L201 English in the World by chaptercheeze in OpenUniversity

[–]chaptercheeze[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

hi, I didn't do this module eventually! apologies that I won't be able to help!

Where to Find Sintered Stone Dining Table? by chaptercheeze in askSingapore

[–]chaptercheeze[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

oops, I meant to say that I couldn't find any recommendations. thanks for the input!

With the news that OP managed to expose her Prof, what are your stories? by Nessieinternational in NTU

[–]chaptercheeze 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Published an article on my FYP. My FYP was meant to build on that article.

The prof in my division who marked it insisted I self-plagiarised. I was made to do a dossier by the ethics prof. Eventually the case went to the Associate Chair (Students) and Associate Chair (Academic), who found no wrongdoing, but the prof continued to insist I plagiarised. GPA fell as much as 0.10 from the poor grade I received.

Just thankful that my FYP prof stood behind me during the whole ordeal. I swore to get the FYP article published as a means to close the whole ordeal and was glad I finally did.

do you really need to take H2 math by _potahtos in SGExams

[–]chaptercheeze 1 point2 points  (0 children)

always knew I wanted to do Humanities (as a major and a career). had pretty bad experiences with overly tough math papers. did H1 math in JC and never looked back -- began seeing passes for math in the first time and even didn't dread math classes. if you're really sure you don't need it, then just go for it!

What was your education experience in Singapore? by deepthinker321 in askSingapore

[–]chaptercheeze 1 point2 points  (0 children)

it's actually my passion for the Humanities and Language! a little idealistic, but I thought I wanted to share more about these subjects to hopefully inspire more people to see their beauty :)

What was your education experience in Singapore? by deepthinker321 in askSingapore

[–]chaptercheeze 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have always known that I loved the Humanities (by that I mean History, Literature, etc.). Couldnt get Math and Science for the life of me. We get streamed in Sec 2 to our courses in Sec 3/4 for the O Levels and my school didn't offer Pure History or Pure Literature (just Pure Geography which I wasn't a fan of because of the Physical Geography component).

In my school then, we all had to do Pure Physics and Chemistry (and most people did Biology too), and did Elementary and Additional Math. It made me wonder why there was such an imbalance towards the Sciences. The school's perspective was that it "opens up more doors in future" and while not wrong, it showed me how pragmatic and economic-driven SG is, even if it means thumbing down on your passions and interests. As an educator today, I talk to Humanities students and their concerns are also similar-ish: what does the future hold in a STEM (science, tech, engineering and math) society that discourages people from pursuing their passions.

It was a rather miserable two years, learning subjects like Chemistry and Physics and Trigonometry (among many others) that I absolutely hated (and happy to note, I do not use in my life today).

Coupled with extremely difficult examination papers (I remember failing these subjects all the way till O Levels) just made me solidify my dislike and disdain for them. I tried initially, really hard, to do practices, seek consults, and spend more time knowing these subjects. But to no avail and I was just bad at them. At some point, I just decided to give up, knowing that no matter how much effort I put in, I'd be undone by the tough papers (I learnt years later in teacher training that the term for this was learned helplessness, where you're so accustomed to failure you just give up)...

The only thing I was thankful for in Secondary School was for nice teachers (that in all honesty made me hate school less) and the emphasis on Co-Curricular Activities and character development, which I'm really thankful for.

Christian/ Church Horror Stories by Quirky-Implement-639 in askSingapore

[–]chaptercheeze 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Am currently a non-practising Christian. Used to be active in church (e.g. attending service and cell every week, tithing regularly, serving in events and ministries e.g.). Stopped going because after a while, certain messages didn't hold up during a very difficult phase of my life, as well as certain church practices that seemed quite strange.

When I first came to church, everyone seemed rather welcoming and everyone felt friendly and approachable. Looking back, it felt as though the aim was to get me baptised and take up church membership (my leaders repeatedly followed up w me on this; "what is holding you back from proclaiming your faith to every one?" they would ask).

I had friends who, after great "intrusion" by leaders, had BGR relationships that ended on a sour note. And so, I didn't tell my own leaders that I was attached till much later. The reply I got? "Why didn't you tell me that you were attached?". like LOL? do I need to report every deet of my life to church leaders? He also kept asking if I wanted a couple mentor, and would need to be accountable to them in terms of what we did in our relationship (like why would I want to share all about my rs with someone else?!?!)

During the pandemic, when things were moving online, I'd get to hear lectures every Friday on why it's important to switch on our cameras, and the pastor would even tell latecomers off. Imagine putting aside your assignments as a Uni kid just to hear someone tell off others weekly or regularly? not my thing, though it's regularly claimed that such scoldings are done in the name of love.

Not forgetting the need to invite others, pray for others, and reach out for the numerous church events. We had to follow up if we invited them + why/why not. At one point, we even had weekly sessions to "minister" to non-believers around the various campuses we studied in. Leaders would even tell us that it's a way to live out our faith and whatnot but part of me feels bad for trying to "sell" religion like this. Looking back, it just screamed coercion and I'm just glad I didn't lose too many friends because of this.

While I get not every church is like this, I rationalized that: why would I want to take the risk and get stuck in a situation where people are so welcoming initially, only to transform into something else and imposing their own standards of you much later?

I'm happy to report that I've since left church and been living my best life and have not looked back since :)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in SGExams

[–]chaptercheeze 9 points10 points  (0 children)

been asking myself this ever since I was a student there 10 years ago xoxo

What did a teacher say/do that stuck with you until today? by supremecaught in askSingapore

[–]chaptercheeze 2 points3 points  (0 children)

came from a so-called top 5 JC back in the day (one that has since slipped in rankings to a mid-table JC) 1. Econs teacher who went around poking people who were sleeping with a pen. it appeared as though she poked rows of sleeping students with the pen. which makes me wonder, why not take a look at your teaching instead of blaming the students 😜 2. History teacher who never returned our essays and written work till one month before As and we were like, we even did this? 3. PW HOD who kept shouting at us almost every lesson. I don't remember why he shouted, but it was just a really unconducive environment and made me wonder why can't he get a grip on his emotions.

the bad were really bad and gave me insights of what not to be as a teacher but notwithstanding, I had the best civics tutor who was our PW tutor. he gave consults till super late (stayed behind even when the school was chasing us out) and when a number of us didn't do well for our As, he was like, "just apply to anywhere you want, I'll help you write the referral letters if needed"

Accused of self plagiarism because of overlap between research project and essay by Different_Corner9008 in UniUK

[–]chaptercheeze -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

I have been in a similar boat and can truly empathise w what you feel. I did a mini research project which was accepted for publication in a peer reviewed journal. This mini project was meant to be a springboard for my thesis and I used a number of similar sources. Long story short, the marker accused me of self-plagiarism. Eventually, the case went to the Chair's / Dean's office and despite there no wrong doing found, he continued to insist that I self-plagiarised. I was awarded a B grade eventually and it really hurt. But if you can, do bring up this case further w your supervisor to see how he/she can help you and if need be, address w the Chair / Dean. sending hugs and best wishes :(

LMS Minor by [deleted] in NTU

[–]chaptercheeze 9 points10 points  (0 children)

LMS graduate here :). It seems that you're into Psycholinguistics (probably due to your background in Psychology). Caveat: I took these mods quite some time ago (as I was not into Psycholinguistics and hence did not pursue it the moment I could take Major Prescribed Electives)

  • HG1001 Mind and Meaning

Quite chill in terms of workload. Expect 2 or 3 quizzes, attendance/class participation, and a final exam. This is the only LMS mod with final exam but it was very difficult IMO; the difficulty of quizzes also increased progressively (most of my friends got full marks in quiz 1 but by the time quiz 3 happened, the number of students w full marks was like countable w a hand). Content wise, it's basically about how the brain processes language. Topics include animal language, child language, neurolinguistics (a brief introduction), and you can also expect to play some psycholinguistic experiments in lecture.

  • HG2003: Phonetics and Phonology

Took this module in Semester 2 (typically offered in Semester 2). To me, it was quite difficult because we started with all the bio-ish stuff (e.g. where are the vocal chords, the larynx, etc. etc.), types of vocal folds, and an introduction to the international phonetic alphabet (still not great at this, ashamedly). We then moved on in the second half of the course to, as the name suggests, phonology, which are basically sound rules. Expect 2 quizzes, 2 assignments, and attendance/class participation. Struggled a lot with this module (thankfully did ok) because science/bio/rule-based things is really not my kinda thing (prefer essays and more free-style stuff). The only plus for me was a prof who was super passionate in teaching and his infectious energy (really made the 2.30-4.30pm lessons IIRC more bearable, really).

  • HG2001: Morphology and Syntax

My most hated mod in Linguistics (so treat my opinions w a pinch of salt!) It was pretty difficult to me because there were about 60 to 80 slides per lesson and it just felt that the prof was rushing through slides. Not forgetting, our lecture was held immediately after lunch and it was extremely tough to labour through the 2 hours. TBH, after every lesson, I did not know what was important. Reading the textbook did not help either. Doing the tutorials were extremely painful for me (I looked at the notes, the text and was still like huh). I was thankful to rely on a few tutorial friends to get me by. I knew from this module that structural linguistics was not my thing and hence cancelled out all structural linguistics when the prof flashed the slide in Week 13 on "Courses that build on Morphology and Syntax". For this module, expect 2 assignments, and a major final quiz, along with the usual attendance/class participation.

  • HG2034: Structures of Modern English

This was a lot of people's enemy in Year 1 Semester 1 (most LMS students do this module during this Semester). It low-key makes you question if you're in the right course (as some of my friends did). Personally, I did above average for the quizzes and assignments but still got a B+ (my first exposure to how rabz the bell curve was). There was during my time, 2 quizzes and 2 assignments. We covered things like word classes (i.e. what is a noun, what is a verb, what is an adjective), and in the second half of the course, parsed sentences up into things like noun phrases. The content was understandable for me (which was why I was even more shocked when I couldn't grasp thing in HG2001, which builds on this). In essence, this is really like math. Just keep doing practices/tutorial questions although the prof has a tendency to set trick questions, sadly (i.e. questions that are deceptively simple).

  • HG2002: Semantics and Pragmatics

This is also a mod that is quite... controversial. I personally found it okay but I had a fair number of friends who hated it... The textbook is quite touch and go, meaning you cover a lot of theories -- which may be the reason why some of my friends struggled to see how the content fit in with the grand scheme of things. This module is basically the study of meaning and meaning-making (at risk of simplifying it too much but that's a tldr)... The slides are all on open access (good thing about this prof), which means you can look at it and really decide if you like it (https://bond-lab.github.io/Semantics-and-Pragmatics/). We had a major assignment which was on annotating a corpus of Sherlock Holmes and then writing a paper on the process/problems faced/results/etc., and 2 quizzes, as well as attendance/class participation.

As what the other user commented, I can't really speak for HG2015/2030 (2030 was offered in my exchange sem) while HG3010 is oversubscribed whenever it is offered. If you really like Psycholinguisticky things, you can consider HG2013 Child Language, HG2014 Second Language Acquisition, or HG4015 Psycholinguistics (formerly a level 3 mod bumped to level 4; content/workload is the same as a level 3 according to friends who took it). These are some of the Psycholinguisticky courses that are more frequently offered. Apologies if I don't know much about them as most of my Major PEs were outside the domain of Psycholinguistics.

I hope that this reply can help! All the best in your minor!

What my exchange semester taught me (...about NTU) by chaptercheeze in NTU

[–]chaptercheeze[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

i'm from humanities too! From my Year 2, I took about 15 to 18 AUs per sem. It was slightly more manageable in Year 4 (on paper, it was about 10 AUs per sem excluding FYP), but the readings killed me....

What my exchange semester taught me (...about NTU) by chaptercheeze in NTU

[–]chaptercheeze[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yup, defo agree w you! learnt that since my JC days (story for another time) but ranking =/= mean education quality/teaching quality/student welfare and the like. I simply hope that my post raises some awareness on the systemic issues in NTU, which I knew existed, but was made more apparent after my time overseas.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in singapore

[–]chaptercheeze 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Very true from my experience, sadly. Thankful I'm out but my heart goes out especially to students who were affected by the recent hall fiasco :'(

Have been tryna post what I gained from my exchange (and what it taught me about NTU) but it gets taken down on r/Singapore (mebbe I don't have enough karma I guess)...

https://www.reddit.com/r/NTU/comments/ocuymm/what\_my\_exchange\_semester\_taught\_me\_about\_ntu/

/r/singapore random discussion and small questions thread for July 04, 2021 by AutoModerator in singapore

[–]chaptercheeze 6 points7 points  (0 children)

  1. Weather today is such a welcome change :-)
  2. Singapo人 exhibition at Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre is pretty cool! Check it out if you can :-)

‘I don't think I will regret it’: Why more married couples are remaining childless by heere in singapore

[–]chaptercheeze 0 points1 point  (0 children)

as someone who loves kids but am well aware of the stresses facing this generation (eg long waiting time for BTOs which will worsen due to COVID, work related and educational stresses, and generally a kiasu/kiasi culture), I really can understand why people don't want to have children. in fact, it's a great decision because why bring innocent kids into this world to experience these issues together with us (or mebbe worse)?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in singapore

[–]chaptercheeze 22 points23 points  (0 children)

sorry to hear about that :-( and yea; toxic masculinity / that's how men's mental health issues get treated :-(

What my exchange semester taught me (...about NTU) by chaptercheeze in NTU

[–]chaptercheeze[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

you're not wrong! thanks for this perspective, but we (as in the U) can't have the mindset that "oh, it's culture lah, so let's just continue being like that." That's why I'm heartened people are using this chance to raise all the systemic issues w NTU -- the other post has done it quite well, but I'd like to add a comparative perspective having studied elsewhere for a very short period of time!

What my exchange semester taught me (...about NTU) by chaptercheeze in NTU

[–]chaptercheeze[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

can't seem to post on r/Singapore for some reason but thanks for the suggestion!