[01:11.92]WOMAN:I’ve been reading your personal statement, Paul.
[01:14.00]First, let’s talk about your work experience in South America.
[01:17.68]What took you there?
[01:19.90]Was it to gain more fluency in Spanish?
[01:21.44]PAUL:Well, as I’m combining Spanish with Latin American studies, my main idea was to find out more about the way people lived there.
[01:29.97]My spoken Spanish was already pretty good in fact.
[01:32.81]WOMAN:So you weren’t too worried about language barriers?
[01:35.61]PAUL:No.
[01:36.47]In fact, I ended up teaching English there, although that wasn’t my original choice of work.
[01:40.80]WOMAN:I see.
[01:41.62]How did you find out about all this?
[01:44.10]PAUL:I found an agency that runs all kinds of voluntary projects in South America.
[01:48.35]WOMAN:What kind of work?
[01:49.69]PAUL:Well, there were several possibilities.
[01:52.60]WOMAN:You mean construction?
[01:53.29]Engineering work?
[01:54.33]PAUL:Yes, getting involved in building projects was an option.
[01:57.70]Then there was tourism - taking tourists for walks around the volcanoes - which I actually chose to do, and then there was work with local farmers.
[02:06.50]WOMAN:But you didn't continue with that project.
[02:09.38]Why not?
[02:10.31]PAUL:Because I never really knew whether I'd be needed or not.
[02:13.62]I'd thought it might be difficult physically, but I was certainly fit enough ...
[02:17.90]no, I wanted to do something that had more of a proper structure to it, I suppose.
[02:22.55]I get de-motivated otherwise.
[02:24.41]WOMAN:What do you think you learned from your experience?
[02:27.41]It must have been a great opportunity to examine community life.
[02:30.77]PAUL:Yes, but it was difficult at first to be accepted by the locals.
[02:34.54]It was a very remote village and some of them were reluctant to speak to me - although they were always interested in my clothes and how much l’d had to pay for them.
[02:43.25]WOMAN:Well, that's understandable.
[02:44.45]PAUL:Yes, but things soon improved.
[02:46.57] What struck me was that when people became more comfortable with me and less suspicious, we really connected with each other in a meaningful way.
[02:54.20]WOMAN:You made good friends?
[02:55.50]PAUL:Yes, with two of the families in particular.
[02:58.25]WOMAN:Good.
[02:58.86]What about management.
[03:00.38]Did you have a project manager?
[03:02.20]PAUL:Yes and he gave me lots of advice and guidance.
[03:05.48]WOMAN:And was he good at managing too?
[03:07.70]PAUL:That wasn't his strong point!
[03:09.78]I think he was often more interested in the academic side of things than filing reports.
[03:15.73]He was a bit of a dreamer.
[03:17.50]WOMAN:And did you have a contract?
[03:20.29]PAUL:I had to stay for a minimum of three months.
[03:22.86]My parents were surprised when I asked to stay longer - six months in the end.
[03:27.28]I was so happy there.
[03:28.41]WOMAN:And did anything on the administration side of things surprise you?
[03:32.30]What was the food and lodging like?
[03:34.31]PAUL:Simple ...
[03:35.25]but there was plenty to eat and I only paid seven dollars a day for that which was amazing really.
[03:40.22]And they gave me all the equipment I needed … even a laptop.
[03:43.29]WOMAN:You didn't expect that then?
[03:45.18]PAUL:No.
[03:45.59]WOMAN:Well, I’ll look forward to hearing more.
[04:26.30]WOMAN:But now let's look at these modules.
[04:27.52]You'll need to start thinking about which ones you'll definitely want to study.
[04:31.48]The first one here is Gender Studies in Latin America.
[04:34.79]PAUL:Mmm...
[04:35.78]WOMAN:It looks at how gender analysis is reconfiguring civil society in Latin America.
[04:40.58]Women are increasingly occupying positions in government and in other elected leadership positions in Latin America.
[04:47.10]I think you'd find it interesting.
[04:49.04]PAUL: If it was to do with people in the villages rather than those in the public sphere.
[04:52.87]I would.
[04:53.60]WOMAN:Okay.
[04:54.76]What about Second Language Acquisition?
[04:57.59]PAUL:Do you think I'd find that useful?
[04:59.48]WOMAN:Well, you've had some practical experience in the field, I think it would be.
[05:03.84]PAUL:I hadn't thought about that.
[05:05.52] I'll put that down as a definite, then.
[05:07.52]WOMAN:Okay.
[05:08.20]What about Indigenous Women's Lives.
[05:10.69]That sounds appropriate.
[05:12.20]PAUL:I thought so too, but I looked at last year's exam questions and that changed my mind.
[05:17.90]WOMAN:Don't judge the value of the course on that.
[05:20.33]Maybe, talk to some other students first and we can talk about it again later.
[05:24.95]PAUL:Okay.
[05:25.77]WOMAN:Yes.
[05:26.65]And lastly, will you sign up for Portuguese lessons?
[05:30.12]PAUL:My Spanish is good, so would I find that module easy?
[05:33.79]WOMAN:Not necessarily.
[05:35.52]Some people find that Spanish interferes with learning Portuguese ...
[05:39.15]getting the accent right too.
[05:41.27]It's quite different in a lot of ways.
[05:43.13]PAUL:Well.
[05:43.04] I'd much sooner do something else, then.
[05:45.59]WOMAN:Alright.
[05:46.16]Now, what we need to do is...
