Bruna Tolomeli (Brazil)

I am Bruna Tolomeli from Brazil studying MA Post Production Editing. In my opinion, study skills in Brazil are not that different from the ones in the UK, but I have noticed a few differences between them.

Exams vs essays

Firstly, one of the differences is the way each country assesses their students. In Brazil, I had exams for every single subject and had to study a lot for each exam, even memorise dates and events. The exams would take around two hours and there was a lot of writing involved and you had to answer specific questions given to me by the examiners.

In the UK, however, I have only had one exam in my entire academic year. I mostly had to work on hands-on projects, involving team work and writing essays. I had to learn how to write academic essays in the UK style, as I was not used to being assessed this way. The interesting thing about writing essays is that you choose one subject that interests you and develop it in-depth, whereas for exams I had to study a little bit of everything.

Time-management

Secondly, organisational skills and time-management differ slightly from one country to the other. In the UK, I know all my deadlines from day one, whereas in Brazil I would only get this information at mid-term. Therefore, in the UK, I have been able to organise my studies from the very beginning of the term, and this enables me to start projects early enough in order to have time to “triple check” my final assignments for submission.

All skills are useful

The skills I used in Brazil to do general study, memorise content and demonstrate knowledge in exams, helped me to develop the academic skills I needed in the UK, carrying out in-depth research and exploring and analysing a specific topic within a wider subject area. Studying in Brazil has also helped me learn how to prioritise and develop problem-solving skills.

Each country has its own peculiarities, and from every experience there is a lot for you to learn and countless skills to acquire and develop. Make the best of your experience in the UK by using the skills you have brought from your home country and by developing others!

By Bruna Tolomeli, Brazil, MA Post Production Editing, 2017/18