I will try to get my son Tom (conditional offer to Homerton) to post and get to know you all before October but at the moment we are not even allowed to even say the words Cambridge as he thinks it will jinx it !!!
I will try to get my son Tom (conditional offer to Homerton) to post and get to know you all before October but at the moment we are not even allowed to even say the words Cambridge as he thinks it will jinx it !!!
Is the conditions of his offer very high? I'll be rooting for him!
Is anyone else having real trouble getting hold of the books on the reading list? I want to read as many as possible, but I can only find half a dozen for a price that doesn't make me wince on Amazon. Anyone know any better sites to look? Or is it better to ask a bookshop to order them in for you?
Maybe we should start an ASNAC book-swap.
ETA: And how far are people sticking to the exact translations the list gives? Quite often I've gone for a positively ancient translation, just because it's free on Project Gutenberg.
Is anyone else having real trouble getting hold of the books on the reading list? I want to read as many as possible, but I can only find half a dozen for a price that doesn't make me wince on Amazon. Anyone know any better sites to look? Or is it better to ask a bookshop to order them in for you?
Maybe we should start an ASNAC book-swap.
ETA: And how far are people sticking to the exact translations the list gives? Quite often I've gone for a positively ancient translation, just because it's free on Project Gutenberg.
I've only ordered three of the books so far and I've checked up an additional 5 on the Swedish web-based book shop that's most convenient but they definitely don't have all the books on the list. I don't think I'll be able to acquire all the books until I actually get to Cambridge, actually. P: But I'm reasoning that if I buy a couple a month instead of all at once the prices won't seem as daunting. xP
I've only ordered three of the books so far and I've checked up an additional 5 on the Swedish web-based book shop that's most convenient but they definitely don't have all the books on the list. I don't think I'll be able to acquire all the books until I actually get to Cambridge, actually. P: But I'm reasoning that if I buy a couple a month instead of all at once the prices won't seem as daunting. xP
My local library was very good, I just failed to take of advantage of it while it was available. Woe is me. But I did just find The Poems of Daffyd ap Gwilym for £0.01 plus shipping, which I am very happy about. I may also have bought the Seamus Heaney translation of Beowulf because I like the cover. (And the translation. But mainly the cover.) Well, at least it has the Anglo-Saxon text as well so it might come in handy next year...
I wonder if you can borrow books from the Cambridge libraries through inter-library loan? If you can, my two months in England before term starts are going to be awesome.
My local library was very good, I just failed to take of advantage of it while it was available. Woe is me. But I did just find The Poems of Daffyd ap Gwilym for £0.01 plus shipping, which I am very happy about. I may also have bought the Seamus Heaney translation of Beowulf because I like the cover. (And the translation. But mainly the cover.) Well, at least it has the Anglo-Saxon text as well so it might come in handy next year...
I wonder if you can borrow books from the Cambridge libraries through inter-library loan? If you can, my two months in England before term starts are going to be awesome.
Well, that's how it goes usually. You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.
Where in England are you from/will you be staying until term starts?
I normally live in Woking, don't know if you'll have heard of it - our claims to fame are HG Wells and being near London.
Whereabouts in Sweden are you?
Well, I've heard of it, but not (yet?) visited or been in that area much! When I'm in England I usually visit my uncle and cousins in Royston, which is about 20 minutes from Cambridge.
I live about 30 minutes by car north of Stockholm. Well, it might be considered a suburb of Stockholm in a couple of years cause our capital is growing a bit too fast for its own good.
Well, I've heard of it, but not (yet?) visited or been in that area much! When I'm in England I usually visit my uncle and cousins in Royston, which is about 20 minutes from Cambridge.
I live about 30 minutes by car north of Stockholm. Well, it might be considered a suburb of Stockholm in a couple of years cause our capital is growing a bit too fast for its own good.
Heh, if I'd ended up going for the Swedish au pair job instead of the Icelandic one, I'd've been in Stockholm! Awesome.
Oh! Where did that family live? (Iceland is way cooler though, honestly) Stockholm is an extremely beautiful city, even though I might be biased.
Sorry, I don't know anywhere more specific than 'Stockholm'. Which is, in fairness, more than I knew about where I'd be in Iceland until I arrived - all my info said was 'near Reykjavik'. o_0
Sorry, I don't know anywhere more specific than 'Stockholm'. Which is, in fairness, more than I knew about where I'd be in Iceland until I arrived - all my info said was 'near Reykjavik'. o_0
Ah, okey. :P Well it's not impossible that they lived in Stockholm I guess. I just figured it was a high possibility that a family that can afford/is interested in an au pair lives somewhere near my area cause a lot of rich people live in the areas north of Stockholm. :P We have a stately subsidised child care-system after all.
I'm currently studying ASNaC at St Caths (Or Catz as we fondly call it). If you have any questions, fire away; I'd be pleased to answer them!
Also, a specific hello to CSG who I believe has an offer from Catz? It's perfectly possible that I'll be your College mum in the future!
Oh, hello! I do have an offer from Catz! And as far as I know an unconditional one, so do consider yourself my guardian and mentor! *bows*
And I do have a question, actually! I read on the alternative prospectus site that the Palaeography paper "is a bit of a mess". Is that still true? Cause it sounds like such an awesome course but I'm struggling to choose between Insular Latin and Palaeography cause I want to take 7 papers. D:
I do Paleography and I think it's great, although it is slightly disjointed because all the lecturers for every subject join in to do at least one lecture each. In that way it is quite jumpy... But I'd still recommend it. I don't do Latin but I wish I did because it would have been really useful for the subjects I'm doing. Which modules are you thinking of?
Oh, and I forgot to way but it is possible to attend all the lectures you want for the first few weeks, to help you make up your mind. I didn't do that because I was pretty set on the modules I wanted to do, but several of my friends did it and thought it was a brilliant idea because it helped them narrow down their choices. Also, be prepared to change your mind after the induction course; I went from a pretty strong Germaniscist to en immensely strong Celticist in about 2 hours.
I do Paleography and I think it's great, although it is slightly disjointed because all the lecturers for every subject join in to do at least one lecture each. In that way it is quite jumpy... But I'd still recommend it. I don't do Latin but I wish I did because it would have been really useful for the subjects I'm doing. Which modules are you thinking of?
Well I'm most definitely a Celticist, one of the strongest reasons for applying in the first place was for the Celtic part of the tripos, so I'm definitely going to choose the Medieval Irish- and Gaelic-speaking peoples- papers. And Dr Dance was one of my interviewers and he seems very nice and his office was so cosy which has definitely helped me decide I want to take the England before the Norman Conquest and the Old English language-papers. But being Swedish I can't really miss the opportunity to take Old Norse and experience first hand how my native tongue has developed. Which only leaves one place left, but I really want to take up Latin again (read it for a year in the Swedish equivalent of sixth form) but at the same time I can't quite get over how awesome Palaeography sounds. I'm not sure how I'll cope with 4 different languages simultaneously, though.
Oh, and I forgot to way but it is possible to attend all the lectures you want for the first few weeks, to help you make up your mind. I didn't do that because I was pretty set on the modules I wanted to do, but several of my friends did it and thought it was a brilliant idea because it helped them narrow down their choices. Also, be prepared to change your mind after the induction course; I went from a pretty strong Germaniscist to en immensely strong Celticist in about 2 hours.
Oh, okey, I didn't know you could do that! That sounds like a great idea for making one's mind up!
And oh, how long did it take before UCAS Track updated for you last year? I feel like I won't relax entirely until it's up there as well.