John Mullen, Université de Rouen - Teaching blog: July 2022

Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Industrial conflict in the UK today

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jul/20/stuff-your-5-is-the-uk-facing-a-summer-of-discontent-and-what-can-we-learn-from-the-winter-of-1979

Sunday, July 10, 2022

Cours compréhension interne agrégation 2022-2023

Cours Compréhension orale/thème oral, agrégation interne

Ces cours sont structurés autour des exercices à l’agrégation interne, mais les étudiant e s qui préparent uniquement l’externe sont les bienvenu e s.

Pour préparer dores et déjà l’exercice de thème oral, prenez les articles du jour de Libération et/ou Le Monde. Essayez de traduire *très rapidement* en anglais les trois ou quatre premières phrases (150 mots maximum). Une exercice par jour, pourquoi pas ?

Pour préparer dores et déjà l’épreuve de compréhension orale, écoutez les podcasts de la BBC (disponible en ligne). Nous travaillerons également sur des morceaux en anglais américain, australien etc. Ecoutez, deux fois, les trois premières minutes d’un épisode de Desert Island Discs ou de In Our Time. Essayez de restituer toute l’information de l’extrait. Ensuite,réécoutez aussi souvent que nécessaire pour comprendre chaque mot de l’extrait. Exercice à refaire régulièrement.

Saturday, July 09, 2022

Canada

I am lucky enough to be going to Canada on holiday this summer (my first time in the country). Naturally, historians on holiday look for museums, but also feel a need to prepare their holidays. I highly recommend the documentary available on YouTube « A Peoples History of Canada ». It is 25 hours in total! Here is the first episode : https://youtu.be/lBdwWOtOWMg

Friday, July 08, 2022

Cours de thème agrégation 09/22

Cours de thème, préparation de l’agrégation 2022-2023 (first class in week of 12 September)

Welcome to your prose composition class (that is the old-fashioned English way of saying « thème»).

You will be aware that the translation classes will help you sort out weaknesses in your grammar, and that this will also gain you points in your other papers, in literature or in civilization.

Here is some information about how the class will work. Students translate the passages at home before the class (it is impossible to learn translation by watching other people translate). In class, we study the students’ translations and my own proposals, and recommendations are made about working on specific grammar points etc.

A few days after the class, my own suggested translation, with notes, is posted on my teaching blog https://johncmullen.blogspot.com/ . This suggested translation remains online for two weeks, and then is removed.

If students wish to get more detailed feedback on their work, they may send me by email at john dot mullen at univ-rouen dot fr their completed translation, one week before we study that particular passage in class. Translations must be sent in doc or odt format, not in PDF. I will attempt to return them to you in time for the class. Please do not give me translations on paper.

Note that the students who succeed at the agrégation each year are among those who have regularly handed in work during the year.

Students who are enrolled in the agrégation interne will occasionally miss a translation class because they have another scheduled class. Please consult the timetable you will be given