A final overview

If in doubt, you should always go for number three,

As no other number of concentric circles you will ever see.

As Burton and Speke made their way to the hidden source

We discovered Bhutan in the early stages of the course.

You may tell incredible stories until you have a sore throat

But you won't be remembered for that if you've fucked a goat.

Unbelievable as it may seem I swear it is truth,

Not until maturity did we learn how to read a book.

November brought paradigms, what an intriguing word!

In no fewer than five ways it will make your mind work.

We took advantage of the Thai chi class to relax

After blog entries, phrasal verbs, and all that stuff.

Mandela would have rewarded us with a radiant beam

For having spent the whole Christmas reading about him.

When dealing with the law we came across Atticus Finch,

Feared by ruthless racists for never yielding an inch.

The poet, the job hunter, the chef, we played them all

And we were even encouraged to support an NGO.

Had Philip the Second attended the C1,

His brain would have developed new ruts.

Neuroplasticity would have helped to avert

Our greatest failure, the triumph of Good Queen Beth.

To end with, there's one last thing I wouldn't like to omit,

Which is the passion and devotion that you transmit.

Thank you.

The C1 experience

An intense year, this is the idea that prevails when trying to assess the academic course that is about to conclude. Intensity may involve, and actually does involve both positive and negative aspects; obviously, intensity requires commitment, and keeping one's nose to the grindstone is not the best recipe for a harmonious family life. However, hard work and personal improvement go hand in hand, somehow being compensated the increased levels of stress with a more than gratifying feeling of realisation.

As for the methodology followed during the course, as far as I am concerned, it has been remarkably enriching, aiming at personal development as well as linguistic improvement, that is, not restricting the process to a mere utilitarian approach but widening the scope to a holistic development. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't mind at all (as an obvious example of understatement) getting involved in such a process on a permanent basis, although I would slow down the pace just a little bit and I would also do away with those artificial and annoying tests if it was up to me.

True enough, there is an incongruity between the dynamics of the course and the assessment. A more specific approach would have dealt just with certain topics and related vocabulary, grammar structures and test-oriented exercises, which would have prepared us more specifically for the exam, but we would also have lost a lot in the way. Thus, by no means would I have preferred an approach that would have differed from the one we have actually followed.

I could go on providing details about how the topics brought up during the year have remarkably contributed to my own personal development, but unfortunately enough my time is limited, rather, I will just restate that I have been deeply and positively influenced during the course of the year by the C1 experience.