appear as an offer. But it never happened.

Time is running out though. I used the UKR06 form to add the Chinese language as a subject. It worked this time. I will be learning Chinese for semester 8!

Calming the nerves – starting Semester 8

Studying is overwhelming when you see it as a whole. Even the module name ‘industrial placement’ can put you in shivers as you look at the amount of information presented to you. I remembered when I started in 2020 as a 1st year student – it was a daunting feeling as I saw that I have to do a final year project to complete my degree. I was honestly hyperventilating at the thought of having to go to school while working during the pandemic.

The trick to calm my nerves at the time was

• reassure me that I am not competing with anyone and that this learning journey was intended to add value to my job
• take it one semester at a time
• enjoy the process

Although I was able to take 4 subjects in a semester, I chose to stick to only 3 at a time because I do not want to stress myself.

This semester however I am taking 3 subjects with 12 credit points on board. This is because Industrial Placement will carry 6 credits whereas Clinical Psychology and Chinese language with 3 credits each. Online classes will start next week. I have already received my starter pack for my Industrial Placement module and yes, it’s overwhelming but I will take it one step at a time.