Groups and National Courses

LEARN ITALIAN
Another class is out of the blocks, seven members made the inaugural meeting. The majority who turned up wanted to learn the language from the beginning, but all seemed keen and able students. Carolina spoke in short expressions in Italian from the outset and concentrated in this first lesson on the correct pronunciation of, the pure vowel sounds of Italian, which give the language such a unique musical sound, the pronunciations of 'c', and way of emphasising double consonants. She used a large but simple map of Italy to introduce the seas, regions and major cities. Then onto the subject pronouns and the verb essere. Quite sufficient to maintain the interest of the few who studied and forgot Italian years ago.

The group decided they were on the whole happy with weekly classes at 10.00 until 11.30am, the same as for French, and with Monday mornings, the attraction of this slot being the sharing of room hire costs with other small groups. The room dividers were used to separate the room into two parts, and although I was initially concerned in reality once both groups settled down there was absolutely no interference. The next class was set for 10am on Monday 12 January 2009 and should be weekly thereafter.

Several others expressed interest in Italian on my lists and it is hoped that some will join in the New Year, because just a few more would be desirable and secure the future of another group.

READING 4
On this occasion they shared the Craft Room with Italian for a very successful second meeting. They attracted a few new faces, including our first Hazel Court resident U3A member Betty Leigh. I was delighted to see her there because she had earlier tried out the French class but found the level too high. ( I tried to convince her that Italian would suit her down to the ground!!). It seems as with Jive, French and MOTO that pleasant enthusiastic groups grow organically as the news spreads. For the next meeting on Monday 12 January it was agreed that every member come prepared to talk about their own choice of detective novel.

CHESS
A picture is worth a thousand words, but both are mine!

The next meeting of this group will be 10am Monday 15 December, Ken Huntley has agreed to attend and teach. I would like to record the flair shown by Maxy in organising this group and how enjoyable, instructive and challenging he made the sessions for a large ability range, from complete beginners to good club players. Spoilt unfortunately by one outburst when we went overtime on our room hire. For reasons not related to the Chess Group, or this incident, he has been suspended from membership of Swansea U3A.

LITERATURE
I intend to sit in on their class next Tuesday 16 December at 2pm which is very conveniently sited in the city centre at St Mary's Vestry. Lawmary Champion will be conducting the final reading of An Inspector Calls by J B Priestly. Why don't a few others come along and give this once failing class a new look and boost, and join in the choice of next years books.

LEARN JIVE
This group will start again at 10.30 on Wednesday 14 January 2009 at the Monkey Cafe, (Pantomagoria in the afternoon). I appointed or is it anointed Gerwyn The Group Leader of the Year for making such a success of the group we thought was beyond the agility of our members.

MOTO
Following their latest meeting at the Brunswick they have identified several events of probable interest to members including film shows of
Brideshead Revisited at the Vue at 11.00 for 11.30 on 11 December
Bad Santa in the Civic Centre Library at 6.00 on 12 December
Boy in Striped Pyjamas at the Vue 11.00 for 11.30 on 18 December
Gerwyn will contact members before making a block booking for 'Curry and Carols' at the King Arthur Reynolston at 6.00 on 21 December

MONTHLY SOCIAL
Audrey Standish is suggesting an afternoon Tea Dance (my phrase). Those interested should in the first place contact her at 297358. The Community Hall at Hazel Court is a possible venue but the group would have to cover a hire charge for the room of £25.

CLIMATE CHANGE
Mike Wiseman sent me a note saying that no less than the UN had requested that the U3A (which is of course an international organisation started in France) get involved in promoting the discussion of the issues of Climate Change and Sustainability.

Wales U3As are taking a lead and have already formed several groups to look at the problems facing the planet. He identifies Fuel and Fresh Water as being the two most pressing issues for us by 2012 (frighteningly close). The next meeting of the Swansea Group will therefore consider the problems of ENERGY - THE WAY FORWARD at their next meeting. All are welcome at that meeting which will be held following the Wednesday Lecture on 21 January 2009.

At 11.00 on 12 January 2009 the Geology Network have a lecture by Dr Danny McCarroll in the Joint Lecture Theatre of the Natural History Building (more or less opposite the Grove) and it is entitled Climate Change:Using the Past to Predict the Future

NATIONAL COURSES
We are doing well at setting up new groups requiring tutors, French, Italian, Jive and Chess all fall into that category, but always the restriction is to find people in Swansea U3A with the skill, confidence and enthusiasm to take the lead. We are fortunate to have been able to make so many departures in a single half year, to add to existing Groups with similar requirements like Digital Media, Literature and Bridge.

I have just started to look more carefully at the list of U3A Summer Schools which are operated at Cirencester and Telford, and must say I am tempted to sign on for Cuentos en espanol (Spanish Stories) at Cirencester. Every member will have received notification of these courses in the issue of Sources which accompanied the last U3A Magazine, but, like me, I guess many didn't pay much them much attention at the time. I am also told that the few people from Swansea who have attended such events found the experience really enjoyable. You only have to glance quickly at the course titles to realise that such events are a real strength of the national organisation and would be difficult to organise at the local level. In addition full-board with 3 nights accommodation and tuition at £299 looks good value.

Harper Adams University College Summer School Newport. Telford

Monday 20 July to Thursday 23 July 2009.

COURSES

Architecture – Old Town, New Town. Tutor: Wilson Briscoe

Art History - Five artists to make a point. Tutor: Philip Hutton

Crime & Punishment. Tutor: Ursula Steiger

Digital image editing. Tutor: Chris Powell

France – la belle France. Tutor: Joyce Gibson

Garden History – near & far. Tutor: Jillian Wallace

Geology – the geology of south Shropshire. Tutor: Isabel Markham

Industrial Heritage – water, wind & the industrial revolution. Tutor: Colin Mitchell

Literature – ways of telling a story: Great Expectation & Mr Pip. Tutor: Mary MacGregor

Philosophy – introduction to philosophy. Tutor: Meg Shaw

Writing – the play’s the thing. Tutor: Maggie Smith

The Royal Agricultural College Summer School Cirencester

Monday 24 to Thursday 27 August 2009

COURSES

Architecture & Topography living on stone – the Cotswold inheritance. Tutor: James Thompson

Art History – 20^th century art, part 4 1975-2000. Tutor: Audrey Loraine

Christianity in England: From Roman times to the Viking invasions. Tutor: Bette Butler

Cinema History – a brief history of British film. Tutor: Alan Coulson

History – Jesus: From Jewish teacher to Christian divinity. Tutor: Ralph Blumenau

Literature – poets with many voices – Dramatic monologues from Browning to Eliot. Tutor: Michael Goldman

Music Appreciation – the music of Bela Bartok. Tutor: John Busbridge

Painting & Drawing. Tutor: Michael Gardner

Shakespeare: on the page and in performance. Tutor: Jonathan Rogers

Spanish – short stories in Spanish (Cuentos en espanol). Tutor: Silvia Sussman

OPEN DAY AT DOLPHIN HOTEL, 8 October 2008

GUIDE TO USE OF INTERNET and BLOG and Having Fun

Chairman Bob it was who persuaded me to use the prominent About Me section on the first page to give some instructions instead. Sorry about the layout but Google only provide a single linear paragraph - hence all the ....... You got here so now jump on the ARCHIVE link to INTRODUCTION - START HERE and as a reward you will get a Noddy but more complete guide - with the instructions in some sort of background context.

OPEN DAY

As usual it was a great success. Pat tells me we signed up 45 new members. But as always it's quality not size that matters. As Group Coordinator I felt a bit of a supernumerary so I decided to act as convener for two groups with problems, Recorders and French, as well as to try and publicise this blog.

FRENCH
Steve Johnson and his wife were my very first contacts, they were standing back glancing at the laptops of me and Anthony Hughes (Digital Media for Fun) so I went over.

'Do you know anything about NTL?
'Well it so happens that as one of their early customers I do.'

In return I enticed Steve to view the blog and asked if they played Recorders (No) or were interested in the French Group. He speaks good French whispered his wife. It turned out he had lived in Paris for 30 years. 'Would you be interested in leading our French group?' A smile and firm handshake later and he was deep in conversation with Jan Phillips.

Several others expressed an interest in French including an old dinghy sailing friend from Mumbles Yacht Club, Eddie Ramsden, who was awarded the MBE for his work as Swansea's Environment Officer. He is still heavily into sailing with the RYA and has good friends in France and so wants to improve his fluency in the language. So do I, for my eldest son married a Mademoiselle and lives in France - we really shouldn't be content to converse entirely in English. Years ago we spoke English to their kids and they responded in French (as every baby, and no secondary school kid, knows listening comes before talking). Now it's so easy since they all are fully bilingual. Jim passed all his 'O' levels except French. Now he's fluent - makes you sick, doesn't it. Steve had a word for it which I have forgotten - something to do with dormir; I got the drift.

RECORDERS
I made no progress on Recorders. Does no one want to start learning an instrument?

eMAILS
In between time I made my way around the Group Conveners whenever their tables were free. By subterfuge I got their email addresses, thus disproving the theory that they would not release them. Only a few don't have access to a computer with the Internet, though it's available to all in for example the library.

As I explained to Majorie Vanston I won't join the modern world either. For instance I stubbornly refuse to have a mobile phone. As one who tried hard to avoid being contactable outside working hours, carrying a phone wherever you go seems crass. But deny yourself access to the Internet and you are turning your back on probably the most powerful resource invented in our lifetime. After all without it you won't be able to read my blog!

MODERN JIVE/SALSA
Practically the last person I met was Gerwyn Thomas. I asked him the usual questions about French and Recorders and he volunteered

'But I AM a teacher of modern jive and salsa'.

Back in the 50's I (Mr Bloggie) used to jive at 100 Oxford Street (London) to the music of Humphrey Lyttleton, Ken Collier, and others. Not too long ago we helped make the floor vibrate and break all the valuable crockery at a Christmas Party in the Glynn Vivian, well it sounded like it! Salsa is wonderful, Latin music and nightly dancing in the streets is one of the things which continually draws me to Latin America. I like doing many activities in company with young people (eg learning Spanish or Mandarin), but a more restrained form of dancing could be interesting, not to say vital given the present state of our creaky joints. 'KEEP FIT FOR FUN WITH SALSA', sounds OK to me? Any Other Takers?

MOTO
But Gerwyn had an even more interesting idea.
'I would like to start an OTO group like they have in Aylesbury'.
'What's that?'.
'I often don't go simply because I dislike going places on my own.'
'Ah, like the MOTO Group in Wokingham' (Members on Their Own). How does it work?'
'Essentially it's a network of people with the same problem.'So MOTO it is (my choice of acronym). I will be amazed if it doesn't fly.


READING GROUP 4?
Elsewhere in the hall a lot more people expressed interest in reading than could be accommodated in the present groups. In addition there are probably still people from last year waiting. So I am thinking about a new group, bigger than can be accommodated in peoples homes. Hazel Court is due to open early November and they have offered us a whole range of rooms at reasonable prices. It sounds like an ideal venue for larger new groups like French and Reading.

DIGITAL MEDIA for FUN
Sharing a table with Anthony Hughes I noted the enthusiastic reception he was getting. He is prepared to run a second class in the afternoon every other Thursday.

I must say, as someone who is horrified at the laborious way computers are taught to adults, that it is invigorating to see someone who approaches it from -
'Tell me what you want to do and I will show you how.'

For decades now the buzzword in designing software is Make its Use INTUITIVE. Grasp that and you can teach yourself merely by prodding around, try this way and that, and, learn by experience - the only way for many of us?. But first you have to get the feel of the way your computer software operates. A Windows PC has a different regime to an Apple but they are both logical. ( I say that arrogantly without the slightest experience with an Apple, but acknowledge that decades ago Macintosh (Apple) showed Microsoft the way with its wonderfully intuitive operating system Lisa).

A typical class on say word processing is so boring, so stereotyped, and so avoids the self learning process. If schools approach learning by teaching just what you need to know to pass the exam and ignoring the context, then that explains some of the problems with our education system. I seem to remember the kids saying in effect, 'dad, cut the crap and for god's sake give us the answer'.

Anthony's idea is to point you in the right direction and free you to experiment. I picked up quite a lot in a few minutes at the end of the last session as four of us put our heads together. He will notice I'm picking up on his phrase 'For Fun' - that is what our U3A is all about. I still think learning is fun, which squares the University of the Third Age (U3A) circle.

LITERATURE for FUN

A few signed to indicate interest even though there was no-one promoting this group. It has apparently separated the roles of leader (expert) from telephone contact (usually the convener does both). With all the interest in the Reading Groups I do wonder if there is not a latent interest in a group reading, but perhaps not studying in so much detail, classic literature (though my reading group and Barbara Ellis's cover a bit of both).

CHESS

I had a good chat to 'I'm Maxie' who was sitting in front of his chess set offering to play passers-by. He was pleased with the response, and, seeking a central venue was another waiting for Hazel Court to open.

CALIGRAPHY

Maureen Thomas is trying to revive this group and looking for support. My wife Joan was a member of the earlier group which had good numeric support but rather lost its way when the leader was away for a few months; Joan wanting more than a social morning lost interest and stopped going. I am sure Maureen will put it on an a more interesting footing. She is starting a trial by meeting in Mumbles for all four weeks in February 2009.

DISCUSSION

In search of emails I stopped by with Roly Govier. I was quite taken by surprise at the group he was running. I had thought it would be esoteric discussions of a philosophic nature, but no it was very down to earth. He is delighted when someone new gets confident enough to take the lead. Each month someone volunteers to lead the discusion at the following meeting, next month it could well be proposed to discuss savings given the Credit Crunch or finding the best supplier of Gas/Electricity (ideas off the top of my head). I almost volunteered to slag off British Gas but Roly said touche, they are entirely banned from his house.

APOLOGIES

If I haven't mentioned your group it's probably because it looked too successful to benefit from my intervention last Wednesday.