NARRATOR:
You will hear Paul interviewing Kira about her experience as an overseas university student.
NARRATOR:
First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 25.
NARRATOR:
Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 25.
PAUL:
It's good to see you again.
PAUL:
Has it been a full year since you took our course?
KIRA:
It's nice to return for a visit.
PAUL:
Which course did you enroll on?
KIRA:
I actually entered the third year of pharmacy straight away.
KIRA:
The university gave me credit for two years, although going directly into the final stage probably made things harder.
PAUL:
Receiving those credits was fortunate, though.
PAUL:
Was that the reason you selected pharmacy?
KIRA:
I had already completed a pharmacy course in my own country, so I expected a familiar subject to be easier.
PAUL:
I didn't know you had joined the third year.
PAUL:
I assumed you began in year one.
PAUL:
That explains why it was such a challenge.
PAUL:
What was one major difference between studying here and studying at home?
KIRA:
Writing assignments was very difficult because that part of the system was unfamiliar to me.
KIRA:
The biggest issue was that lecturers expected critical analysis.
KIRA:
I felt awful at first.
KIRA:
I wondered how I could possibly judge another researcher's work when that person might have spent five years on it.
KIRA:
Many international students probably faced the same difficulty.
KIRA:
It became more manageable with time.
KIRA:
People often assume the problem will be reading or writing quickly enough, but the real requirement is to change the way you think about academic work.
PAUL:
What about the subject matter in the lectures?
PAUL:
Could you understand it?
KIRA:
The material closely resembled what I had studied before, so following the lectures wasn't a major problem.
PAUL:
Were the lecturers similar to those in your country?
KIRA:
The lecturers here are much easier to approach.
KIRA:
After a lecture, you can ask about anything you failed to understand, or arrange an appointment to discuss any part of the course.
PAUL:
Perhaps they seem different because you're more mature now than you were during your earlier studies, when you may have been less confident.
KIRA:
I don't think that explains it.
KIRA:
Most students here contact their lecturers.
KIRA:
In my faculty, students regularly book appointments, usually because something on the course worries them, but sometimes because a topic interests them greatly, and they may want to specialise in it.
KIRA:
Lecturers have to reserve certain periods each week for student meetings.
PAUL:
That's encouraging.
NARRATOR:
Before you hear the rest of the interview, you have some time to look at questions 26 to 30.
NARRATOR:
Now listen and answer questions 26 to 30.
PAUL:
What was your timetable like?
PAUL:
Was the year very demanding?
KIRA:
Extremely demanding.
KIRA:
We were expected to work hard.
KIRA:
In addition to lectures, we had practical classes in many subjects, and we completed those sessions in small groups.
KIRA:
Every week, I also spent four hours working in a community pharmacy.
KIRA:
I enjoyed that because I was constantly meeting new people.
KIRA:
During the second semester, we needed experience in hospital dispensaries, so we worked in one of the large hospitals every second day.
KIRA:
We still had to complete all our assignments, which took me a long time.
KIRA:
And between the first and second semesters, we worked full-time in a hospital for two weeks.
PAUL:
That certainly sounds like an exhausting year.
PAUL:
Are you glad you completed it?
PAUL:
Do you feel you achieved something?
KIRA:
Above all, I feel much more confident now.
PAUL:
What advice would you offer students arriving from other countries?
KIRA:
They need a very strong command of English.
KIRA:
It would help if they spent longer improving it before entering university.
KIRA:
If you can't understand what people are saying and have no time to translate, you can get into serious difficulty.
PAUL:
Is there anything else?
KIRA:
As I mentioned earlier, my greatest problem was not being familiar with the education system here.
PAUL:
It sounds as though the year tested you in many ways.
PAUL:
Congratulations, Kira.
NARRATOR:
That is the end of part three.
NARRATOR:
You now have one minute to check your answers to part three.
