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| Breakfast at The Acorn Guest House |
Outside Acorn Guest House and Hamilton Lodge
Lesson 1: Academic
Writing Skills
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| The Castle, Chesterton Towers |
Our very first day in the Reach Cambridge program began at
approximately 8.45 am as we arrived at the Chesterton Towers, otherwise known as
the Castle. The Castle is one of the oldest buildings in Cambridge and it even has
the oldest door! The Castle comprises of two levels. The first being the
classroom and the second, offices and toilets. Despite giving off a sense of
history to its visitors, the Castle is well equipped with modern chairs, tables
and a heater providing a very conducive environment for learning.
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| Our lecturer: John O' Conner Gomez PhD |
We also met our
instructor for English, John Conner, who gave us a warm welcome and a brief
overview of the topics we are going to learn in this program. His method of
teaching is very enriching and interactive and his friendly manner makes us
feel comfortable enough to ask questions and learn more.
The lesson began with the
reading of an article about undergraduates in UK having problems with academic
writing. We learnt to identify the various characteristics that can be found in
essays and analyzed how that particular article was persuasive, precise and clear.
We further increased our understanding by comparing the differences in Lab
reports and History writing. For example, Lab reports are mainly informative, where
the facts and experimental results speak for themselves, whereas history
writing has an air of persuasiveness about it when presenting the facts.
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| Lesson in The Castle |
After a short break, we return to discuss George Orwell’s
introduction on his essay of whether the English language is inherently
decadent or not. Using his introduction, we sharpened our skills in identifying
good characteristics a good introduction should have. Thereafter, we learnt a
few rules regarding academic writing: always using the active form instead of
the passive, and never use hyperbole. Also, John gave us two ‘Golden Rules’ we
have to follow which are: less is always better, and think carefully when
choosing words. As the three hours breezed by, we learnt important skills and
information that we can use for discursive writing and argumentative writing
back in school. We also learnt how the skills we are learning to develop in
school is of great importance helping in our progress up the academic ladder to
be more critical writers who are focused and concise. Lastly we ended of with
an activity to simplify and condense complicated sentences, into simpler ones
which definitely helped sharpen our skills in summary.
- Ahmad (VS)
Cambridge City Tour
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| 25 min walk from The Castle to the City |
The tour around the Cambridge city centre gave us more
information about some of the colleges around the area. We got to know more
about the tradition and the rules within colleges, such as formal dinners that
is set on certain frequencies that varies with each college. We got to know
more of the rich history behind each college when we went around seeing each
college. One example was Queen’s college, which was founded by two Queens
because the first queen lost the favor of the people and was unfortunately killed,
and then the following queen stepped in and re-established the Queen’s college.
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| Cambridge City Tour |
This tour was really fun and informative throughout the
whole tour as our guide, Mr Daniel Strange, was really friendly and
interactive, letting us try to answer his questions although we don’t really
know the answer. He would even joke with us by stating random facts only to
mention that he had made them all up. That was his way of informing us how they
are many false facts, myths and urban legends that have been exaggerated and
spread around just to make the facts more interesting.
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| Cambridge City Tour |
The colleges in Cambridge are scattered all over, with the
whole city being one giant network of both colleges, shops and houses, due to
the different eras in which the colleges are built. This system is in great
contrast to how the universities are in Singapore. Back home, our universities
are more contained with various faculty buildings within the same compound.
Students go from one faculty to another on shuttle buses whereas the main mode
of transport for the students in Cambridge is the bicycle.
It was also interesting
to see how the university caters to the cycling culture by providing space to
park bicycles and also ramps so cyclists can push their bikes up and down the
stairs.
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| Trinity College, Cambridge University |
I feel that these scattered facilities bring out a unique
vibrancy in the city, as students studying in Cambridge will be able to explore
their surroundings and have more freedom to roam around the streets.
The locals feel
very proud of being able to study in Cambridge, which I think it is because
they feel a sense of belonging to the rich and prestigious history of their beautiful
university town.
-Dylan Tan (VS)
Punting
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Punting with a view of the Newton Bridge
(a.k.a The 'Mathematical' Bridge) |
The punting was a great end to the tour. It was very relaxing to wind-down on the boat to digest the day’s new experiences. But of course, the punting itself was a new experience for most of us. To propel the boat forward the punter has to drive the stick all the way down into the mud and literally push the boat forward. We were amazed by the punters’ stamina to keep propelling us for about half an hour. The punters themselves were interesting as they ranged from male to female and college students to adults. They were friendly and kept us engaged with lots of fun facts, urban legends and even celebrity gossip on how members of the Royal family spent their days as students at Cambridge University.
They were also knowledgeable as they could explain to us the history of each college and famous landmarks we passed.
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| Beautiful architecture of the various colleges |
The people on the other punts were very interesting as well. They ranged from residents and students having a relaxing time, to tourists who were equally fascinated by the beautiful architecture and laissez-faire atmosphere of the place. The passengers seemed to be thrilled as they snapped photos of the passing colleges and occasional ducks. There were many different kinds of passengers as well including students, like us, and elderly. Some even took over the punter for an enjoyable experience. It was interesting to note how the students, despite the pressures of being in an elite university, could afford the time to relax by the banks and have an enjoyable time with their friends.
Personally, I felt it was a perfect experience to settle down and reflect on what we have learnt today and what we are all excited about in the days to come. We also treasured the novel feel of punting, as it was truly a rare experience.
-Lokkesh (VS)
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| Dinner at The Tivoli |
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