Psychobiology of Language

This is one of the subjects that you should choose if you are studying magisterio en Lengua Inglesa, it is an elective subject. Psychobiology of language is a mixture between psychology and biology. It is very interesting because it focuses on language and its processes. At the beginning, the teacher introduces a little bit of anatomy of the brain, what is complex but at the same time exciting. This part includes neurons, reception and sending information. One of the most important issues for this subject is the knowledge of the brain and its parts. Secondly, there are a lot of contents about theories which show how the language works in our brain. On the other hand, you learn about different aspects of language (grammar, phonetics, syntax etc). In addition, there is one section about illness or problems with the development of language. Finally, the last part of the course is about bilingualism and ways of learning others languages. In my opinion Psychobiology of language has been one of my favourite subjects in general during the course, not just because you learnt and realise a lot of things that you didn’t know, also because the teacher is good. Johana Obando Iziureta

Chorus

"Conjunto coral": If you love singing, this is your best choice to make. This is always the last class of the week and it lasts two hours. In these two hours you will be able to do what you like, if singing is one of your favorite hobbies. In fact, you will actually be a member of the college choir and you will participate in the Christmas and end of year performances. In this subject you will also be taught how to sing without damaging your vocal chords and how to use your diaphragm. In the final exam you can have the sheet music in front of you to help you (although music reading skills are not required). Actually, the only requirement is compulsory attendance and two final exams at the end of each term which include singing with three partners, each one singing their own melody at the same time. Finally, as I said before, I would recommend this subject to people who love having a good time singing. - Adrián Gómez Casallo

History of Women's Education

Last year I studied “Historia de la educación de las mujeres” during the second term. In the classes we talked about the difficulties of women and inequality between women and men. Moreover, I learnt what women had to study in the past and what women did at school. Some subjects consisted of learning to cook well for her husband, cleaning properly the house or sewing. Fortunately, women like Clara Campoamor fought to change this situation and they achieved the liberty for the women. The assessment was to do a group project about the education of a woman in your family. Another option was a project about the training that women had to do in order to become a teacher. In addition there was an individual work about a book and attendance was compulsory. If you couldn’t come to class you had the opportunity to do an exam. I chose the first option not only for avoiding the exam but also because I liked the class and in my opinion they were very interesting and productive. In fact, this has been my favourite optional subject up to now. Noelia Bueno Granero

Social Psychology

This subject is about how people act in society, how we all change our minds and our acts when we are with other people. This is a very interesting subject because we analyze all our day lives and the teacher helps us to think about such things as why we act in the opposite way from how we think, or what exactly it is to have a prejudice, why we have them and things like that. The teacher is very good, she explains very well although she is a bit strict and during each class you have to take a lot of notes necessary for the final exam which is a test and a personal essay about a book she asks us to read. In short, I would recommend this subject to anyone who likes psychology. Ana Isabel Izquierdo Fernández

Rhythm and movement games

El juego aplicado al ritmo y movimiento: This course consists of learning many different children’s songs and dances. Most of them came from different countries such as Poland, England, Scotland and Portugal. It was necessary to learn a few musical concepts which can be applied in any song. The teacher always introduced the dance step by step so it was easy to follow. We also had to read some poems and stories for children. The teacher was very friendly and helped us lose our shyness. The attendance was compulsory because the teacher took into account the participation and the effort and progress in class for the final assessment, so we didn’t have to do an exam. We had to read three poems, a story and a piece of news during the whole term and we had to prepare all the dances we had learnt for the last day. My experience was very pleasing and satisfactory because I really enjoyed learning all the dances. I would recommend this course to anybody who likes dancing or is interested in children’s songs. It’s also a great opportunity to learn some communicative skills and to express feelings through poems, dancing and story telling. Sara Bravo Granado

Taking advantage of the natural environment

In this subject students can learn the biological circle of life of some trees as well as their habitat and growth. The teacher, who is a kind and nature-loving woman, will explain each tree's characteristics in the street. Later you will work with some partners to write down some information about what the teacher has explained and before the end of the course you will have to hand it in to the teacher with a description of ten animals. Moreover, your group will have to choose an animal, look for information about it and prepare a presentation. If you do all of this and attend the classes frequently you won't need to do the exam unless you want to get a higher mark.  Although at first I wasn't really interested in this subject, now I have realised that I learnt many things that I hadn't expected to. In conclusion, if you enjoy learning about nature, choose this optional subject without delay!  Ana Lafuente González

Diagnosis of difficulties in literacy

I am going to tell you about my subject called “Diagnóstico de las dificultades en los procesos de lectura y escritura”. I had this subject in the first term this academic year. I choose this one because many classmates recommended it to me. We have some problems, because there were two months left to finish the first term when the teacher had to give up us for health problems. Two weeks after, the second teacher arrived. The subject was about the different problems that children have in writing and reading, like dyslexia and how to diagnose them. We also studied different tricks and methods to teach children to read. To complete our knowledge we had to do a practical work, so we had to go to a primary school and test the children, just to know if they had any difficulty in their learning capacities. Then we collected the results and presented a report to our teacher. Also, if you hadn’t given her your report, you had to do an exam. To pass this exam you must study all theory and combine it with the practical knowledge we had learnt before. Sonia Cabrero Gómez