Perhaps not to the greatest extent but yes, I have surely exceeded my own expectations with the objectives that I first had in mind. Having completed the full Spanish learning course, I am now able to practically apply the language in day-to-day listening, speaking, and writing. Throughout all the video lessons, I managed to synthesise my own notes and make records of what was taught. Aside from these, I had also taken an additional initiative to polish my speaking skills via Duolingo (a language learning platform with friends). All in all, I am confident to attest that I now have a firm base to stand on in order to take my Spanish language skills higher up a notch. 

Strangely, I have enjoyed answering the quizzes the most throughout this project. For sure, the video lessons and other written assignments were interesting and had their own uniqueness, but I couldn't help but look forward to answering the mini tests after each lesson. By answering the questions, I was able to gauge my level of understanding towards the previously discussed topics. I felt a sense of accomplishment when I answered all the questions right but undeniably, I did feel blue when I had a few of the questions wrong. Ultimately, it served as a huge motivation to myself and it gives me joy knowing that I am learning something new everyday. 

Personally, speaking the language was the most difficult part. Since it was a one way teaching where I only learnt from all the video lectures, the luxury was not mine to have a teacher to listen to my pronunciation and correct me when necessary. Initially, I had to record myself when I was speaking and compared it to what my teachers were saying. To my ears, it sounded fine but I always had the feeling that it was probably not up to the standards. Following a friend’s recommendation, I then tried out the language learning platform (Duolingo). Thankfully, it has the feature which allows me to record myself speaking, followed by a verification if I have spoken the language correctly.  

From my point of view, everything turned out nicely as I was able to complete the course in time. I had enjoyed my learning process despite it being a long one (109 hours of videos to watch with more than two hundred additional written materials). I was able to discipline myself in following the routines, accomplishing my daily goals and I am proud of myself for that. Simply put, I have been really productive for the past one month and my time was indeed well spent. 

Given the pandemic state that we are in, I believe that the virtual platform UDEMY has actually given me more than what is required. However, I reckon that learning a language is best when it is conducted live and physically, with teachers and other fellow students. It will also be great if I can participate in real examinations (not just quizzes) and get recognition that I have mastered the language.

As a closing remark:
The allocated time for Elective Posting may have ended but the journey is still ongoing. I will look forward to the moment when I can finally use the language like a native Spanish person. 

Initially, my objectives for this project are:

 | a) Improve my camera handling skills for future video projects including being a photographer for UKM events b) Making proper compositions with my DSLR to make educational and promotional videos for UKM c) Become a part-time photographer for events to earn some side income without affecting my studies 

 

So far, I believe that at least 2 of my objectives are covered because most of the lessons taught by this course has aided me in achieving them. However, for the last objective, there might be some difficulties as for me, this is a long-term goal and would require future planning to achieve. However, I will not give up until I achieve my final goal which is to earn some side income without affecting my studies via photography and videography part time. 

In general, I really like this course because of the way it is taught to the students. Most online courses would require you to listen and understand a lecture followed by a quiz to grade your overall performance. The lack of hands-on for most online courses really deterred me. However, for this course, there are much more hands-on assignments which require me to take some photographs every week to apply the knowledge taught to me in class. To make the grading fair, marks will be taken from both attendance, quizzes, and assignments in the form of photos. Thus, I really enjoy the teaching method of this course. 

Furthermore, I have not attended any proper training or course regarding photography, even though my interests for this have been around since my secondary school. Having the opportunity to learn and explore my interests further has been nothing short of amazing and I enjoyed every minute of it. Therefore, I really enjoy this course wholeheartedly and the skills I obtained is definitely useful for my future as well as my hobby. 

 

Personally, I believe this project would have been perfect if the pandemic did not strike Malaysia at such a time. As mentioned above, the course requires the students to take photographs every week as a symbol of their understanding of the lectures. However, due to Covid-19 restrictions, I was forced to take photographs within my housing estate with strict SOP. Thus, I had no choice but to take some photographs taken from the past as a submission. However, I did try my best to take some photographs of my own and filter them for submission. Overall, if the pandemic did not strike Malaysia at this time, I would be able to take different photographs every week to justify my understanding of the weekly teachings. 

In my humblest opinion, I believe that the overall project was very well thought out and spaced well. In each week, a different overall theme is taught by the lecturers with quizzes slot in between lectures. This makes the learning process fun and exciting with better information retention. To top it off, at the end of the week, for the lack of a better word, a grand quiz which covers all the lectures for the week which will also carry marks for the overall grade. Finally, I believe the addition of an assignment every week which requires a photo taking session keeps learning fresh and exciting. It would have been boring if it were just lectures and quizzes. However, to keep the assignments important, marks will be taken in for the overall grade. All in all, I personally believe that this course is very well thought out for the students to learn photography in a beginner level. 

For this project, I believe that there are two things that can be improved. Firstly, there was a buffer period to review my peers’ assignments. I completed my photo submission early and in order to obtain my grade, I must review 3 different assignments from my peers. However, there was a lack of submission by my peers leaving me stagnant for about 1 week before new submissions were given. This is rather poor as I was only given specific amount of time for my EP and further delay might cause some difficulties in achieving other deadlines. Thus, in my opinion, I should be able to review assignments from past peers that have obtained their grade to prevent a buffer period for my final grade. 

Finally, there was some minor spelling errors and audio problem during the recorded lecture. This is a very minimal problem to begin with but for those with students where English is not their first language might have some difficulties understanding the lecture. Thus, a proper review of the lectures by the administration would solve this problem. 

Yes. 

My first objective was to explore and learn the fundamentals of graphic design. I am glad that this course provides the fundamental principles and general design tricks in condensed and very clear form. My knowledge has improved significantly. So far, I have learnt glossary of design terms and the importance of composition and balance to obtain a professional-looking poster. In addition, I have learnt about the power of negative space in a poster design and how to choose typeface wisely. Furthermore, I learnt the importance of the principle of ‘contrast’ by mixing contrast in terms of scales, colours or texts.

My second objective was to learn common visual design tricks. Other than learning design principles, I learnt how to deploy some common visual design ‘tricks’ and strategy to capture audience attention. Other than that, my instructor has shown me some comparisons on the tricks with design examples from art history, film and current media. I learnt that it's important to have the skills of critical looking and analysis. 

My third objective was to learn to use appropriate tools to create professional looking Powerpoints, reports, resumes and presentations. In order to make a professional presentation, I usually use the principle of grid where I align objects or graphic elements with the help of horizontal and vertical axes to line things up. This principle will help me arrange graphic elements and typeface so that it will not be scattered and messy. Other than that, I think I will use the principles of minimalist design which are usually used by big companies such as Google corporation. In my opinion, minimalism works closely with the principle of negative space by letting white space do most of our composition and keeping things as simple and attractive.

Throughout this project, I enjoyed learning about typography. This principle blows my mind because I never thought about actually every typeface has its own message and is very impactful in capturing audience attention. In addition, I enjoyed learning and comparing the tricks with design examples from art history, film and current media. By comparing these design examples, I learnt how to look at things critically and increase my skills on visual comprehension. I am able to identify, analyse and evaluate how designers use certain principles in a poster.

In my opinion, the challenging part of this project is when I have to implement and experiment with graphic design principles that I have learned onto a white canvas of poster. In addition, every week I have to learn a few new principles. At first, it is quite challenging because I have to remember and understand the basic glossary and basic principle of graphic design. However, with notes and worksheet practices, I am able to overcome the challenge and familiarize myself with design principles. Other than that, I am not able to get access to most of the quizzes because I only use the free version of this course. Hence, I am not able to test my knowledge and understanding at the end of each lesson. 

I am glad that this course provides the fundamental principles and general design tricks in condensed and very clear form. My knowledge has improved significantly. Since this course is uploaded online, I am able to take this course whenever I have free time and am able to revise or revisit video lessons provided in the course when needed. I am glad that I can finish this course at the time that has been allocated and submitted all necessary worksheets before the deadline. I never thought to sign up for this graphic design course because of my timid knowledge on graphic design. I am so happy and grateful that I am able to find this simple course on the Coursera platform.

Since I used a free version of this course, I couldn't access most of the quizzes and was unable to obtain a certificate as a souvenir for my hard work. In addition, I was unable to get feedback from participants in the same course and give my feedback to the participants. Although I have been pretty satisfied with the free version of this course, I think it is much better to use a paid version. This is because the paid version gives me the opportunity to get feedback on my worksheet and improve my individual performance.

The first objective is to learn a foreign language which is Korean. 
Through this course, I have managed to learn Korean and although I am still not very fluent but I am glad that I have gained knowledge on some Korean words and what to say in a conversation. In every week, I have strengthened my vocabulary as there are many new words to be learned in each lesson.

The second objective is to acquire skills like reading, writing, listening and speaking in Korean language. 
In the first week, I have learned how to read and write the Korean characters and the principles behind how the vowels and consonants that make up each character were invented. In the following weeks, I managed to acquire the skills of listening and speaking in the Korean language as the learning materials guided me on multiple conversations in different scenarios.

The third objective is to be able to communicate in Korean in a daily conversation. This objective was achieved as now I know how to initiate a conversation with someone by asking them a question and how to respond to these questions. The conversations that I have learned throughout this course mainly revolve around greetings and introducing in the 2^nd week, talking about family members and counting the Korean numbers in the 3^rd week, learning about how to ask what day it is, the time and date, the sino-korean number system and other useful daily conversations like asking where is someone going, what and where do they eat and what time do they carry out an activity apart from learning how to answer these questions in the 4^th week. 

2. What have you enjoyed or liked the most about the project?
The thing I enjoyed the most while doing this project is being able to learn the Korean language, more so when I can learn it on Coursera at my own pace and comfort at anytime and anywhere I want as long as I have an internet connection. As the lectures are pre-recorded, I can replay them for as many times as I want in case if I didn’t understand anything I learned earlier. There are also quizzes after each lesson, so I can check my understanding on the topic.

3. What have you found challenging about this project? (any part of the project you found hard to do)
I think the most challenging part about this project is getting the pronunciation of the Korean words right and memorising different vocabularies, especially those that sound almost similar but have different meanings. Selecting the items to be included in the video and filming it are also challenging as I can only pick a handful of them when there are quite many materials that I have come across in these 4 weeks.

4. What has really worked? (any part in the project that you thought worked well)
In my opinion, overall the project has worked well for me. I am now equipped with knowledge on a long list of vocabularies and how to initiate basic daily conversations in Korean. I managed to complete the course and tasks given before the due date too.

5. What can be improved in this project?
It would be nice if I could get my pronunciation checked by a teacher as this will help me improve and learn better. Apart from that, I wish to learn more on other topics and vocabularies that aren’t included in this course in the future, so I can master the language better. 

1. Were the objectives of the project fulfilled?

Yes, it was fulfilled. I managed to learn the basic words and phrases to speak mandarin lessons. 

2. What have you enjoyed or liked the most about the project?

I enjoyed learning a new language which boosted my communication skills and confidence. I enjoyed learning the classes from my teacher, Ms Chook. I believe a subject will become fun if our teacher is good and Ms Chook proved it. I really enjoyed her teaching and hope to learn more from her. 

3. What have you found challenging about this project? (any part of the project you found hard to do)

I found it difficult initially to speak and differentiate the different types of pronounciations in the chinese language. 

For example. 

1. （door) mén，(bored) mèn

2. (down) xià，(prawn) xiā

3. (water) shuǐ，(sleep) shuì

4. (blue) lán，(lazy) lǎn

5. (one) yī， (shirt) yī

4. What has really worked? (any part in the project that you thought worked well)

Everything worked well and the classes went smoothly.

5. What can be improved in this project?

I feel the project could have been extended for some of us who were doing remedial exam as it was abit stressful to do both. 

Yes, but not to its full extent. My objectives were to understand and master the Chinese language. However, it is impossible for me to speak a foreign language fluently in the span of one month. I am happy that I am able to make basic conversations of daily living in Chinese but only to a certain extent as my vocabulary is limited.

 

My second objective was to be able to appreciate culture diversity. I am far from exploring everything the Chinese language has yet to offer for me. Nevertheless, I am satisfied with the outcome of my EP project. The small accomplishments I have were just another stepping stone for me to truly master the Chinese language.

 

I love how I can study the course anytime and anywhere whenever I felt like it. I can watch the recorded lessons as many times as I wish and pause it to take notes. I was able to study in the comfort of my own time. The lessons given by the instructor were also easy to follow along and understand. I liked how she taught the right way of pronunciation allowing me to learn with more ease.

 

The most challenging part about this project was being able to speak fluently in Chinese with the right pronunciation. The cons of this online course was it was a one way communication and I cannot ask questions to the instructor whenever I got confused. Hence, there was no one around me to correct me whenever I got the pronunciation wrong. 

 

All in all, I think everything has worked out well. I manage to complete all the tasks that were given to me just in time before the deadline. Everything has gone according to plan.

 

In the future, if I ever have the chance to continue learning Chinese, I would choose to join a class where there is two-way communication with an instructor. That way I can further improve my pronunciation and brush up my Chinese skills even better.