Getting back into the routine (Again)

wedge1988

Hi all,

havnt posted anything on here (useful) for at least 5 months, maybe 6?

anyways, i had a large break from june until now on exams and im hopefully going to start revising for them again soon. Ill probably take the 70-293 in this month, just before christmas.

When i pass my 293, ill be creating notes for the 70-294, (which most of you nebies to this forum probably wont have a clue what theyre like unless you stumbled across them) theyre pretty good (if i can say so)

So yeh, basically ive spent the last 5 months doing tons of reading, head bashing and nose bleeding over lots of other materials. So i have good knowledge on sharepoint, exchange, sccm, dpm 2007, server 2008, windows 7. you name it ive been doing the damn stuff.

On the non-it side ive taken up learning the guitar and learning japanese (which is also hard to do but fun )

Im hoping to get the 2k3 series of exams out the way now (I have 3 more to do + windows 7 (yay)) ahem.

Anyways, glad to be back, and this time hopefully ill actually be able to fit the time in to view this forum. (there isnt any other one out there quite the same)

Bl8ckr0uter

wedge1988 wrote: »

On the non-it side ive taken up l and learning japanese (which is also hard to do but fun )

I would be interested in seeing notes on that..

dynamik

tanoshii desu ne

wedge1988

well i booked the exam last night, so im sitting on the 10th december. wish me luck

I dont have notes for my japanese xD sorry! (Im using textbooks and my iphone, with apps and audiobooks)

its expensive stuff but is enjoyable (And i gotta focus on the 293 exam now anyways, so ill have to delay on it a bit)

mrmcmint

Good luck Wedge - let us know how you get on.

dynamik

Dude, I LOVE the Japanese apps on the iPhone. Nothing like burning through some Kanji while waiting at an airport.

Also, be sure to check out Learn Japanese - Start to Speak Japanese in Minutes if you haven't already. Pimsleur makes good (albeit comparatively expensive) audio education as well.

wedge1988

thanks guys. Ill do what i can.

mrmcmint - check out my study nates for the 293 (Ill pm them you later tonight if i can as the link doesnt work anymore) they might help you!

I really agree with you Dynamik. The iKanji and iKana appas are great tools that i use for my japanese. Ill warn you that i dont know many words yet as im learning about the compilation of sentances and the writing / characters. (Which i've nearly learnt, just a bit more on the dakuon/handakuon and youon)

And ill check that out when i get 5, cheers - by the way, i have the pimsleur audio book series; theyre a great resource, but without the backup of books etc they wont stick with me good for conversational practice.



oh and a great book i have brought for christmas is this: Japanese for Busy People I | Overstock.com

Take a look if you get 5, its a brilliant book. (Make sure if you buy it then you get the one you want, they also do a romanised version but thats not proper japanese is it?)

wedge1988

failed the 293, first go.

Really annoyed at the length of the questions. ANNOYED. MS are taking the piss with this exam.

Apart from that im gonna retake after christmas. Ive gotta improve on the plan, implement and maintain network security.

The questions were just weird, i had like 5 sims and 10 drag n drops, stupid, since the drag and drops really didnt make sense to me.

well, looks like i have a lot to do. again, a very tough exam; and i hope that the others arent like this one was, i know my last exams werent.

NetAdmin2436

wedge1988 wrote: »

....since the drag and drops really didnt make sense to me.

well, looks like i have a lot to do. again, a very tough exam; and i hope that the others arent like this one was, i know my last exams werent.

That's part of the trouble I had as well. Just trying to figure out what they are really asking. Unfortunately the MCSE core exams (293, 294, 297) I found all to be very difficult in the same manner. But if I can do it, so can you. Trust me

Good luck!

wedge1988

thanks for the advice. Ill probably book it for january, but im not gonna go crazy over christmas!

Also, ill have a revised revision sheet for everybody. so stick to the post

mrmcmint

Sorry to hear that Wedge - It's certainly a horrible exam, and I have done nothing since taking it to brush up so far. I think I have burnt myself out this year so I'm having December off. Back to the books in January!

I agree - the drag/drop q's were not clear at all. I used one or two of them to claw back some time for the reading marathon of the next question. It turns out you have 3 minutes per question, which IMO is not enough time to read the whole question, digest the info and make an educated decision on what you believe to be the correct answer, I used all my time panicking about getting the question answered as quickly as possible. Bah!

Looking forward to the updated study notes!

All the best for the retake!

RobertKaucher

wedge1988 wrote: »

And ill check that out when i get 5, cheers - by the way, i have the pimsleur audio book series; theyre a great resource, but without the backup of books etc they wont stick with me good for conversational practice.

I used Pimsleur as an intro to Portuguese many years ago. I am quite fluent today and regularly watch Brazilian movies and TV with no subtitles. But until today I can recite the dialogs I learned using Pimsleur. They are a good suplement.

Good luck on your next attempt at the 293!

wedge1988

It turns out you have 3 minutes per question, which IMO is not enough time to read the whole question, digest the info and make an educated decision on what you believe to be the correct answer, I used all my time panicking about getting the question answered as quickly as possible. Bah!

I agree with this; its a very long winded exam. I took the questionnaire they e-mail you after you take an exam and said that they should have focoused more on the technical apect rather than long winded questions.

Ah well, ill pass it in january & Good luck to you too!

Ill post the updated notes in january or when i get them done if i get the time

mrmcmint

Thanks Wedge!
All the best