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University Life - Meeting New Students

"Where are you from?" "What high school did you attend?" "What are you going to major in?" "What are you majoring in?" "How many credits are you taking this semester?" "What classes are you taking?" "What year are you?" "What is an easy class to take?" "Where is the best place to hang out?" "Are you in the dormitory?" "Where do you live?" "Why did you decide to come to this school?" "What made you choose Berkeley?" Many of the answer to these questions are general things you should already know. But it never hurts to review again, so let's go over how we can answer some of these questions. "Where are you from?" "I'm from Seattle, Washington." "I'm an exchange student from Seoul, Korea." "I'm from Dublin, Ohio." "I'm from Southern California."

University Life - Questions and Answers

"What high school did you attend?" Before we answer this question, keep in mind that a foreigner will not be asked this question. Usually they will not ask a foreigner because they think that they will not know the high school you mention. But it is still good to know how to say such things. "I went to Lynnwood High." "Lynnwood High" "I went to a high school in San Francisco." "A high school in Olympia." "What are you going to major in?" "I haven't decided, but I'm leaning towards biology." "I'm thinking about majoring in psychology." Universities in the States are a little different than others. You don't choose your major until you are in your 3rd year. Basically, you apply to get into a major your junior year and if accepted, you have a major. If you get turned down, you have to find a different major, or spend another semester or year trying to get in. That's why you see so many people not graduate after 4 years. The problem is that they do not know what to major in. "How many credits are you taking?"

"I'm taking eighteen credits this quarter." "I'm only taking 10 credits this semester." "I'm taking 20 credits this semester." "What classes are you taking?" "I'm taking chemistry 135, math 231, and English 101." "This quarter I'm taking Intro to Sociology, Basics of Music Composition, and Spanish 101." "What year are you?" "I'm a junior." "I'm a freshman." "I'm a fourth year junior." "I'm a fifth year senior." If you wonder how you can be a fourth year junior or a fifth year senior, you must understand that the number of credits you have completed represents what level you are. So a fourth year junior is someone who has been in school for four years, but has the same credits as a junior.

University Life - More Q and As

"What is an easy class to take?" "Fishing 101 is an easy 4.0" "I thought psychology 101 was an easy class." "Communication is pretty easy if you're not afraid to make speeches." "Where is the best place to hang out?" "The best place to hang out is on the Ave." "Currently, the bar on 4th and James is the best hangout. Everyone goes there on the weekends." "Are you in the dormitory?" "Yeah. I'm over at Terry Hall." "Yes. At Buchanan Towers." "No. I'm commuting from home." "I have an apartment right next to school." "Where do you live?" "You know the McDonalds on the south side? Just 2 blocks from there." "I live next to the west entrance. There are some apartments behind the dormitories." "I live in the dormitory." "I live in Seattle." "Why did you decide to come to this school?" "It was the most convenient." "It was either this school or the University next to my home. I wanted to get away from home, so I came here." "I researched a bit, and found that this school offers exactly what I am looking for." "This is the best school that I could afford." "Do you know where the music building is?" "The music building is 2 buildings away from the library." "Over by the fountain. It's the building with the round looking doors." "I'm not sure. There are maps in the Student Union Building though." "I think it's over in that direction, but not exactly sure." "Where is the student union building?" "Ah, that's what I'm looking for too." "I was told it was right next to the east parking lot." "It's the brick building behind the large oak tree."

University Classes
In this lesson, we are going to learn about the terminologies you need to know when you talk about classes with your peers. There are several sections I will break this up into: Registering for classes Grades in class Professors and different curriculum Dropping out/Withdrawal First, let's talk about registering for classes. Questions "Did you register yet?" "When do you register for classes?" "When does registration start for next semester?" "How do you register for classes?" "Where is the registration office?" "What classes are you registering for?" "What classes are you going to take?" "What classes do you want to take?" Ways to answer these questions "I haven't registered yet." "I register next Tuesday." "Registration starts 4 weeks before the next semester." "You register on-line. Go to the website, and click on register." "The registration office is in Schmidt Hall. That's right across the street from the statue." "I'm not worried about getting into psychology 101, but I think the physics class will be full by the time I register." "If all things go well, I plan on registering for English composition, chemistry, and calculus." "I really want to take computer programming, but I'll have to see if it is full or not." Regular comments about registering "I hate registering for classes. All the classes I want to take are always full." "Being a sophomore sucks because we register last." "Seniors have the first pick so registering is easy for them." "If I get all the classes I want to take, I'll be so happy." "Registration was great this time. I got all the classes I wanted." "Registering for classes is such a big headache."

"What did you get in English?" If you are talking about the subject, you do not need to say grade. But if not, you can ask, "What grade did you get in English?" "I can't believe I got a 3.1 in biology. What did you get?" "How was your GPA this semester?" GPA stands for Grade Point Average. "How were your grades this quarter?" "Did you do well this semester?" "Did you screw up your grades this semester?" "What was the lowest grade you ever got?" "What is your overall GPA?"

"How are your grades?" "What's your accum?" This is short for accumulated. This is asking what your overall GPA is. I'll give examples for both specific and general answers. "In English, I got a B+." "I got a 2.9 in English." "I did similar to you." "I got a 3.4 this semester." "If I didn't get the C+ in Biology, my GPA would have been awesome this semester." "My grades were ok." "I did average this quarter." "My accum is 3.6 right now. I really want to get over 3.75." "My overall GPA is 2.94. I need to get a 3.4 next semester to bring my GPA above 3.0." "My GPA sucks." "I did pretty good this semester." Although grammatically this is incorrect, spoken English allows such errors. If you want to be grammatically perfect, you will need to say, "I did pretty well this semester."

University Classes - Professors and Curriculum

"How is Professor Johnson?" "Is Professor Smith an easy grader?" "What is Professor Lee like?" "Would you take another class from Professor Jackson again?" "How many exams did you have to take in Sociology 121?" "What's the curriculum for Chemistry 101?" "Do you have to give any presentations in journalism class?" "What do you do in poetry class?" If somebody asks you these types of questions, you can answer like the following: "Professor Johnson is so uptight. He's always lecturing and never allows students to ask any questions." "Professor Johnson is a brilliant professor. I learned so much from him." "No way. He is such a hard grader. I was expecting a 3.7, but it turns out that I got a 3.1. Can you believe that?" "His grading system is messed up. He grades according to how much he likes you." "He's a difficult grader." "He's an easy grader." "So far, I have taken 2 classes from Professor Jackson. I'm going to take every class he offers." "I wouldn't recommend Professor Jackson. His classes are so boring." "He's an idiot. He doesn't know anything." "There were just two exams... the midterm and the final." "There is an exam ever other week. It was hard, but at least it prevented me from cramming." "The curriculum is pretty basic. We have two days of lecture, two days of lab, and one day of discussions. Every now and then we have a quiz, but it's pretty routine." "In journalism, we have to give a presentation 3 times during the course. I didn't mind it, but a lot of other students were complaining." "We had two presentations, but they were pretty easy. It was the writing that was hard."

University Classes - Dropping Out / Withdrawal

There are two ways to leave a class. You either drop out, or you withdrawal. Dropping out usually means you are going to get a failing grade and you don't care about it. But primarily, dropping out refers to leaving college life altogether. So if you intend to say that you dropped out of a class, you should use withdrawal. There are several time periods for withdrawal. The first week, there is no penalty. The second week up to the first month, a W will show up on your transcript. And finally, withdrawal after the half way point will give you a failing grade. But this is dependent on each school policy. So learn the withdrawal format of your school. I was using the dates mentioned above only as an example. Let's learn some sentences to say these kinds of things. "I dropped out of my chemistry class." "I withdrew from my biology class." "I had too many classes as it is, so I dropped out of my statistics class." "I couldn't keep up with the schedule, so I dropped out of that class." "I couldn't understand the material, so I withdrew." "I hated the professor, so I just withdrew." If you need to ask questions about withdrawal, these may help: "When is the last day to withdrawal?" "If I withdrawal now, will it show up on my transcript?" "Does a withdrawal look bad on the transcript?" "How do I drop out of a class that I don't want to take anymore?" "What is the procedure to withdrawal from class?" "How do I withdrawal from a certain class?" Other things you might want to say when discussing this topic... "Are you sure you want to drop out of that class. You only have 4 more weeks. At least you can get the credit." "If I stay in that class, I'm going to screw up my GPA." "The best I can do is a C in this class. I don't want a C on my transcript. I'm going to withdrawal from the class." "If you get a bad grade, can't you just re-take the course?" "Even if I retake the course, both grades are used. This school has a different system where re-taking the course doesn't really help."

1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey John, did you register for classes yet?" B: "I register this Friday." A: "What classes do you plan on taking?" B: "I really want to take the communication class, but I don't know if it will be available." A: "Is that class really that popular?" B: "Yeah. I tried to get in last semester, but it was full by the time I registered." A: "What other classes are you going to take?" B: "I still need to take English 201, but I really don't like writing." A: "I took that class already. There is a lot of writing, but it's not that bad." B: "Oh really? Who was the instructor? There are like 4 different instructors to choose from." A: "I had Professor Mahoney." B: "Is he an easy grader?" A: "I'm not sure if he is or not, but I thought he was definitely fair." B: "Do you mind if I ask you what you got?" A: "Not at all. I got a 3.8."

B: "Well, what did you get in English 101 last year?" A: "I got a 4.0 in that class." B: "Well, I can't compare to you. I got a 3.1 in English 101. That means if you got a lower grade in English 201, it must be harder." A: "It's not what it appears. I actually tried harder in the 101 class. If I put as much effort into the 201 class, I would have received the same grade." B: "Oh. That helps. Thanks." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Mike. I forgot about registration. I'm a day late, so all the classes are mostly full. What do you think I should do?" B: "You're screwed. You can't do anything about that. You have to hope that you get some classes that will be useful." A: "Do you think going to the registration building will help at all." B: "No. They will tell you the same thing in a worse way." A: "Did you register yet?" B: "Of course. Registering for classes is not something you want to miss." A: "What classes do you think are still open?" B: "Well, I know psychology 101 is a big class, so there will always be seats in that class. You can also get into Sociology." A: "That's helpful. Thanks. But what do you think about philosophy. I wanted to take that class this semester." B: "I took that class last year. The professor is really cool, so if you go to his office, you can have him sign a card that will let you in even if the class is full." A: "He does that?" B: "I guess that's because so many people drop out of that class." A: "That makes sense. I think I'll do that. Thanks for all the help." B: "No problem man." 3 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Did you get your grades yet?" B: "Yeah. My whole GPA is screwed up now." A: "Why? What happened?" B: "Well, I bombed my econ final and ended up with a 1.7." A: "Ouch. You must be very disappointed." B: "Well, it's my fault because I didn't study as much as I should have." A: "Why don't you re-take the class next year?" B: "That's what I plan on doing unless I keep screwing up. How did you do this semester?" A: "I didn't do that well either. I ended up with a 3.2 this semester. That drops my total GPA to 3.45." B: "My GPA is pretty similar to yours. I have a 3.1 now because of the stupid econ class." A: "What was your GPA before this semester?" B: "I was sitting happy with a 3.4." A: "Why did it go down so much?" B: "Let's just say I screwed up more than my econ class." A: "What happened to you?" B: "I started playing StarCraft and ended up wasting a lot of time." A: "You better stop slacking off." B: "You're right. I'm not going to play games during school anymore." 4 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Did you ever take History 231?" B: "Yeah. Last semester." A: "Who was the professor?" B: "It was Professor Johnson." A: "I have him this semester. What do you think about him?" B: "He's a terrible instructor and demands a lot, but fortunately, he's an easy grader." A: "What did you end up getting?" B: "I got an A-. Sounds good, but none of my test scores were that high, so I don't know how I got a decent grade." A: "That's probably because he grades on a curve." B: "Are you enjoying the class so far?"

A: "I hate it and I was about to withdrawal. But after hearing your experience, I think I will tough it out." B: "Yes. Definitely stay in the class. You will get a better grade than your test scores. He does that deliberately to make all the students study a lot." A: "Thanks for letting me know. I feel relieved now." 5 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hi Mark." B: "Oh, hi Stacy." A: "How was your summer vacation?" B: "I worked over the summer at a restaurant. Have to make tuition money right? What did you do?" A: "I took summer school. I withdrew from two of my classes last year so I wanted to make them up." B: "So are you officially a junior now?" A: "Yeah. And I have 5 credits to spare. I only needed to take 10 credits over the summer, but I took 15 because the price was the same." B: "That makes sense. So where is Nicole?" A: "She dropped out of school completely." B: "Really? Why?" A: "She worked at a startup company as an intern and since the business did well, they asked her if she wanted to work full time." B: "Wow. She's so lucky. She doesn't have a degree and she already has a job." A: "It sounds good now, but I'm traditional. I want the degree, so I wouldn't have accepted the offer." B: "Do you know how much they are paying her?" A: "I don't know. But I bet it must have been a good offer, or she wouldn't have accepted it."

Examinations
What is a school without examinations? They all have it. So, we will have to spend a session talking about exams. There are many types of tests and different terminologies. You can be taking an in-class test, or it could be a take-home final. It could be a multiple choice exam or an essay type format. In either case, we will cover it here. First, let's learn the different terminologies associated with testing. Examination Mid-term Finals Test Quiz Pop-quiz Exam Take-home final Research paper Final paper Report Essay Presentation Open-book test/final Common questions you can ask about exam format: "How many tests did you have to take in your Math class?" "What was the mid-term like?" "How much percentage is the mid-term towards the final grade?" "Do you have to write any papers in that class?" "How many pages did you have to write for your essays?" "Was the open-book exam hard?" "How difficult was the take-home final?"

"Was the final exam short answer questions, or was it multiple choice?" "Did you have any pop-quizzes in your geology class?" "How much time did you get to write your research paper?" "How often did you have a quiz?" "What day did you take your final?" "When did you take your final?" "Are you done with your mid-terms?" "When is finals week?" "The syllabus for the econ class says you have six exams. What were they like?" "How difficult is the mid-term for psychology 101?"

Examinations - Finding Information

Having a lot of information about tests can help prepare for exams. The next several questions are geared towards finding specific information. "Does Professor Giles use old exam questions for his tests?" "Can I borrow your old exams for Intermediate Accounting? I want to use the questions to test myself before the real exam." "Do you know anybody who took Physics 340? I want to know the types of questions that were asked on the final." "Do you think I need to study chapter 6 for the mid-term? It's so boring, and I can't seem to apply it anywhere." "What topics did the professor cover the most in the final exam?" "What were the long essay questions on?" "Do you remember the long essay questions you had on the final?" "I was thinking about buying the study supplement for the engineering class. Do you think it will help?" And of course, you may be required to answer these types of questions, so let's get into answering: "How many tests did you have to take in your Math class?" "We had a total of 4 tests in that math class." Or more simply, '4 tests.' Answering can be real easy. The reason I put full sentences is for your practice. But remember when you really answer, you are not required to put them in full sentences. I'll try to mix it up so you get a familiar feel answering both long and short ways. "What was the mid-term like?" "The mid-term was hard. If you read all the material, you will still have a hard time because the professor wrote up all the questions in a difficult way."

Examinations - General Information

The hardest types of questions to answer are the, 'What was it like' types, and the 'how was' types. The reason it is hard is because you have to explain in your own words the answer. It's not as simple as a number or a 'yes' or 'no.' "How much percentage is the mid-term towards the final grade?" "The instructor said it was twenty percent of our final grade." "Do you have to write any papers in that class?"

"No. We only had one mid-term and one final." "Yes. We had to write 2 essays for that class." "How many pages did you have to write for your essays?" "We had to write 5 pages for both essays." "Was the open-book exam hard?" "Most of the time, open-book exams are harder, but this one was really easy. All the questions were in the glossary so I found the answers quickly." "How difficult was the take-home final?" "It is easy that we have the material to look through, but it is very time consuming. I had to do an all-nighter just to finish." All-nighter means to stay up all night.

Examinations - More Information

"Was the final exam short answer questions, or was it multiple choice?" "It was multiple choice." "Neither. The exam had 2 long essay questions." "Did you have any pop-quizzes in your geology class?" "We had 3 pop-quizzes in that class. Luckily, only five percent counts toward the final grade." "Fortunately we didn't have any." "How much time did you get to write your research paper?" "We had two months to write the research paper." "How often did you have a quiz?" "Once a week." "What day did you take your final?" "I took the final last Monday." "I didn't take it yet. I take the final tomorrow." "The syllabus for the econ class says you have six exams. What were they like?" "It was pretty easy because they only covered 2 chapters. If you keep up, then you shouldn't have a hard time." "Does Professor Giles use old exam questions for his tests?" "He always creates new test questions so old ones will not help you." "Can I borrow your old exams for Intermediate Accounting? I want to use the questions to test myself before the real exam." "Sure, I have it in my dormitory. I'll bring them tomorrow." "He didn't return the exams, so I don't have them." "What were the long essay questions on?" "Both questions were on supply and demand. Make sure you know that stuff inside and out." "I was thinking about buying the study supplement for the engineering class. Do you think it will help?" "I highly recommend it. I didn't have it for the first exam, and I got a B-. But after I studied with the supplement, I aced the next test."

Roommate - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native.

1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hi. My name is Jack." B: "Hey Jack. I'm Seth." A: "It's nice to meet you." B: "Looks like we're going to be roommates." A: "Yeah." B: "So where are you from?" A: "I'm from Tacoma. How about you?" B: "I'm from Ontario." A: "In Canada?" B: "No. It's in California. It's a smaller city in southern California." A: "So what made you come here?" B: "I wanted to go to a different state." A: "I see. Hey, if you don't mind, I took this side of the room." B: "No problem. They look the same to me." A: "Are you a morning person or a night person." B: "I'm a night person." A: "That's great. So am I. I like to sleep in the morning." B: "That should work out well then." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hi. I'm Sara." B: "My name is Jessica. It's nice to meet you." A: "Yes. It's nice to meet you as well." B: "Have you been here long?" A: "I got here about an hour ago. Do you want me to show you around?" B: "Yeah. That would be great. The most important is the bathroom right?" A: "Definitely. But we have to share the bathroom with the whole floor. The break room is over there. The bathroom is right across from the break room, and finally, the RA (resident advisor) is in room 315." B: "I'm glad there is a TV in the break room. I like to watch TV." A: "Me too. So I brought one. I haven't unpacked it yet, but it's a little TV that works." B: "Cool. I brought a refrigerator. I like to store some snacks in there. Feel free to use it." A: "That would be perfect. I think we're going to have a great time." B: "Do you sleep pretty late, or are you a morning person." A: "I have never been either. I'm very flexible with sleeping times. Anyways, I'm a deep sleeper so a little noise never bothers me." B: "That's good to know. I'm usually a night person, but I'm very quiet if my roommate is sleeping." A: "As long as you don't blast the music while I'm sleeping, I should be fine. Did you eat lunch yet?" B: "No. Is there a cafeteria in the building?" A: "Yeah. I'll show you." 3

Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "I'm calling about the available room. Is it still available?" B: "Yes it is. Do you know where we're located?" A: "Yeah. I drove by this morning and I liked the location. What's the rent?" B: "It's $850 a month. So you would pay $425 a month plus half of the bills." A: "How big is the place?" B: "It's a two bedroom, one bath and roughly about 800 square feet." A: "Is the complex pretty quiet? Can you hear a lot of noise or anything like that?" B: "They have a strict policy in the apartment complex concerning noise level. So it stays very quiet after 10 PM." A: "Are you the only person who lives there now?" B: "Yeah. I'm only looking for one roommate." A: "Everything sounds good. Can we schedule a time to meet so I can look at the place?" B: "I'm available anytime today or tomorrow." A: "How about if I come over now?" B: "That works with me. But what is your name?" A: "Oh, my name is Brad." B: "Ok. I'm Randy. So I'll see you in a bit?" A: "Should only take about 15 minutes to get there." B: "Sounds good." 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey John. I didn't know you were coming to this school." B: "Yeah, what a coincidence. It's good to see you." A: "It's been a while hasn't it?" B: "What have you been up to?" A: "Not much. Just school and stuff." B: "Where are you going now?" A: "I'm going to the registration building to see if I can withdrawal from one of my classes." B: "Are you bombing the class or something?" A: "Partially that, but mostly it's a boring class and I am getting nothing out of it." B: "Where are you off to?" A: "I finished class for today so I am meeting my girlfriend to watch a movie?" B: "What are you watching?" A: "The Lord of the Rings. I haven't seen it yet. Have you?" B: "Yeah, I saw that about a month ago. It was really good." A: "Don't tell me anything about it. I don't want to ruin the surprise." B: "No problem. Hey, what are you doing this weekend?" A: "Nothing really. I was going to rent a video and just hang out at home." B: "My fraternity is going to have a party on Saturday night. Wanna come?" A: "Hey, that sounds like fun. What fraternity are you in?" B: "I'm over at the Delta Fraternity house." A: "Cool. Give me your number and I'll call you Saturday." B: "It's 206-555-1212." A: "Aright. I'll see you on Saturday." B: "See you later." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "You're Jason right?" B: "Yeah. Tom right?"

A: "Yeah. What's going on?" B: "Not much. Just hanging out. A bunch of guys are playing a game for shots." A: "You're not playing?" B: "I had enough to drink already." A: "I hear ya." B: "You in school or do you work?" A: "I work at a marketing company. How about you?" B: "I'm still in school. I have one more year left." A: "What are you majoring in?" B: "I'm majoring in computer science." A: "Where do you want to work?" B: "I would love to work at Microsoft. But it's pretty tough to get in." A: "So I hear. So you come to this club often?" B: "Every now and then. I usually hang out at Pioneer Square." A: "Yeah. That's a cool place. There are a ton of bars to hit in that area." B: "Are you here with Mike?" A: "No. Some of my work buddies. I haven't seen Mike in a while now. Do you know what he is up to?" B: "He's going to grad school." A: "What a surprise. I didn't know he was so studious." B: "Yeah. Surprised us all. Hey, I'm going to get another drink. You want one?" A: "It's aright. I still have to work on this one." B: "I'll catch you later." A: "Aright man." 3 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hi. My name is Robert." B: "I'm John. It's nice to meet you." A: "Do you know what this professor is like?" B: "I have no idea. This is my first year." A: "You a freshman? Me too. Where are you from?" B: "I'm from San Francisco." A: "I've been there a few times. It's a great city." B: "Where are you from?" A: "I grew up in this area all my life." B: "So you know where all the fun places to hang out right?" A: "Yeah. The best place is over by the water. They have a lot of clubs and bars." B: "I drove by that area before. I didn't know it was a college hang-out." A: "It gets pretty wild over there sometimes. You should go." B: "Sounds like a good idea. Do you know what you are majoring in yet?" A: "Not yet. I'm leaning towards business, but that's only if I can't get into computer science. How about you?" B: "I want to go to med school, so I'll probably end up majoring in biology." A: "That's cool." B: "Is the weather this bad all the time in the fall?" A: "Yap. This is a typical autumn. It gets worse though. At least it's not raining that much." B: "That sucks." A: "You'll get used to it. In the meantime, you'll have to watch a lot of movies. Seems like the only thing to do with the bad weather." B: "Too expensive. Can you believe how much movies cost these days?" A: "Yeah. It's crazy. It's like 9 bucks a movie. I remember when it was half that." B: "Unless it's a date, I'm not going to pay that much to watch a movie." A: "That makes sense." B: "Oh. The professor is coming. I'll talk to you later." A: "Aright."