Be punctual on your summer course
Lots of international students will be starting Pre-sessional English courses over the next few weeks and about this time of year I always point students to my article about Surviving your summer course.
Your Pre-sessional course is really important because it gives you a chance to get used to being at university before the pressure of the real university term begins.
Start as you mean to go on!
This means that you should be adopting good study habits right from the beginning of your time at university.
Saying ‘I’ll work later on when it is important’ doesn’t work!
A friend of mine (who is a brilliant teacher by the way) recently told me that it would be far easier just to give students marks depending on when they turned up at the beginning of the academic year. If they turn up early, give them high marks, if they turn up on time, give them average marks, and if they turn up late then give them low marks.
He told me that if he marked his students like this then he would be right most of the time!
Do students get low marks because they are late and they miss things? Or do they miss things because they are poor students?
Well either way, get to your university as early as you can in the academic year to settle in and then get to class and lectures early so you get a good seat and don’t miss anything once term starts.
Read Surviving your summer course for some advice on how to get the most out of your Pre-sessional English language course. Good luck!