Hey Cluj

Some authors were seen as too hard for students.  Why?  Well, they were presented in chronological order.

At first, this sounds crazy.  If you were teaching English, you wouldn’t start with Bede.  If you were teaching French, you wouldn’t start with Patagruel or the song of Roland.  Or, would you?

In high school, I remember reading extracts of Shakespeare in grade seven or eight (I remember the middle school).  In year 9, we read Julius Ceasar.  In year ten, we read The Merchant of Venice.  In year 11, we read Macbeth.  In year 12, it was Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Moliere, the big objection

In the comments section, people said, why study Moliere?  Do the French study Romanians?  Yes, they do, but we’ll get back to that. 

Well, I’ve seen the previous Romanian curriculum, and it had American authors (like Mark Twain) were in there, along with other foreign authors, mostly from the English speaking world.  My copy of Lecturi pentru scolari clasa III-a has works by Jack London, Johanna Spyri, Mark Twain, Hector Malot, Lewis Carol,…

Which country, outside of Romania, might study Romanian authors?  Probably only France.  I spent a year there, they studied international works (beyond just French and the anglo-dominant.)  And, one of the most famous “francophone” authors is Romanian, Ionesco.

I was sixteen before I saw a play by Moliere because they didn’t appreciate Moliere as much in the English speaking world.  Tartuff was so visual, I could understand it in a language that I didn’t quite understand.  Les Fouberies de Scapin wasn’t as obvious, the director took a lot of liberties and set it in the old west.

In any case, I didn’t think Moliere was as complex as Goethe, or even modern writers.  The difficult thing about understanding Moliere is the language,  it is a bit archaic.  But, if you are reading a good translation anyway, it’s not that much of a problem.  (The problem with translations is you lose a little, especially the Alexandrines.)

The audience of Moliere in France and Belgium are not a bunch of artsy snobs.  No, you have middle aged ladies who go out for a good time, and I never heard a Belgian audience laugh the way those ladies did at a good Moliere play.  It is like they are watching Charlie Chaplin, or Nelu Marin Miliardaire, or a good modern stand up.  Or enthusiastic children who just discovered the world’s funniest clown.

The French enjoy good comedy, probably because they have good comedy.  Many of the 20th century’s greatest comics were French.  When you ask a Frenchman who their greatest countryman is, they are more likely to tell you the name of a comedian than an athlete or a politician.

It seems much easier for French audiences to understand Moliere than it is for English audiences to understand Shakespeare.  I think it is because France has better actors, many English actors are basically illiterate and just memorising the lines without understanding what they mean.

Some of Moliere’s plays have references to things of the past.  They assume a knowledge of history, of magic herbs, of geography, of something beyond anime and social media.  But they don’t assume much, and it is easy enough just to define the odd reference in the footnotes.

Ironically, there is an easy A1 easy French reader of Moliere’s Le Malade Imaginaire.  We saw it in a book fair in Cluj.  That is like, Moliere’s hardest play.  And they made an A1 version of it.  Ha! 

About ten years ago, the Moliere play “Le Malade Imaginaire” was in the Cabridge reading list for A-level French.  So, second language readers were expected to understand, but not necessarily 14 year olds.  However, the second language Brits were expected to read it in French.  British people are not known for their second language skills, so that is a flex.

It is ironic that Romania is part of Francophonie.  And, they don’t know Moliere here.  Even the greatest writers and teachers think he is too hard, so they protested, and had him removed from the beginner’s curriculum.

Goethe, yeah, that’s hard.  And not as fun.  Some of the other French authors that were chosen weren’t great either.

But, did the authors protest because the works were too hard?  Or, was it because by starting in chronological order (starting from the late 16th or even 19th century, I didn’t see any Greek or Roman or even medeival authors mentioned), they were afraid that their own books wouldn’t be read until PhD level?

Most contemporary Romanian authors kind of suck anyway.  I don’t know why anyone listens to them.  I tried to read one or two myself, and I find 19th century Romanian (or even communist era Romanian) much easier than the stuff from the past few years.  In the 20th century, Mircea Eliad is great, so is Traian Tandin.  Is Tandin on the new list?  He should be. 

But for the 21st century, I found a few obscure writers that are interesting, but the famous ones are not as fun.  I would rather read Moliere in Romanian, or early Romanian playwrights like Alecsandri, than most of the recent members of the academy.  (Do you have any recommedations?  I mean, good writers, not ones that you heard others praise but were unable to read yourself.)

Now stay tuned… will they listen to the economists who are protesting against the government’s increasingly demanding digital-paperwork requirements for business?  The bureaucracy, red tape, or whatever you want to call it, that gets in the way of us selling eco friendly Romanian products unless we fill out all kinds of forms?  (But that protects multinationals from having any local competitors by stiffling innovation?)

There is a lot of misinformation about studying in Europe.  For European union citizens, some countries are free to study at.  Some students come to Romania from western Europe because the cost of living here can be lower.  That said, costs in Romania are rising.

Finnish education, or the idea of it, is popular with outsiders.  Finland does not have standardised tests until the final years of secondary school.  Children stay at home until the age of seven.  They are taught many basics at home, that in other countries people expect schools to teach.

There is a “Finnish school” in Cluj.  We have not attended and cannot comment on to whether it prepares you for Finnish universities or not.

Finnish scholarships are offered by the universities, and can be found on the specific university websites.  Websites claiming to have information about scholarships coming from the Finnish government are scams.

There are two kinds of universities in Finland, traditional universities and Universities of Applied Sciences (UASs).  For an University of Applied Sciences Masters, you need a bachelors plus two years of professional experience.

All universities are applied through Studyinfo.fi where you can find more information about Finnish education.

Tuition cost for different nationalities, outside the EU and EEA, is between 8 and 20 thousand, with an average of 10 thousand.  In addition to tuition, the Finnish education board suggests a living between nine hundred and 1200 a month.  Theoretically, students could work part time to support their study, but due to economic conditions, students should not count on finding any part time work.  In other words, students should be self funded.

Students from outside the EU should have sufficient money in their bank account to support themselves during their studies.  If the education is being financed by someone else, that third party should put that money into the student’s bank account.

Studyinfo.fi is the go-to point for applying to Finnish Universities, and students should go to that portal.  This is not unique to Finland.

For Estonian Universities, and some other, they go through dreamapply.  For British universities, undergraduate and PGCE courses tend to go through UCAS.  (except perhaps some courses by Open University, which go through that university’s website.)

Information about studying in Germany can be found through Daad website.  https://www.daad.de/en/studying-in-germany/ 

For those interested in Studying in Cluj, each University operates its own timetables and websites.  Some of these are more clear than others.

Things that students need when applying, in addition to proof of academic creditials and id, are a medical certificate and proof of proficiency in the language you will study in.  Romania is the only country we know of that requires students (and employees) to provide a medical certificate before beginning a course of study, but maybe there are others.