School of Communication Design
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SINUPSORN WIWATWONGKASEM COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: THAILAND LANGUAGE SPOKEN: THAI PREVIOUS: RAFFLES PROGESSING TO: GRAPHIC DESIGN
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P A AMM
FARNH
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1. UCA
As you know, this is a cool place that gathers young artists and designers together. Here is a university for the odd, strange and also creative pupils.
2. Sheep Farm
Behind the students’ accommodations, it has a big sheep farm that you can walk around. Some nights, you might hear the sound of sheep and you cannot sleep because of its. Joking, some students said they want to kill that sheep! However, actually, it is not too bad like that; it means you are so close with the nature and it is a good to relax after work with cute animals and nice farm landscape.
3. Waitrose
Waitrose is the closest supermarket for UCA Farnham students. It is very convenient to take only 5 minutes walk from school. Generally, Waitrose gives an illusion of superior quality. The prices of products are expensive in comparison with the others: Sainbury’s and Lidl. The qualitative of convenience foods such as sandwiches, soups, and ready meals is very nice. We recommend this supermarket if you want to buy foods with best quality, but it is quite too expensive for students.
4. William Cobbett
We found this fabulous place while we played a Treasure Hunt! Situated between the town centre and the railway station, this popular pub has a wonderfully dark interior with a number of drinking areas and a large outside area.
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KRITSADA PHIPHATWORAKHUN COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: THAILAND LANGUAGE SPOKEN: THAI PREVIOUS: RAFFLES PROGESSING TO: GRAPHIC DESIGN
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5. Sainburys
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This supermarket is very famous among international students at UCA. Surely, the main reason is cheap! You can buy a pack of strawberries or cherries within 2 pounds. However, there are not many choices of premium brands to choose. It is a good place for weekly shopping with basic ingredients.
6. Farnham Castle
This is a place worth a visit if you are in this area. No fee for entrance but £1 donation if you want. There are some interesting historical information provided and a good view of the town.
7. The Slug and Lettuce
This is an awesome pub and restaurant where you can spend a lovely night time with friends. You can drinks, dances, holding parties or listening to great music. Great quality food, fabulous cocktails and delicious wine are ready to serve you all night. Especially on every Monday, every dish is offered discount 50% off.
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8. Gostrey Meadow
Gostrey Meadow is a beautiful open-plan park. There is a children's play area and the River Wey flows through large grassed area, making it ideal for a lazy summer picnic. Furthermore, various events including band concerts, fun festivals and celebrations are often created here which you can join and have fun.
9. Train Station
From Farnham to London Waterloo, this is a place that you must start. Buy a ticket and do not forget to use Young Person Railcard for discount.
10. Lidl
Lidl is Germany’s supermarket in Farnham, which provides the lowest possible prices. The qualities of products are not very good so we are not recommended to buy fresh foods. By the way, it is great if you buy daily necessaries. You can get the best price from here.
JIALI YAO COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: CHINA LANGUAGE SPOKEN: CHINESE PREVIOUS: BA GRAPHIC DESIGN PROGESSING TO: MA GRAPHIC DESIGN
we visited the Brighton museum and art gallery, quarter and located in the Royal Pavilion gar-
Our second trip was to the London Tate Modern -
My name is Cally and I am from China. I was a senior student in one of the most famous art majored in BA Graphic Design. I came to UCA Pre-sessional English course this summer. Now, I would like to talk about the trip to Brighton and about the London Tate Modern Museum.
the table in the gateway that can help them get
se is a giant of modern art. In his late 60s, when he began to cut into paper with scissors to make
We also went to the Brighton Pier which really is a leisure amusement kingdom. People can also swim and play water games at the beach. What is more, there is an amusement park in the pier. People can play rides and eat delicious food there.
invented a new medium. We can also buy some souvenirs at the art shop. In the period of the PSEAD course, we got the is very meaningful to our further study in the future.
YUANYUAN ZHOU COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: CHINA LANGUAGE SPOKEN: CHINESE PREVIOUS: BA GRAPHIC DESIGN PROGESSING TO: MA GRAPHIC DESIGN
In the PSEAD course, one of the biggest problems is the interpersonal relationships. We all arrived at UCA which is a new environment. We all come from different countries and speak different languages so we must communicate with English which is very difficult for us because our English is not very good. At the beginning, we were all strangers to each others, so getting along together was very embarrassing. We did not know how to deal with interpersonal relationships. Party is a good way to meet each other and get to know everyone. At first, we had a small party with our roommates. Later, parties became bigger and all the PSEAD course’s students partied together. Each one of us had to prepare a special dish from our own country; we had dishes from China, Ta i w a n , Thailand, Japan and S o u t h Korea. We gathered
in a dormitory, with music and interesting games while we were enjoying food from different countries. Then we began to exchange our Facebook accounts and telephone numbers. Soon, we become familiar to each other and we started to feel that the language barrier was not a problem for us anymore. Everyone loved the party. It brought us loads of fun in the PSEAD course, it made our boring students lifes wonderful. We met a lot of new friends from different countries. At the beginning，we all felt that the PSEAD course goal was not only to help us with the main course we are going to study, but also to help us to adapt faster to the students life in the UK.
YULING FENG COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: CHINA LANGUAGE SPOKEN: CHINESE PREVIOUS: GRAPHIC DESIGN PROGESSING TO: GRAPHIC DESIGN
Background Nowadays, more and more students choose to study in the UK, and increasingly, they choose to study art at the UCA. I was one of them. However, the English level and the ability to adapt to the learning context of these students are different. Therefore, UCA opened a Pre-sessional English course for Art and Design to help student tackle this situation. The PSEAD course supports English language development and prepares students for their main course. It can help them to improve vocabulary and academic English skills.
Critical Thinking First of all, you have to learn to use critical thinking. Critical thinking is the study of clear and unclear thinking. It is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conception, applying, analyzing, and evaluating information. Because everything has a good side and bad side, i.e. a positive side and a negative side. Independent Study Secondly, we have to learn about independent study which is a very important ability to enhance self-learning, because there is not a fixed way of education. This allows us to better express our own learning ability and permits us to have more creativity. On reflection, the experience from independent learning makes me realize that education does not need to stop when the student leaves the class. Academic Writing The academic writing is one of the major subjects in the PSEAD course. ‘Academic writing is a social practice, and you always write with a purpose: to explain, to persuade etc.’ It is very good to try your best to be skillful on academic writing. The main reason is that in MA courses in the UK we need to write a lot of academic essays, and they are very different from the Chinese essays. In my opinion, if you want to write a good essay, it is important and helpful to implement a well structured planning.As a consequence, we do not have to be afraid of
STUDY LIFE 1
writing academic writings, we must learn to adapt to it.
YANQIN YU COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: CHINA LANGUAGE SPOKEN: CHINESE PREVIOUS: SENIOR MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGESSING TO: BA GRAPHIC DESIGN
Group work In the course group, we got a happy teamwork experience. In the beginning, we were all confused about the topic of the project, what we wanted to do, what we needed to do, and what we could do in just one week. Gradually, every-
Study Life 2
our best, and be responsible. They recognized for one person, so we need to show many ideas of ourselves, and to listen to other people’s ideas. Learning from other people and trusting your teammates try your best. Finally, we
Mind mapping Mind mapping is a diagram used concept, drawn as an image in the center of a blank landscape page, which associated repmind mapping can help us diversify thinking, record our design process and the results. process and the results.
ty to increase everyone’s speaking ability of a
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CHUNG NAN TSAI COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: TAIWAN LANGUAGE SPOKEN: CHINESE PREVIOUS: M.S. OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN PROGESSING TO: MA DESIGN INNOVATION& BRAND MANAGEMENT
Before I went to the UK to study my postgraduate studies, I took a masters 10 years ago and worked as a product designer for 8 years. Below, the reasons why I decided to further study abroad can be read. Firstly, I would like to gear
direct way to do that is learning English. Secondly, UK is my favorite country. That is why I chose and Brand Management” as my weeks Pre-sessional English course to improve my English before I start my next studies.
Learning how to study independently, broad visions and develop knowledge.
with my main course in September. We learned not only English skills from books, but tutors also provided
Among all, the PSEAD course encouraged me to have very clear future. Therefore, I will use this year well to learn as much as
lectures about technology, entertainment and design.
in the future. of interest, and learn from it. Also, “Lynda.com” is an online video tutorials and training website for us to where we can watch free live online classes taught by the world’s top instructors as well as learn photography, design, and business among others. We can get a lot here. “Business Insider” is a website which talks about business and technology news. We can follow the newest events here. Through these resources, we can start learning how to study independently, broader our minds and develop our knowledge. They can really help me improve my main course in the future.
MENGYUN GAO COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: CHINA LANGUAGE SPOKEN: CHINESE PREVIOUS: BA PROGESSING TO: MA DESIGN INNOVATION& BRAND MANAGEMENT
Brand Logo And The usefulness of learning resources Through this 10 weeks PSEAD course, my tutor provided me with many useful websites such as Metro, TED, Prezi, All of these websites are learning Chasejarvis. These websites will be very resources, they can help us do useful to my MA main course. By using independent study very well. Through Metro, most importantly, I could practise this course, I have done a lot of the my abilities of my English reading skills. In ex p e r i m e n t , fo r exa m p l e , I h av e Metro, there are many short articles that a problem with my writing skills, improve my speed of reading and can let vocabulary and essay topic, I told my us understand the current events. tutor in tutorials and he give me an extract homework to read the article in Besides, tutors introduced me a webMetro, and do some summarize from based zooming presentation software many short article. Through it, I also called Prezi. The visual whiteboard that have learned many interesting news and help me to explore and share ideas enhance my reading skills. I know this more eectively. Furthermore, my tutor additional assignments in order to make provides us many useful websites such as me improve my writing skills and add my designing websites and TED. By using TED, vocabulary. most importantly, we could practice our abilities of English regarding listening and presentation skills.
Simon
Lin
Soh
Kaiya
Cassie
Tao
Shawn
Zach
S I MO N
minutes to get from my dormitory to the classroom. This saves me almost an extra hour compared with the students who do not live on the campus.
China
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Chinese and English Computer Game Art
UCA CAMPUS
with the UCA Farnham campus. It is a fantastic environment for the students who want to study creative arts.
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hen I walk back to the centre of the campus, there are many buildings around me, the main colour is red, which gives me a kind of enthusiasm emotion to study. At the back of the campus there is a car park and the library just next to it.
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ampus is a very important part of each university, so it must be very special and attractive. The reason is because a campus is just like a cover page for a magazine. It brings an apparent emotion to students who consider to choose this university to study at. This is absolutely the case
hen I walk out there are two small courtyards, this is the centre of the campus. There are some trees in front of me. Through the trees there is a path that leads me out of the campus. There is a lovely lawn on the left that provides a spacious and quiet environment for students to chat.
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very single day when the sunshine covers my face, I wake up. It’s eight o’clock, it’s time to go out for a walk and breathe some fresh air, as I always do. I am living in a lovely dormitory on the university campus. I go downstairs, and think that fortunately I just need two
WENJIAN LIN China Chinese and English BA Illustration
I met. She gives everyone in the class a chance to speak, she makes everyone join in. Thanks to this, we are getting know each other, so I am very happy in Abrar’s class. After everyone arrives, Abrar starts today’s topic: “Public arts and official arts”. The class begins with a video which helps us understand the basic idea about these two kinds of art, to strengthen our knowledge about it, Abrar asks us to discuss after watching.
LECTURE
about some artist and the concept of art. am always surprised by the patience of our tutors, They think of many
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oday, we started class at 9:30, as usual. It’s Abrar’s class. Abrar always teaches us about a different artist at the beginning of the class.
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hen, Abrar helps us to explore what we are going to need on our main course, like the difference between reflective writing and essay writing. We have discussed the elements in both kinds of academic writing. It is worth mentioning that Abrar’s teaching method is different from other teachers
grammar, but it is a little bit different this time. Nikoleta gives us a sheet with a grammar test, the article in the test is
I After that, she makes everyone say a word that represents the two different arts. Class time always passes very quickly.
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he class finishes at 11:00, before Nikoleta’s class begins we have a 30 minutes time. Nikaoleta is a teacher who teaches us basic grammar and how to use various resources on the school internet. Today we are also learning
different ways to improve our language skills and connect it with art. Thanks to that, studying on the PSEAD is more interesting and valuable.
SOH KHANTAROS Thailand Thai language and English BA Visual Communication Design MA Illustration
‘Film has provided a visual alternative and infinite imagination’ ‘Cinema is my life’ could say that because I really love watching films. Films are my old friends. I said that because when I was in my Thailand, I always used to go to the cinema every week, some weeks not just once. In my leisure time I collect the films that I like as well.
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uckily, when I started the presessional course in UCA and the timetable showed that we have cinema afternoon. In the class, I felt I was strongly interested in substance; which is not boring at all. In my opinion art and design can begins with a desire to understand human,
Cinema Afternoon characteristic, history, and sensation. There are many source materials to reflect on the meaning in the films. For some time film has provided a visual alternative and infinite imagination.
extremely affect to art student like me. I have been lucky that UCA offers an opportunity for me to look at films in the class that I never expected. I believe that, films offer a rich medium for refection on people in the natural way. This is meant we can proof our critical thinking and comprehension.
esearching films before the screenings is the most important part to gain an in-depth look on the essential concepts of the films. That
course, I feel I learnt a lot, especially from the cinema class. I realise that this will help me to succeed in my main course in the future and stay the motivated, inspiration, sensation, and intellectual relaxation with the story in the films and transfer to my artworks.
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My experience in the pre-sessional
CHIA CHI KUO Taiwan Chinese and English BA Public Managment MA Illustration
‘Not to be afraid of making mistake, and be proud of who you are.’
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ast month, I joined the UCA 5 weeks pre-sessional English course of Art and Design, to help me improve my command of English. It made my UK life start with a wonderful adventure. First of all, it made me get used to speaking, listening, reading and writing English. It was a whole new attempt
for me because I did not need to use English all the time in the past. This course helped me get accustomed to using English. Due to the fact that we are all international students from different countries, English was the common language we had.
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fter we finished our classes, the life around my camps was interesting too. For example, my classmates and I cooked together almost everyday. The accommodation offered a nice kitchen. Actually, I did not know how to cook before. But working with other students made me willing to try new things. We had to buy daily necessities using English. The food I made receive some positive responses from my friends. It made me have confidence in my daily life. This environment pushed me to use English all the time.
Cooking Afternoon
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he extensive use of English brought lots of advantages to me. It also helped me gain confidence for my main course because communication skills are very important for an illustrator. The most important things I learned from these learning practice was not to be afraid of making mistake, and be proud of who you are, I think it is a key point, whether learning a language or being an artist and creator.
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uring studying here, I had a great experience on the pre-sessional English course. The skills I was taught in the class were very helpful. Also, this course helped me adapt to life in the UK. Therefore I am glad I learned these things on the PSEAD course.
SAI WANG
life in Farnham. ‘Supermarkets’ play important role in our daily life. We go to Waiterose, Sainsburys and Lidl with our roommates together after class.
China Chinese and English BA Interior Design
MA Innovation Design and Brand Managment
LIVING IN FARHAM
‘Farnham is a fantastic and natural place.’
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ur ten weeks Pre-sessional English for Art and Design course will come to an end in only one week. Through this course, I learned a lot of new English skills and experienced noticeable difference of education system between UK and my country. I think it will be very useful to communicate with local people and live in the UK.
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oing to supermarkets is like a treasure hunt. We would like to take a lot of time to look around and look for some delicious food or discount products.
tudying is every sutdent’s main task. In addition, we also have a colorful
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ecause we come from different countries, and have different food and cooking culture, we always want to try some new food and cook it by our own way, although sometimes a dish tastes not good. For me, I very much enjoy a process of cooking, and that is another way to get away from the stresses of study.
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altings market is a wonderful event that is opened on first
Saturday every month.
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f you love vintage things, I really recommend it. Because in here, you can explore some retro and fantastic items which are special and unique. You will be never worried about get the same thing with another person.
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omparing with big city, Farnham is a fantastic and natural place for studying and living. Although there is not too many shops and clubs for recreation, you will see beautiful views. It is a lovely experience that you cannot get in another place. You can enjoy a beautiful sunshine in Farnham park and discuss a topic with your group, read a book or chat with your friends.
TAO JU
“We can acquire some China
inspirations in trip that
Chinese and English
we can try kind of mate-
BA Interactive Media
rials and styles in work to
MA Illustration
enjoy the world of art.�
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n the professional language course, we have four trips in different tourist attractions such as Oxford, London and Brighton. We went to these places to visit different and characteristic museums that give us many inspirations. Also these places have some traditional culture symbols and local lanes. When we hang out in this beautiful street, we can feel the unique and different cultures. So we draw some interesting paintings in our sketchbook to record these moments.
he Brighton gave me make a profound impression because this is coastal city in UK and there are many interesting and fancy graffito. It make think about a British artist called Banksy. He usually gets through the street art to show his mood and dissatisfaction to the society. I think this trip is important for me, maybe I can use this element of the graffito in my artwork so I draw this patterns in my sketchbook and take some photos.
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icasso and I find my favorite illustrations with black and white color and simple lines that I acquire a new form of expression in this museum, I want to try to translate the style in my painting into the main course.
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verall trip is very important link that we can find out unexpected harvest and different information. In addition, we can improve communication skill with other people and have more experiences in trip.
the best time to trip
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he last trip, we went to the Tate modern museum, which show some contemporary artworks in there. And I see some paintings by
SHAWN CHANG Taiwan Chinese and English BA Media Design MA Illustration
Entertainment
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ne of the important parts of the pre-sessional course is about the entertainment which is built into the trips, exercises, films, socials, shopping and other things that can make you relaxed and pleased. Entertainment life can refresh people’s personalities and broaden their experiences. Focus on the PSEAD course, I learned things with a creative way, such as treasure hunt, welcome event and cinema course.
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fter we arrived UCA and settle down everything in the first week, treasure hunt, which is one of brilliant courses was showed up. We got treasure maps and missions to discover some bars, restaurants and parks, and have aims to record. Besides knowing Farnham more, I think we practiced communicating to each other and tried to solve the problem in this process. In the end of treasure hunt, we arrived into a bar named The William Cobbett. And then, we have a wonderful time in the bar that we drank some beers and reviewed everyone’s difficulties in this
event. After 5 weeks, we were ready to greet the new students here. So the welcome event was hold for new coursemates’ coming with a feast. Students socialised, exchanged ideas and their experiences.. We spent the whole afternoon making new friends. Friends are key
points in a learning life because people they inspire each other with cooperation. Another aspect of the course, the cinema afternoon research was an interesting way to be absorbed by students as well. Watching a film is a perfect form of teaching language. I think imitation is the key point of the way of learning because people learned things through our eyes and ears. Film is mixedㄇㄒ with sounds and images so we memorize them after our organs received resourc-
e s . Even cinema sessions is a kind of entertainment but it could be a perfect way of learning.
“If you mix two or three or more kind of life, you are the one. Be One, be unique one.”
week you will not feel uncomfortable speaking English anymore!( ´ V ` )/ And also because of that. we will think about how to speak right grammar and right sentences all the time!
ZACH WANG China Chinese, English BA Computer Game Art
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fter a tired busy day, we finally can set down and cook a cute dinner for us and enjoy! We all come from different nationalities, because of that we always teach each other how to cook food from our countries. Onigiri and Ginshari are what I learned from my Japanese friends, they are cute aren’t they?
s you can see, we just can speak English all the time (actually I do understand a little bit of Japanese _(:3)L)_!), so we obviously improve our English skills every second!
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uring dinner time, we chat about our culture, clothes and food, it always is the happiest time of a day and it also is the best time to get to know each other better! Maybe a song, a film or any other topic can be touched upon. After a few days or a
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fter dinner, we always have a little cup of tea at downstairs, porter lodge where we can meet other guys in other accommodations and chat together! Actually, we always can notice that what the homework today and what I have not done yet from each other...ô. ô... If you have any question about your work, go there, you will always find your answer! What a nice evening!