diff --git a/Intermediate.ipynb b/Intermediate.ipynb
index 6edb3ef..60b62f7 100644
--- a/Intermediate.ipynb
+++ b/Intermediate.ipynb
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@
     "editable": false
    },
    "source": [
-    "# <ins>**1.**</ins> Recap"
+    "# <ins>1.</ins> Recap"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -4246,6 +4246,62 @@
     "# <ins>7.</ins> Advanced string manipulation"
    ]
   },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "id": "e34aedb6",
+   "metadata": {
+    "editable": false,
+    "slideshow": {
+     "slide_type": "slide"
+    },
+    "tags": []
+   },
+   "source": [
+    "## String Methods - Working with String Objects"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "id": "ffef8f84",
+   "metadata": {
+    "editable": false,
+    "slideshow": {
+     "slide_type": ""
+    }
+   },
+   "source": [
+    "In Python, strings are objects, and objects have **methods** - functions that belong to and operate on that object.\n",
+    "\n",
+    "**Syntax**: `string_object.method_name(arguments)`\n",
+    "\n",
+    "Key characteristics:\n",
+    "- Methods are called using _dot notation_: `variable.method()`\n",
+    "- String methods return a **new string** (strings are immutable)\n",
+    "- The original string is never modified\n",
+    "- You must assign the result if you want to keep it\n",
+    "\n",
+    "**Example:**"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": null,
+   "id": "d5bd4280",
+   "metadata": {
+    "editable": true,
+    "slideshow": {
+     "slide_type": ""
+    },
+    "tags": []
+   },
+   "outputs": [],
+   "source": [
+    "text = \"hello world\"\n",
+    "result = text.upper()  # Creates new string\n",
+    "print(text)            # Still \"hello world\" \n",
+    "print(result)          # \"HELLO WORLD\""
+   ]
+  },
   {
    "cell_type": "markdown",
    "id": "c9016a2e-dee1-4030-a1a0-8e519a84be6f",
@@ -4257,10 +4313,11 @@
     "editable": false
    },
    "source": [
-    "* Adjusting case\n",
-    "* Formatting strings\n",
-    "  - _Note_: Modification requires assignment, because these functions return a copy, not modifying the original string\n",
-    "* Quering the existence, replacing, splitting"
+    "Common categories of string methods we'll explore:\n",
+    "- **Finding/searching**: `find()`, `index()`\n",
+    "- **Checking**: `startswith()`, `endswith()`\n",
+    "- **Transforming**: `replace()`, `upper()`, `lower()`, `capitalize()`, `strip()`\n",
+    "- **Splitting/joining**: `split()`, `join()`"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -4274,33 +4331,28 @@
     "editable": false
    },
    "source": [
-    "## Finding values \n",
-    "* `find()` and `index()` both return index of a substring,\n",
-    "   - `index()` raises a `ValueError` exception when not found (_exception handling_)\n",
-    "   - `find()` returns `-1` when a values was not found\n"
+    "## Finding/searching string methods"
    ]
   },
   {
-   "cell_type": "code",
-   "execution_count": null,
-   "id": "0eab0a2d-eea9-4c33-b700-56eb293ef28b",
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "id": "a4fa9b5b",
    "metadata": {
+    "editable": false,
     "slideshow": {
      "slide_type": ""
-    },
-    "tags": []
+    }
    },
-   "outputs": [],
    "source": [
-    "line = \"the quick brown fox jumped over a lazy dog\"\n",
-    "print(line.find('fox'))\n",
-    "print(line.index('fox'))"
+    "These methods help you locate substrings within a string, returning their position or checking for their presence:\n",
+    "* `index()`\n",
+    "* `find()`"
    ]
   },
   {
    "cell_type": "code",
    "execution_count": null,
-   "id": "134c6eba-8897-4ee8-a6e5-f3740a0a4d21",
+   "id": "0eab0a2d-eea9-4c33-b700-56eb293ef28b",
    "metadata": {
     "slideshow": {
      "slide_type": ""
@@ -4309,13 +4361,15 @@
    },
    "outputs": [],
    "source": [
-    "print(line.find('wombat'))"
+    "line = \"the quick brown fox jumped over a lazy dog\"\n",
+    "print(line.find('fox'))\n",
+    "print(line.index('fox'))"
    ]
   },
   {
    "cell_type": "code",
    "execution_count": null,
-   "id": "fc5a28ef-8a31-434a-a653-1662cc274945",
+   "id": "134c6eba-8897-4ee8-a6e5-f3740a0a4d21",
    "metadata": {
     "slideshow": {
      "slide_type": ""
@@ -4324,10 +4378,7 @@
    },
    "outputs": [],
    "source": [
-    "try:\n",
-    "    print(line.index('wombat'))\n",
-    "except ValueError:\n",
-    "    print(\"A wombat isn't mentioned in the text\")"
+    "print(line.find('wombat'))"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -4341,7 +4392,7 @@
     "editable": false
    },
    "source": [
-    "## Checking conditions on strings"
+    "## Checking string methods"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -4355,7 +4406,9 @@
     "editable": false
    },
    "source": [
-    "* Checking whether a string starts or ends a certain way is really common and easy"
+    "These methods return boolean values (`True` or `False`) to verify if a string matches certain patterns or criteria:\n",
+    "* `startswith(substring)`\n",
+    "* `endswith(substring)`"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -4399,13 +4452,13 @@
    "id": "e040bf97-a6bd-493e-b047-2041b5a99131",
    "metadata": {
     "slideshow": {
-     "slide_type": "slide"
+     "slide_type": ""
     },
     "tags": [],
     "editable": false
    },
    "source": [
-    "* The canonical way to search a string (if not interested in the index):"
+    "The canonical way to search a string (if not interested in the index):"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -4435,7 +4488,25 @@
     "editable": false
    },
    "source": [
-    "## Replacing a value:"
+    "## Transforming string methods"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "id": "80b12b8b",
+   "metadata": {
+    "editable": false,
+    "slideshow": {
+     "slide_type": ""
+    }
+   },
+   "source": [
+    "These methods create modified versions of strings by replacing content, changing case, or removing unwanted characters. _**Remember**: strings are immutable, so these methods always return a new string._\n",
+    "* `replace(old, new)`\n",
+    "* `upper()`\n",
+    "* `lower()`\n",
+    "* `capitalize()`\n",
+    "* `strip()`"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -4455,20 +4526,6 @@
     "print(line.replace('brown', 'red'))"
    ]
   },
-  {
-   "cell_type": "markdown",
-   "id": "bb4faee5-8c3f-4919-acbe-1b7b2cf7b700",
-   "metadata": {
-    "slideshow": {
-     "slide_type": "slide"
-    },
-    "tags": [],
-    "editable": false
-   },
-   "source": [
-    "## Bring all words to a common case"
-   ]
-  },
   {
    "cell_type": "code",
    "execution_count": null,
@@ -4488,20 +4545,6 @@
     "print(arc_update.capitalize())"
    ]
   },
-  {
-   "cell_type": "markdown",
-   "id": "7a25cc7f-6040-4c03-ac38-b5f9a7baef41",
-   "metadata": {
-    "slideshow": {
-     "slide_type": "slide"
-    },
-    "tags": [],
-    "editable": false
-   },
-   "source": [
-    "## Removing white space"
-   ]
-  },
   {
    "cell_type": "code",
    "execution_count": null,
@@ -4531,7 +4574,22 @@
     "editable": false
    },
    "source": [
-    "## Extracting/concatenating the individual words or parts"
+    "## Splitting/joining string methods"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "id": "71a4546c",
+   "metadata": {
+    "editable": false,
+    "slideshow": {
+     "slide_type": ""
+    }
+   },
+   "source": [
+    "These methods allow you to break strings apart into lists of substrings, or combine lists of strings into a single string. They're particularly useful for parsing text data or formatting output:\n",
+    "* `split(separator)` - splits string into a list at each occurrence of separator (defaults to whitespace)\n",
+    "* `join(iterable)` - joins elements of an iterable into a single string with the string as separator"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -4566,7 +4624,7 @@
     "editable": false
    },
    "source": [
-    "The operation in the other direction is `a_string.join()` where `a_string` is placed between every string of a list"
+    "The `join` operation is `a_string.join()` where `a_string` is placed between every string of a list"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -5848,7 +5906,7 @@
    "name": "python",
    "nbconvert_exporter": "python",
    "pygments_lexer": "ipython3",
-   "version": "3.12.3"
+   "version": "3.13.0"
   }
  },
  "nbformat": 4,
diff --git a/Intermediate_full.ipynb b/Intermediate_full.ipynb
index ed93204..2ab66cd 100644
--- a/Intermediate_full.ipynb
+++ b/Intermediate_full.ipynb
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@
     "tags": []
    },
    "source": [
-    "# <ins>**1.**</ins> Recap"
+    "# <ins>1.</ins> Recap"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -3131,7 +3131,9 @@
     }
    },
    "source": [
-    "_Note_: the data structure returned by `dict.items()` is of type `dict_items`,\n",
+    "<ins>Speaker notes:</ins>\n",
+    "\n",
+    "The data structure returned by `dict.items()` is of type `dict_items`,\n",
     "which is an iterable view object displaying the dictionary’s (key, value) pairs"
    ]
   },
@@ -3686,7 +3688,7 @@
     "tags": []
    },
    "source": [
-    "<ins>Notes:</ins>\n",
+    "<ins>Speaker notes:</ins>\n",
     " - We are using indented blocks again\n",
     "   - All statements in the try block will be executed one by one\n",
     "   - If one fails, the interpreter checks whether an except block with a matching exception type exists and execute the code in there\n",
@@ -3742,7 +3744,7 @@
     "tags": []
    },
    "source": [
-    "<ins>Notes:</ins>\n",
+    "<ins>Speaker notes:</ins>\n",
     "- Do __not__ write out the function again, modify the original function to look like the result function\n",
     "- Demonstrate that you can catch the exception with a bare except\n",
     "- Change the function to use the `ZeroDivisionError` explicitely, to avoid catching errors we do not mean to catch"
@@ -3811,7 +3813,7 @@
     "tags": []
    },
    "source": [
-    "<ins>Notes:</ins>\n",
+    "<ins>Speaker notes:</ins>\n",
     "- Do __not__ write out the function again, modify the original function to look like the result function\n",
     "- Using the from keyword we can add an exception to the error stack.\n",
     "- This can be used to give additional information, that makes the error source in the input easily traceable"
@@ -3868,7 +3870,7 @@
     "tags": []
    },
    "source": [
-    "<ins>Notes:</ins>\n",
+    "<ins>Speaker notes:</ins>\n",
     "- Do __not__ write out the function again, modify the original function to look like the result function\n",
     "- It is good practice to have these checks early in a function. Nobody likes to be 10h into a script execution to then fail a validation"
    ]
@@ -3955,7 +3957,7 @@
     "tags": []
    },
    "source": [
-    "<ins>Notes:</ins>\n",
+    "<ins>Speaker notes:</ins>\n",
     "- Do __not__ write out the function again, modify the original function to look like the result function\n",
     "- Finally is often used in clean up operations."
    ]
@@ -4267,7 +4269,7 @@
     "tags": []
    },
    "source": [
-    "<ins>Notes:</ins>\n",
+    "<ins>Speaker notes:</ins>\n",
     "- In JupyterLite, logging output is suppressed by default unless you explicitly configure a handler."
    ]
   },
@@ -4372,6 +4374,62 @@
     "# <ins>7.</ins> Advanced string manipulation"
    ]
   },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "id": "e34aedb6",
+   "metadata": {
+    "editable": true,
+    "slideshow": {
+     "slide_type": "slide"
+    },
+    "tags": []
+   },
+   "source": [
+    "## String Methods - Working with String Objects"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "id": "ffef8f84",
+   "metadata": {
+    "editable": true,
+    "slideshow": {
+     "slide_type": ""
+    }
+   },
+   "source": [
+    "In Python, strings are objects, and objects have **methods** - functions that belong to and operate on that object.\n",
+    "\n",
+    "**Syntax**: `string_object.method_name(arguments)`\n",
+    "\n",
+    "Key characteristics:\n",
+    "- Methods are called using _dot notation_: `variable.method()`\n",
+    "- String methods return a **new string** (strings are immutable)\n",
+    "- The original string is never modified\n",
+    "- You must assign the result if you want to keep it\n",
+    "\n",
+    "**Example:**"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": null,
+   "id": "d5bd4280",
+   "metadata": {
+    "editable": true,
+    "slideshow": {
+     "slide_type": ""
+    },
+    "tags": []
+   },
+   "outputs": [],
+   "source": [
+    "text = \"hello world\"\n",
+    "result = text.upper()  # Creates new string\n",
+    "print(text)            # Still \"hello world\" \n",
+    "print(result)          # \"HELLO WORLD\""
+   ]
+  },
   {
    "cell_type": "markdown",
    "id": "c9016a2e-dee1-4030-a1a0-8e519a84be6f",
@@ -4382,10 +4440,11 @@
     "tags": []
    },
    "source": [
-    "* Adjusting case\n",
-    "* Formatting strings\n",
-    "  - _Note_: Modification requires assignment, because these functions return a copy, not modifying the original string\n",
-    "* Quering the existence, replacing, splitting"
+    "Common categories of string methods we'll explore:\n",
+    "- **Finding/searching**: `find()`, `index()`\n",
+    "- **Checking**: `startswith()`, `endswith()`\n",
+    "- **Transforming**: `replace()`, `upper()`, `lower()`, `capitalize()`, `strip()`\n",
+    "- **Splitting/joining**: `split()`, `join()`"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -4398,10 +4457,22 @@
     "tags": []
    },
    "source": [
-    "## Finding values \n",
-    "* `find()` and `index()` both return index of a substring,\n",
-    "   - `index()` raises a `ValueError` exception when not found (_exception handling_)\n",
-    "   - `find()` returns `-1` when a values was not found\n"
+    "## Finding/searching string methods"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "id": "a4fa9b5b",
+   "metadata": {
+    "editable": true,
+    "slideshow": {
+     "slide_type": ""
+    }
+   },
+   "source": [
+    "These methods help you locate substrings within a string, returning their position or checking for their presence:\n",
+    "* `index()`\n",
+    "* `find()`"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -4437,21 +4508,17 @@
    ]
   },
   {
-   "cell_type": "code",
-   "execution_count": null,
-   "id": "fc5a28ef-8a31-434a-a653-1662cc274945",
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "id": "714fc569",
    "metadata": {
     "slideshow": {
-     "slide_type": ""
-    },
-    "tags": []
+     "slide_type": "notes"
+    }
    },
-   "outputs": [],
    "source": [
-    "try:\n",
-    "    print(line.index('wombat'))\n",
-    "except ValueError:\n",
-    "    print(\"A wombat isn't mentioned in the text\")"
+    "<ins>Speaker notes:</ins>\n",
+    "\n",
+    "The key difference is how they handle missing substrings - `find()` returns `-1` while `index()` raises an exception:"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -4464,7 +4531,7 @@
     "tags": []
    },
    "source": [
-    "## Checking conditions on strings"
+    "## Checking string methods"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -4477,7 +4544,24 @@
     "tags": []
    },
    "source": [
-    "* Checking whether a string starts or ends a certain way is really common and easy"
+    "These methods return boolean values (`True` or `False`) to verify if a string matches certain patterns or criteria:\n",
+    "* `startswith(substring)`\n",
+    "* `endswith(substring)`"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "id": "6ac1c80f",
+   "metadata": {
+    "editable": true,
+    "slideshow": {
+     "slide_type": "notes"
+    }
+   },
+   "source": [
+    "<ins>Speaker notes:</ins>\n",
+    "\n",
+    "These methods are case-sensitive."
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -4521,12 +4605,12 @@
    "id": "e040bf97-a6bd-493e-b047-2041b5a99131",
    "metadata": {
     "slideshow": {
-     "slide_type": "slide"
+     "slide_type": ""
     },
     "tags": []
    },
    "source": [
-    "* The canonical way to search a string (if not interested in the index):"
+    "The canonical way to search a string (if not interested in the index):"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -4555,37 +4639,42 @@
     "tags": []
    },
    "source": [
-    "## Replacing a value:"
+    "## Transforming string methods"
    ]
   },
   {
-   "cell_type": "code",
-   "execution_count": null,
-   "id": "292d8b56-1142-4927-9320-9c6331f5a962",
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "id": "80b12b8b",
    "metadata": {
+    "editable": true,
     "slideshow": {
      "slide_type": ""
-    },
-    "tags": []
+    }
    },
-   "outputs": [],
    "source": [
-    "line = \"the quick brown fox jumped over a lazy dog\"\n",
-    "print(line)\n",
-    "print(line.replace('brown', 'red'))"
+    "These methods create modified versions of strings by replacing content, changing case, or removing unwanted characters. _**Remember**: strings are immutable, so these methods always return a new string._\n",
+    "* `replace(old, new)`\n",
+    "* `upper()`\n",
+    "* `lower()`\n",
+    "* `capitalize()`\n",
+    "* `strip()`"
    ]
   },
   {
-   "cell_type": "markdown",
-   "id": "bb4faee5-8c3f-4919-acbe-1b7b2cf7b700",
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": null,
+   "id": "292d8b56-1142-4927-9320-9c6331f5a962",
    "metadata": {
     "slideshow": {
-     "slide_type": "slide"
+     "slide_type": ""
     },
     "tags": []
    },
+   "outputs": [],
    "source": [
-    "## Bring all words to a common case"
+    "line = \"the quick brown fox jumped over a lazy dog\"\n",
+    "print(line)\n",
+    "print(line.replace('brown', 'red'))"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -4607,19 +4696,6 @@
     "print(arc_update.capitalize())"
    ]
   },
-  {
-   "cell_type": "markdown",
-   "id": "7a25cc7f-6040-4c03-ac38-b5f9a7baef41",
-   "metadata": {
-    "slideshow": {
-     "slide_type": "slide"
-    },
-    "tags": []
-   },
-   "source": [
-    "## Removing white space"
-   ]
-  },
   {
    "cell_type": "code",
    "execution_count": null,
@@ -4648,7 +4724,22 @@
     "tags": []
    },
    "source": [
-    "## Extracting/concatenating the individual words or parts"
+    "## Splitting/joining string methods"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "id": "71a4546c",
+   "metadata": {
+    "editable": true,
+    "slideshow": {
+     "slide_type": ""
+    }
+   },
+   "source": [
+    "These methods allow you to break strings apart into lists of substrings, or combine lists of strings into a single string. They're particularly useful for parsing text data or formatting output:\n",
+    "* `split(separator)` - splits string into a list at each occurrence of separator (defaults to whitespace)\n",
+    "* `join(iterable)` - joins elements of an iterable into a single string with the string as separator"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -4682,7 +4773,7 @@
     "tags": []
    },
    "source": [
-    "The operation in the other direction is `a_string.join()` where `a_string` is placed between every string of a list"
+    "The `join` operation is `a_string.join()` where `a_string` is placed between every string of a list"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -5886,7 +5977,7 @@
     "tags": []
    },
    "source": [
-    "<ins>Speaker notes</ins>\n",
+    "<ins>Speaker notes:</ins>\n",
     " - In this example, participants can be contacted via e-mail or Teams\n",
     " - The information we need for the two contact possibilities is completely independent\n",
     " - The specific behaviour is used by the class, but the details are not important for the class\n",
@@ -6165,7 +6256,7 @@
    "name": "python",
    "nbconvert_exporter": "python",
    "pygments_lexer": "ipython3",
-   "version": "3.12.3"
+   "version": "3.13.0"
   }
  },
  "nbformat": 4,