NEW LIFE AS AN “AUSMATIAN”

This year, 2009 is a tougher year because I’ll sit for an essential examination called as Tertiary Entrance Examination (TEE). TEE is a compulsory examination for those who are taking Australian Matriculation (AUSMAT). My friends and I were told by our lecturers to struggle as hard as we can and be consistent in maintaining a high score because our marks will be assessed from external examination, internal examination and assignments given. So, no “honey moon” anymore, we ought to intensify our effort and strive in our study for a whole year.
As a vivid description about the course I’m taking now, I’ll explain about this programme. AUSMAT is a full time course and it must be completed in two semesters. It has been specially designed to provide a Year 12 level of education in Western Australia but for those students who want to study in New Zealand this programme is acceptable as an entrance requirement. Subjects offered are miscellaneous but students are advised to take the appropriate subjects according to their degree course. For instance, I’ll pursue my study in Architecture course, so I take five subjects which are EAL/D, Physics, Chemistry, Applicable Mathematics and Economics.
English or known as ‘English as An Additional Language / Dialect’ (EAL/D) is very crucial for us because we’ll further our study in an English speaking country. My first English class has begun last week. It’s quite enjoyable. We have been asked to create a blog to write something related to our daily activities and response to the current issues. In my first English class, we have discussed about writing skills. Writing is not just write anything without thinking. We’ve to plan what we are going to write, its main point, supporting idea and examples.
This week, I’ve learned something new about English. Although, I used to learn about literature before, but this are my first time learning literary terms. I was quite familiar with the terms simile (an apparent comparison between two distinctive objects), metaphor (comparison between two unrelated things), and what I knew before, metaphor is when an abstract and concrete words are placed in a juxtaposition. Other terms that I used to learn are personification (attribution of human characteristics to animals or objects), hyperbole (deliberate exaggeration), alliteration (repetition of initial consonant sounds in a line) and assonance (repetition of a vowel sound).
Do you know? We also can learn literature from “Buzz” sound produced by bees, “Papp!” sound when you are slapped by your ex-girlfriend or “Crack!” sound when you accidentally tore up your trousers. Those sounds are called as onomatopoeia, such a ridiculous name. Even literature is the most complicated part, it is quite enjoyable with the existence of “onomatopoeia”. What I can briefly say, literature is a quite appealing to be learned and I hope this topic will be more interesting for my next English class.