What's so good about oxford and cambridge?

Well it was Edward Said who first made the criticisism and he was Palestinian (working in the US) but I don't think it was just limited to the US.

I think in this country it fell out of favour even quickly (being a former colonial power, still with a commonwealth, and being sensitive to these things. Apparently). Maybe it probably took longer to fall out of favour amongst the public.

Though I don't like the word personally (to me, it has no real meaning) I don't judge any academic or instiution that uses it.

The word oriental is deemed offensive in America but not Britain.

Not better than loughbough for student satisfacation, Boo yA!!!,, i use that to use what unis th best.. lougboug rules baby, i anna go there so much, heard such good things

oxfords alrite... not my scene...

lol like what?really cheap, laid back, lots of sport and lots of parties I assume?

So what does "Oriental" mean? How can it possibly do as a description of cultures and lands as varied as (what was or is) Persia, Egypt, Japan, China Abyssinia...?

Oh dear....

Don't underestimate him...

But seriously, I don't know why you're hating like that.

I think it's more than possible to become fluent in less than a year. I'm not exaggerating here; I became fluent in German in less than a month

I think it's more than possible to become fluent in less than a year. I'm not exaggerating here; I became fluent in German in less than a month, although my study was pretty much non-stop [well over 7 hours a day study].

would there be any major advantages in doing a PGCE in cambridge over doing one in a more 'normal' uni?

Yes, there are certainly some people for whom languages come a lot more easily than others. I recall the story of a man who learned Icelandic to fluency in a week as a challenge and was interviewed about it at the end of the week on Icelandic radio and/or television.

If thats the teaching qualification i would expect it would mean you can walk into the top private schools (they're not public damn it!).

haha come on he was a savante and absolutely amazing (is that how its spelled?).

Oxford and cambridge have students that work extremely hard (so i have been told), in every subject and sport. They never slack around etc. In my sixth form college you can clearly tell the difference between the hard workers and the people that take it easy. Therefore if everyone works hard, then automatically you will work hard (you will have a good environment) and hence hardwork leads to good grades and future. Other unis do contain extremely bright students however they also contain groups of less hard working/ easy going students.