You may participate/ Si quereis participar

Hii!,

If you want to participate in this blog you can write comments in the posts. All you've to do is clicking the post name and then write a comment at the bottom. It's easy if you have a google account.

You can also suggest improvements to this blog or whatever you want.

By the way I would like to announce that I'm thinking in creating a new section in this blog to publish articles of opinion.

I hope to see you soon in the blog!

/***************** Spanish version ***************/
Hola!

Si quereis participar en este blog podeis escribir comentarios en los posts. Todo lo que teneis que hacer es clickar sobre el nombre del post y escribir vuestro comentario en la caja que hay al final. Es fácil si teneis una cuenta de google.

También podeis sugerir mejoras (diseño, ...) para el blog o lo que querais.

Ya de paso querría anunciar que estoy pensando en crear una nueva sección en este blog para publicar artículos de opinión.

Hasta luego!

New tool/ Nueva herramienta

In my last post in Spanish I talked about my will to write a record of my experiences to remember them as I lived them. In order to do so I will use this blog from now on, not only to tell you the road to the university in UK and beyond but also to write down about other topics such as my travels, experiences and to store notes about my passion, aeronautics.

My new camera/Mi nueva camara

I also wrote that I was considering buying a new reflex camera DSLR to illustrate my posts with original and good quality photos. Finally I bought it. So, let me introduce you my new camera (which I’m trying hard to learn how it works xD). It’s a Canon 550D and I love it.

This type of cameras has a long learning curve since they’re able to manage a lot of parameters. Of course this can be as complex as you want it to be and some literature is a great help. If you’re interested in learning about making pictures with a DSLR let me advise you to visit Vampy’s blog which you can find under the “I follow these blogs:” tag in the right side of this page. (I’m afraid it is only in Spanish)

Today I went to park to test myself with the camera after having been reading a lot about the use of my Canon and here at the bottom you can see some results. 

I hope this will help to make this blog more attractive in the future. See you soon!!

/********************** Spanish version********************/

En el ultimo post estuve hablando sobre que quería escribir un registro de mis experiencias para recordarlas tal y como las viví. Para ello usaré a partir de ahora este blog, no solo para contaros acerca del tema de la universidad en UK. Además escribiré acerca de otras cosas como mis viajes, experiencias y también lo usaré para escribir notas sobre aeronáutica y otros temas.


También dije que estaba pensado en comprar una cámara reflex para ilustrar mis posts con fotos de buena calidad. Al fin la compré, así que dejad que os presente a mi nueva cámara (que estoy intentando aprender como funciona). Es una Canon 550D y me encanta.


Este tipo de cámaras tienen una larga curva de aprendizaje ya que son capaces de gestionar muchos parámetros. Por supuesto uno se puede complicar la vida tanto como quiera; leer algo de literatura sobre el tema es de gran ayuda. Si os interesa aprender acerca de cómo hacer buenas fotos con una DSLR dejad que os aconseje visitar el blog de Vampy que podéis encontrar siguiendo el enlace bajo la etiqueta "I follow these blogs" en la parte derecha de esta página.


Hoy he ido al parque para probarme con la cámara después de haber estado leyendo mucho sobre el uso de la Canon y aquí os adjunto un par de fotos de esta mañana.

Espero que esto ayude a hacer este blog más atractivo. Hasta luego!!

Documentar la vida

Últimamente estoy pensando en empezar a documentar las cosas que me van ocurriendo, las experiencias que voy teniendo y los lugares que voy visitando para tener un registro histórico al que poder hacer referencia cuando quiera recordar el pasado.

A menudo los recuerdos se distorsionan con el tiempo y al final uno no sabe muy bien lo que realmente ocurrió en cierta ocasión con exactitud. Por ejemplo la típica historia que alguien siempre saca en una cena de amigos; la historia teóricamente es la misma pero cada vez se cuenta distinto acorde a lo que recordamos. Un colega de submarinismo siempre contaba su encuentro con un mero, el problema es que cada vez que contaba la historia el mero era más grande.

En definitiva, estos motivos fueron la razón por la que creé el blog, para tener un recuerdo sin distorsionar de lo que estoy haciendo y de lo que haré para llegar ahí donde sea que acabe. No será solo un sitio para contar lo que me voy encontrando en todo esto proceso (que pueda servir de referencia a alguien), si no que además será una especie de registro objetivo para mi mismo.

De momento los temas que trato en el blog no son muy apasionantes que digamos ya que esta fase consta básicamente de burocracia varia, pero si todo va bien espero que todo esto vaya cambiando y llegue lo bueno.

Para documentar mejor todo siempre he pensado que no hay nada como los elementos gráficos, en este caso fotografías. Hace tiempo tuve una cámara vieja reflex que heredé de mi abuelo. Era una Pentax de carrete un poco hecha polvo pero que aún funcionaba y me inquietó un poco el tema de la fotografía manual ya que daba mucho juego, sin embargo era engorrosa y cara de utilizar ya que los revelados valían una pasta. Me estoy planteando comprar una DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) para poder hacer fotos de calidad.

En un próximo post ya contaré algo sobre la nueva cámara y espero dar más vida a este blog con nuevas imágenes.

Applications time

Catalan version after the english version/ Versió en català més endavant

These last days I've been really busy with the next step of the road: filling the applications.

Money, money!!

Since living in UK for a whole year without any income is going to be tough I decided to apply for a scholarship to raise funds. The point is that this scholarship would cover all the university fees plus a monthly income for living costs which is fantastic. However there is a bad side of course; the application process is long and requires referees. Moreover there are lots of candidates that apply for this scholarship. 

Anyone said that this was going to be easy.

So here I am, looking for supporters. By today I have sent several requests to former university teachers I had in my college times to support this project. Two of them have already agreed to send recommendation letters and I really appreciate it. I would like to have two more contacts available just in case.

Nowadays, the application process is managed by a web based tool that tells you what you need to complete, which documents are needed and also runs the recommendation letters stuff. There are lots of details to provide such as personal details, university degrees, language certificates, where have you worked, future plans, motivation letters and more.

Furthermore the university has also its own application process which has 14 sections, yay!!  xxDDDD. I have to say that I’m applying for a Master’s degree that has an income of only 8 new students a year!! It is obvious that it’s going to be difficult to enter there thus I need a plan B if I am rejected. In the same university they have a similar degree with an income of 20 students per year and this one is going to be my alternative (as pilots would say). Sincerely I’m more likely to land at the alternative than in the main destination. What it’s spinning my head is how I can deal with two different plans in the application process. Should I create two different applications? I’ll find out.

Aquests últims dies he estat força ocupat amb el següent pas del camí: omplir les sol·licituds.

Ja que viure a UK per un any sencer sense tenir ingresos serà fotudet he decidit omplir una sol·licitud per a una beca d'estudis. El tema es que aquesta beca cobreix els costos de la universitat més una mensualitat de manutenció. Però també hi ha un costat dolent; el procés és llarg i es requereixen referències. A més a més hi ha moltíssims candidats que demanen aquesta beca.

Bé, ningú va dir que això sería fàcil.

Doncs, aquí estic, buscant referències. De moment he enviat diversos correus a profesors que vaig tenir a la universitat perquè hem donin suport en aquest projecte. Dos d'ells ja m'han contestat i hi estan d'acord en enviar les cartes la qual cosa agraeixo. M'agradaria tenir un parell de contactes més per si acàs.

Avui dia, el procés de sol·licitud es gestiona per una aplicació basada en una web que et va indicant quines coses et falten per omplir, quins documents et falten aportar y per suposat gestiona el tema de les cartes de recomanació. Hi ha un munt de dades que s'han d'insertar en la aplicació: cartes de motivació, CV, idiomes, ...

A més la universitat té també el seu propi sistema per fer la sol·licitud. Un sistema amb 14 seccions per omplir xxxDDD. He de dir que vull fer un master que té només 8 places anuals així que ja suposareu que és un marrón intentar-ho i que necessitaré un pla B per si no m'agafen. En la mateixa universitat fan un altre master molt similar que té 20 places anuals, així que aquest serà el meu alternatiu (com diem els pilots). Sincerament crec que és més probable que acabi aterrant a l'alternatiu que al destí original. El que em porta de corcoll és com m'ho faré per gestionar dos plans diferents en els sistemes de sol·licitud. Ja ho descobriré.

IELTS results

/**********  English version, traducción más adelante********/

Finally I got my IELTS score.
Surprisingly the worst section has been the writing with a 6.5 then the speaking with a 7.0 and the best parts were the listening and the reading with 7.5 and 8.5 respectively. This means an overall band  7.5 for the IELTS test which means that it's enough for the university ... yay!!! mission accomplished  xD.
The next step is requesting recommendation letters.

/*********** Spanish **********/

Pues ya tengo los resultados del IELTS.
Sorprendentemente la peor sección ha sido el writing con un 6.5 seguido del speaking con un 7.0 y las mejores partes el listening y el reading con un 7.5 y un 8.5 respectivamente. Esto significa que tengo un 7.5 en total con lo que es más que suficiente para cumplir con los requisitos de la universidad. 
El siguiente paso es pedir las cartas de recomendación.

For my english-speaking friends. Part 2

In this part I'll translate a summary of the second post which was written in Catalan, so here we go!

The beginning of the road.


All the roads have a beginning and a purpose. As I said in part 1, the purpose is to spend a year in England studying a MSc degree in the university. Further goals will be defined once I get there.

Obviously, someone needs to have a rough idea about what he/she wants to study and which university is the first in his/her list. In my case, I'm thinking about an MSc degree in Aerodynamics in the University of Southampton. Apparently, it seems to be a good university and it has a good position in the World University Rankings, being the number 55 of the world for engineering topics (QS technical ranking). I know that it isn't the MIT but  I think that it is not bad whatsoever. Although this kind of rankings are not the wholly truth, they're made following a set of criteria that make them to become a relevant reference.

The first step to do the things correctly is to do a research, therefore I searched over the internet for a time, I composed e-mails and I looked for opinions and critics from other people that had done similar projects and where they had eventually ended up.

Most English universities have a set of requirements in order to be eligible to study there. Among them there is one which is common everywhere, an English language certificate. (CAE, CPE, IELTS ...).

IELTS is an English exam similar to the American TOEFL. It isn't defined for a particular level but it tries to give you a score according to the level you showed in your test. So there isn't a pass mark actually. This test is divided in four parts: listening, reading, writing and speaking. The University of Southampton requires a global score of 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each part.

Test sequence

I chose IELTS for several reasons; I hadn't enough time to do the CAE (it takes more than 2 months to know the score); IELTS has an academic version which is specific for this purpose, by this way the exam is more restricted; the scores in the IELTS are released 2 weeks after the test and it only takes 3 hours to do the complete exam.

Therefore, with a clear "mission statement" (as space mission designers would say), I began to prepare for the IELTS. I spent a week preparing the exam by my own and recalling what I had learnt at ELC with Alex (my former teacher). Then I signed up for an IELTS training course at the British Council in Barcelona. The training course was superb, I would recommend it.

Before the test I thought that the reading and writing parts were the most potentially problematic parts because of the time available to do them. As the day before we did a mock speaking test I was completely sure that the speaking was not going to be a problem.

Finally I took the test in November 19th. First the listening, reading and writing without any breaks. Oh dear, it was perfect. Then I had to go to the British Council for the speaking part, and here the things went nasty. I entered the test room full of confidence since the day before I did a freakin' awesome speaking mock test, the test began and I found myself trying to speak about a topic which I had nothing to say about. Oh s**t!! In a speaking test I'm supposed to speak so I had to say something and I started to mess it up  xxxDDD. At the beginning of part 2 I began to do small grammatical mistakes, which I noticed and I tried to fix them, and then everything went worse; incorrect verbal tenses and so on. I don't know if it was as bad as I'm describing it, we'll see.

To make things worse, it's not enough to have a good overall score since I need a minimum of 6.0 in each part, so every single part of the test is as important as the others. Thus, if I have brilliant scores in all the  parts but a 5.5 in the speaking, I'm screwed and I would have to repeat the full test. Well, these are the rules of the game and I agreed with them.

Tomorrow I will know the scores and I could either be in cloud nine or in the deep hell. (Quite a bit exaggerated)