NUS AY17/18 Semester 1

alright so i saw lots of people post up stuff about the modules that they've taken, kind of like a module review of sorts and no one asked for this but i'm gonna do my own anyway. just felt like doing it as a way of recording the modules i would have taken here in nus (: i was gonna do ay17/18 sem 2 but then my results are not out so i'll wait until results are out and boy is sem 2 gonna be a fun one to write (':


Year of Study: 1
MCs: 20
Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences
Modules Taken: 

• ES1601 Professional and Academic Communication (RC mod - 2MCs)
• FMA1204C FS: Saving Face
• GEQ1917 Understanding and Critiquing Sustainability (RC mod - 2MCs)
• LAF1201 French 1
• LAK3201 Korean 3
• NM1101E Communications, New Media and Society
• WR1401 Workplace Readiness (RC mod - 0MCs)

so let's go alphabetically

ES1601: Professional and Academic Communication

No grades (because it spans 2 semesters) 

Tutor: Ms Sarah Cheong

honestly idk what to feel about this mod. i mean because i had to take it to stay in rv so i never really had a choice???? so like idk hahaha. but i think the things that are taught are pretty useful. they're things i've learnt before but hey i guess not everyone has done it? the tut prep isn't that bad really. (tbh if you get some teachers they don't even care if you've done it or not) for those of yall in fass, this module replaces fas1102

Ms Cheong was a really really nice teacher though! she shared lots of her personal experiences with us and really gave us lots of different tips and insights to how the working world out there will be like. she's easy to talk to and has lots of things to share. i think she's also a really patient person? like she won't scold if she found out you didn't do tutorials and stuff but i mean that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it la hahha. i think the way she would so called reprimand you is in a really gentle way that helps you learn but at the same time not make you feel like a primary school kid being scolded. and i could pay attention pretty ohkay in her class so all's well. she also gives lots of personalised feedback and is very open to people coming to find her for help (: (my only gripe is that she spelled my surname as seow instead of siow  when it's so clear in the file that my surname is siow ._.)

i think the only difficult thing for this mod was the lit review. but then tbh i chionged that out in like 2 nights so i have no rights to say anything AHHAHAHH but like idk i guess because the topic of research was not my interest so i didn't really have the motivation to do it? but i think learning how to do lit review was really quite impt la esp if you wanna go into research then you'll have to be super well acquainted with writing lit reviews (which are the bane of my existence (': )

so all in all i don't really think i have much to say or what i say matters anyway since this is a compulsory module for anyone in rv so bleh hahahah 

Exam Format: none, CA

Recommend? honey, you have no choice (': 

FMA1204C: FS: Saving Face

Grade: A

Tutor: Ms Julyn Kang

I LOVE THIS MODULE. ohkay so it's a freshman seminar so if anyone sees this and you're no longer a freshman then i apologise. BUT IT'S REALLY GOOD I HIGHLY RECOMMEND. i'm so thankful i decided to check nus for their mods first before school actually started?? hahahhaha cos apparently a lot of people around me hadn't heard about it. also, for those of yall in fass this module replaces fas1101 (so in the end i'm an fass student but i've never taken an fas module HAHA) but that doesn't mean it's like slacker or anything.

basically what this module about is that it discusses issues regarding 'face'. or 面子/脸 (you will learn the difference between these two in the mod). and it's really very interesting la bc face is such an asian thing if you think about it but the first reading, which is by goffman (i forgot his first name lmao) talks about how face is also being used in the western context. there's a lot of western-asian comparison in this module and we talk about how it's different for both cultures and how the people from these cultures act differently because of it. beware though, the readings are really a lot (although tbvh i didn't do any past the first one cos it killed me it's really so complicated i crei ms julyn pls don't kill me (': ) 

you really learn a lot in this module. like things of everyday life that you never really thought about before? you will start to see them all in a different light. like really. when you interact with people you will start to have thoughts like "oh, she trying to save my face right. thanks bro" and stuff like that HAHAH it's a module that really makes you think and i really like it because it's all these small things that you've overlooked in your daily life in the past but now you see them in a new light and you understand why things are done in certain ways and you understand yourself also, what kind of person you are and why you act in certain ways. 

i wouldn't say the workload for this is extremely heavy? you have to write one research paper. and unlike fas1101, you don't have to submit mini checkpoints for your paper every now and then. it's literally just like nah do a topic kay? submit by this date kthxbye. so it depends. if you're the kind that won't get shit done unless you have a deadline dangling infront of your face, a lot of determination will be needed to not just rush the paper 2 days before (which i did not do ohkay thank u very much). then you'll also have to present your findings to the class. the presentation and paper grades will add up together. for me, i didn't really do very well for the paper but my presentation was good so it really pulled me up all the way. so ya. just be sure to start early. ms julyn will probably give you a piece of paper as like a timeline checklist kind of thing so if you follow that you're safe. i can't really remember, but she may check up on you every now and then esp if you stay back to talk to her after class. 

after the research paper submission there'll also be a small group work where you have to put up a skit to demonstrate the difference in how face is being used in two drastically different societies (e.g. german and chinese). it's really not that bad and quite chill la this one hahhaa 

so ms julyn is a really super super super nice teacher. she really has a whole wealth of knowledge to share and she doesn't hold back. if you ask her she will tell you everything. and the really nice thing is that she engages with us outside of what we learn in class also so random things like languages and exchange programmes and stuff like that she will talk to us also. our class size was really small, like 10 people so yeah it really allows for a much closer relationship with the tutor. classes are really fun and i really really really recommend this module (: 

Exam Format: not really an exam, just the research paper and final presentation

Recommend? YES. YES. YES. A MILLION TIMES YES

GEQ1917: Understanding and Critiquing Sustainability

No grades (because it spans 2 semesters)

Tutor: Mr Sivasothi N. 

aiya i feel like not writing anything about this module since whoever takes it has no choice anyway HAHAH one thing though it replaces geq1000 and that's kind of annoying bc geq1000 is pass/fail but this is GRADED ._. 

i learnt a lot of stuff about like researching and getting the right sources. like what you should look out for when choosing your sources. i would say it's a little common sense but  yknow sometimes i guess it's nice to have a guideline to refer to also? then you also talk a lot about sustainability lor hahaha the tut work is a lot of video watching i think (so you can kindda watch it at x2 speed ya) and maybe reading some articles and stuff like that. basically just about the world and the climate la. 

then you'll have groups to do this project that's gonna be your main focus in sem 2. you'll have a list of projects and their details then you rank your choices. once everything's done, you just have to discuss with your group about the things you intend to do in your project? there're some meetings that will be held. some graded some ungraded so be sure you know your shit when it's graded. when it's ungraded it's usually like a meeting talking about an article everyone should have read. tbh in those meetings mr siva talked like 70% of the time and we just chipped in so. HAHAH 

and also if i haven't mentioned it above, the lit review you have to do is about whatever your project's gonna be. 

mr siva is really nice. like ms julyn, he also has a wealth of info esp about the environment and stuff. so he talks ALOT and idk im the kind of person that's fine with listening to others and their stories and their viewpoints so im good but if youre the kind that wants to talk then good luck (': although i would say it's a little annoying when he butts in to your conversation (esp in meetings) and you don't really get a chance to talk? but hey if you want to get out of the meeting doing the least possible work then that'll work in your favour. just be sure to talk a bit.

Exam Format: none, CA

Recommend? like es, no choice (': 

LAF1201: French 1

Grade: B+

Tutor: Ms Bernadette Plich

ah, language. so to start off, i'm actually in lpp (language preparation programme) so i have absolutely 0 knowledge of french and i really started off on a clean slate. i would say honestly as someone who doesn't have any knowledge, the first few lessons are extremely intimidating. extremely. intimidating. i mean i guess it depends on teacher but my teacher she spoke to us completely in french and only when we really don't understand then she'll use english. so it's really scary at first bc you walk into this class where you don't know anything and suddenly people are bombarding you questions in french. 

like this is legit what happened to me: 

teacher: comment tu t'appelles? 

me: ??????? 

teacher: je m'appelle bernadette. comment tu t'appelles? 

me: lee xian...? 

teacher: say it in a sentence.

me: je m'appelle lee xian....? 

yup that was where my french standard was. i only knew how to say what my name was. and so it's actually quite scary when you first start. but the interesting and amazing thing about learning a third (or fourth or fifth or whatever) language in nus is that the way they teach is so strange that without you knowing you just start to understand more and more. like legit 不知不觉. you just think that you're getting by in class and stuff but then the next thing you know you're reading off french shampoo bottles and you actually understand what it says. one example is that i went to thailand in jan and i was reading off the french description of a statue and my dad who was reading the english one, told me that i basically got the whole first paragraph (about like where the guy was born, what he studied etc.) was right. and when i told kor about it he was like wow. all this in just one sem of french? and it really made me realise how much my french improved in just one sem. 

i will say that french is a really difficult language to learn though, because of all the different conjugations, the gender of objects and even grammar. it's quite different from english. only certain nouns are the same or can be guessed. oh, and also you will come out of french class spelling verb as verbe, adjective as adjectif and subject as sujet :p 

oh, and as for the teacher, she's really very very nice. i think it's great that she refrains from speaking in english because then it really forces us to learn french. she's also quite dramatic when it comes to explaining words so it makes the class really fun (: she's also really encouraging and basically idk i feel like i didn't quit french bc she was really nice to all of us and really helped us through it. (:

Exam Format: something like primary school english exam-ish? like fill in the blanks, match things and stuff like that. there's listening too. can't really remember much tbh haha but just think primary school english exam. oral is in groups, where you go in with a friend and randomly choose pieces of paper with french words on it and talk about it (can just be one sentence). e.g. the paper says 'jardin' and you can ask your friend "tu aimes les jardins?" and your friend can reply "oui, j'adore les jardins." and that's literally it HAHAHA and it just goes on for about 5 minutes or so? 

Recommend? it really depends tbh. to me, it's really rewarding to learn new languages so i enjoy it even though i may not have scored very well and stuff like that. i think for language you really cannot go in thinking you'll get an A; you have to go in with the mentality and understanding that it's the knowledge you gain that counts more than your grades. 

LAK3201: Korean 3

Grade: B+ 

Tutor: Ms Choi Nuri

now this is where people call me crazy and ask me why the heck am i learning 2 vastly different languages simultaneously. 

honestly? it's not that difficult. BUT that is because i have prior knowledge and experience in korean. i took a placement test thinking that i would maybe get placed into korean 2? but then i ended up in 3 LMAO. there's actl korean lpp but i didn't wanna take from lvl 1 because i knew it's just all alphabets. but then i started questioning myself like what if the knowledge i have isn't enough to bring me up to lvl 2???? then that's such a wasted opportunity. especially since i've never had proper korean classes - all i know is from dramas, variety shows, music and memrise. but hey look where i am hehehehhe. 

because i already have prior knowledge, to me it was quite simple. it was easy to understand all the grammar and stuff like that. and they used a flipped classroom method so you kind of watch lecture vids (which are less than 20mins don't worry) online and we go to class to discuss and honestly i love this method so much???? like everything was explained so so so well and i could understand all these new grammar so easily. although my grammar still sucks and i was consistently like one of the bottom few, i'm still so very thankful that yknow i was able to make it through hahahha 

like french, it was super satisfying to be able to sing songs in karaoke and realise that i now understand songs that i used to blindly sing along to. 

i think i would say to anyone planning to take 2 languages at a go: don't start both on level 1. make sure one of them has at least a certain standard because if not you'll struggle. very hard. if you already have knowledge in one, then it'll feel like you're going for chinese class like that. you're learning but it's not something exceptionally difficult that you can't even understand the teacher. that being said, the main reason should still be your knowledge and not grades. i really don't like it when people wreck the bellcurve and lie about their knowledge in a language just for marks. but you do you i guess. you just wasted a whole semester studying something you already know (': 

well, for the teacher, to me i thought she was a bit scary but my other friend who has her for korean 1 says she's very nice hahha. as in like she's nice i guess, she'll joke with us and she'll tell us little things about korea and stuff like that but idk i just got this really intimidating air from her? haha. like it felt a bit like she 看不起我 kind of thing which i know is not the case but yeah. she was my teacher during the placement test also so basically she's seen me screw up oral twice lmao.

4 June 2018 edit i wanna say something small here!!! i really really wanna thank God!!!! bc i was consistently scoring below average for this. like i was even bottom 25% in finals and basically i was never above average and it worried me abit. but during cell last year, God spoke to me and told me not to be worried. and guess what? He surely is true to His words!!!!! like wow can u imagine constantly scoring below average yet i managed to get a B+??? i was about to S/U it but turns out i didn't have to! hahahhah so yeah just really wanted to thank God because i really don't know how i managed to get these grades and it must really just be His work (':

Exam Format: same as french; think primary school english exam but maybe this one is upper primary. french is lower primary lol. there's writing also and it's basically like 写电邮 kind with some requirements like "use this grammar point" etc. won't be something you don't know so that's fine. oral is one on one with the teacher where you go in and she asks you standard questions and stuff like that. don't over-complicate your answers; simple one-liners are fine, don't shoot yourself in the foot. since in korean 3 you learn how to give directions, there's a chance where you'll be shown a map and she'll tell you "i'm at ㅇㅇ exit and i want to get to ___. tell me how to get there." but that's really quite easy so nothing to worry about haha

Recommend? same as french, you can't go in thinking you'll score A. it's really your own relationship with learning languages. 

NM1101E: Communications, New Media and Society

Grade: B+

Professor: Lonce Wyse

Tutor: (shit i forgot her name OOPS) 

i'm a cnm major so this is a compulsory module for me. but don't be mistaken cos if you're interested in cnm (but not 100% sure you wanna major in it and wanna try out other kinds of modules) almost all (if not all i think?) nm modules have no prerequisites so you don't exactly have to take this mod.

this mod basically just introduces us to, well, cnm. but i'll say that what you learn in this module isn't exactly what you will do in cnm. bc cnm there's communication management, interactive media design and media studies so i think in 1101e they kind of just try to squeeze everything there is into this one mod. once you start to branch out to whichever one you intend to do, it doesn't really feel like 1101e anymore hahha. 

i would say it's theory-ish but also not completely theory. i mean, your midterms and finals are based on theory. so plsplspls do the readings. even if just a little bc i didn't do the readings for midterms and turns out a lot of qns were from the readings and i died HAHAH but i did for finals so uh well, i guess i saved my grade lol. 

for tutorial you will be grouped to come up with a campaign pertaining to a certain theme. mine was uh... i forgot sustainability (shivers) i think haha. but yeah it can be anything and you just have to come up with a small campaign but you won't have to actually carry it out. it's just all 口头语而已 so you can throw out stupid ideas like oh i wanna go to every shopping centre and carry out my campaign also can HAHA i would say it's like PW but you don't necessarily have to SOLVE a problem. you can just raise awareness but you have to be clear what you're gonna do and show them prototypes (just edit on computer can alr) and stuff. oh, you also have to do a 30-min recorded interview and THANKFULLY no transcription. wait until you go 2104 lmao ded (i took 2104 in sem 2 and i'll write a post about sem 2 once i get my results back haha). 

i wouldn't say it's super heavy workload but you really have things to do ah. and you really have to pray hard that you get good group mates. my group mates were super super good omg i'm so thankful. like we were all able to pull our own weight. and we met up every sunday on skype to get things done and i'm really so thankful that everyone really did so much. like you don't even realise it, everyone just does a small part and the next thing you know you're done with the report. hahhaha. and for interview i interviewed my own mother LMAO 

the professor was quite interesting? idk i think he has some stuff to talk about but the first few lectures i had w him didn't leave a v good impression. cos #1 the projector was screwed up such that it only showed a small bit of the screen so we had to all refer to our laptops (but this probs isn't his fault la hor just unlucky) and #2 he didn't know how to skip a yt ad??? he was trying to show us a yt vid and then this ad for grammarly came up and he was like "i don't use this kay in case y'all are wondering. idk why it's showing up" and we were all like OH MY TIAN PLS SKIP THE AD. so yknow when your communications and new media professor is doing this you kind of worry about what you're gonna learn lmao. tbh i didn't really pay full full attention to the lectures but eh, i came out knowing what i needed to know and it was interesting ah. simple things like mapping, etc, are things that you do in daily life but never realised it and never had a name to call it. and it's just really cool when you learn it cos then you understand things better now. 

like how i understand why i suck at those stepping dance games in arcades. bc i can't map the arrows properly hahhaha 

the tutor tbh didn't do much. tbh the tutorials were quite waste time? cos it was only 45mins a week and rly what can you do right? so we just mostly talked amongst ourselves during the tutorial and maybe discussed some stuff about our campaign? we kind of all agreed the tutorial was useless la I'M SORRY CHERS (': 

Exam Format: mid-terms and finals. MCQ. for mid-terms it was pencil and paper (OAM sheet?) but for finals it was on computer. like you have to download this app called examplify and use that to take the exam. it's a little bit troublesome when your computer cocks up on you and stuff so um pray hard that your com won't screw up on you? but there will be technicians and stuff who will help you if you really need help. i think the second last lecture or last lecture is one that you must attend bc that's when they'll make you test out the app so if it screws up they can at least fix it before the exam. another percentage is just the campaign like i've mentioned. if i'm not wrong i think you have to write a report? but it's all soft copy bah (i think lol) 

Recommend? not really tbh. unless you plan to major in cnm. if not i think you'll learn more taking a mod that actually taps into your area of interest. 

WR1401: Workplace Readiness

Grade: - (0 MCs)

Tutor: Mr Desmond Ng

ohkay hear me out. it sounds damn ridiculous that my time is being taken up by a 0 MC mod but i want to say in rvrc leh so 没办法 lor (': but it's not that bad la really.

this mod just learns about stuff like how to work well in teams and stuff through both theory sessions and sports. we get to sort of choose the sport to play and for my it was floorball. so through floorball we learn about working in teams. like learning how to communicate with your teammates, mitigate problems, setting smart goals and not run around like headless chickens by delegating work. 

i mean, if i could get that extra 2 hours on sleep on thursday mornings i would take it but yknow i guess i didn't really mind this mod all that much cos it was interesting and quite fun to play floorball just that i suck and have no stamina so gg.com (': 

but the really nice thing is that my class got really close with ea other? like even after wr ended we were meeting up for breakfast and stuff like that when it was wr period. i mean now we don't meet up as much anymore but did make some really good friends through wr and i'm thankful for that (: i think it's the element that cos you're playing and stuff you make friends easier. 

mr desmond is v v v nice also!!!! he's really friendly and although i've heard people say that he can be quite fierce, he hasn't been that angry with my class before so...? hahahaha. can tell he's really passionate in what he's teaching. like even though everything won't be graded in the end, he still puts lots of efforts to make sure that we know what we're supposed to be learning. and he makes the effort to link what we do in floorball to what he wants to teach us also. 

Exam Format: none

Recommend? no choice honey (': but it's nice la

wew!!! and that's it!!! all my mods!!! boy this took me real long to write hahha but i'm thankful that i got it all recorded down!!! 

Hope™

DISCLAIMER: idk if i'm gonna kena anything for talking bad about teachers/modules over here. or if there will be changes to the modules in the future and people end up being misled for a module. but i'm here to say that all these are my opinions; they may not be right or accurate, but this is what i felt. and all information is correct as of the time i took the modules (i.e. Semester 1 of Academic Year 17/18 at the National University of Singapore).