Our student is a graduate at the University of Manchester

A student of  Azerbaijan University of Languages, Kovsar Asadova  has become a  graduate of   the University of Manchester in England. K.Asadova  enrolled  in the specialty of Foreign language of the School of  English language No1 (present Education (English-German language)  in 2012, and continued her education at  the University of Manchester. K.Asadova who was born in 1994 in Sumgait during her studies every year won the Olympics at the school or in the city.  After studying at AUL her desire was to  continue her education abroad , after seeing the advertisement of ESSEX groups she decided to asses it as an opportunity  and was registered  exams of two tours. After successfully completing written exam of the first round, she has been invited to an oral interview with a teacher from the United States. Successfully passing all stages of the study, K.Asadova got an opportunity to become a student of the University of Manchester, in England.

She shared with us her thoughts:

The road to Manchester

Thoughts on studying abroad mainly arose after being admitted to AUL. During my education I had some opportunities of studying abroad, especially our dean Afgan Abdullayev’s and deputy dean Fatma Gurbanzadeh’s   regular support played a major role in the creation of such an intention. First, I attended presentations of various universities of the United Kingdom and after private investigations my choice was the University of Manchester. The high level of education, the university's leading position in the world and a chance to finish the 3 years program in 2 years were the key factors that influenced the choice. I would like to note that only I had the opportunity to finish the program in a short time in the School.

Adaptation period

Adaptation period differed from other students. In fact, it gave me more power how to say, "What does not kill you, that makes you stronger." My condition was caused by delaying of my visa and starting the classes in November which begins in September as the second year student.  As some courses were the continuation of previous educational year, I had to read those lessons to understand them perfectly. Thus, the academic difficulties were added to a difficult adaptation period. Azerbaijani students have been very supportive of me to facilitate that period.

Azerbaijan and UK education systems: similarities and differences

The foundation of the University of Manchester was laid down in 1824, according to a ranking of world universities (QS World University Rankings) takes place in the first 30-ties. During the two centuries the University maintained its leadership because of research, teaching quality and the importance of libraries. In total the university has more than 10 libraries and everything is provided for the convenience of students. Main Library (Main Library) and educational center named after Alan Gilbert service 24 hours a day throughout the year. Nearly 350 computers, more than 4 million books resources intended for students to use, as well as group rooms to ease the students' work. Training Course consists of two parts: lectures and seminars. Usually, the lectures are delivered by professors who have a doctoral degree, and the seminars are taught by PhD candidate. Academic staff is very helpful and support students. An example of this is the creation of an opportunity for students to meet professors twice a week. In addition, each student is assigned an academic advisor to students throughout the year, as well as they answer questions of students about the life or a career. As 4 years is fit to 3 years, the lessons are intensive and sit for 4-5 hours a day does not mean anything yet. They have to work every day to keep up with the program. The socialization of the students and establish contact with supporters for their interest there was a building called the Student Union. If we compare with Azerbaijan, teacher-student relations are individual in our country. Thus, the teachers know every student by name. In most cases during the course of lesson the teacher and the student speak about their private life. The fact makes them native. But there, I have not faced such a situation. Teacher-student relationship does not go beyond academic boundaries. Such a case is impossible of the fact that during a lecture there are 200-600 students in the auditorium. One of the most noticeable differences can be that no one talks the previous lesson by heart before the board. In fact, there are many differences, but the aim of the two systems is educate students make them professionals in the future.

Over the years, I was studying at AUL, I was a monitor, the first and most surprising difference was that they do not have the concept of monitor at the University of Manchester. Another difference is that each lesson has special education program. For instance, there was a lesson that there was not any assessment semester-long, at the end the mark received from exam was written. There was also a subject so that the test was not only written the points collected during the semester. I can point to it as the most important similarity, assessment of each lesson was determined by essays at the University of Manchester and there were open questions in the examinations. As the Azerbaijani students from other universities suffered from it, it was easier for me of this point, because we passed all exams with open questions at AUL for two years.

What I learned

To live alone abroad has promoted many skills in me. Now when I think about it, I'm amazed how I coped with such a lot work. In other words, within two years, I discovered Britain, and myself. Being a student of AUL means a solid and right foundation. I saw the benefit of each lesson and practice at AUL. But the main thing is that after a man has achieved something, and not to rest but continue his work. As ESSEX group we achieved of creation of English Consulting Hours and voluntarily went to teach at the school. This helped me not to forget my practice and petty issues. Of course, there is a need for each university and each profession, but in current global and developing society to posses language is very important for to follow trends and to provide the correct translation.   I learned that the key to it, even though how knowledgeable and skilled teachers, they are not a magician. The only way of comprehending program is to read those resources. Teachers are just motivators, researchers and leaders. At the same time, they show easiest way and to ensure the highest quality resources, and the remaining ones in your own hands. After that, the main goal is to share the earned knowledge, skills and experience in Azerbaijan as much as I can. Also, I would like to continue my education at the postgraduate level, at the same time to improve my personal qualities.