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French Reading List? / Preparation Help

I'm planning on applying for French and Russian and was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on which books to read for French? Besides books, does anyone have other tips for making a successful application for modern languages? Thanks xx
Original post by gabrielabernal
I'm planning on applying for French and Russian and was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on which books to read for French? Besides books, does anyone have other tips for making a successful application for modern languages? Thanks xx


Have a browse of the Prelims reading list:

https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/access/content/group/modlang/general/handbooks/2014-15/Prelims/French%20Prelim%2014-15.pdf

I'd recommend reading some Molière as well: genuinely funny and not too hard to understand. My favourites are Le Bourgeois gentilhomme and Le malade imaginaire.

More general advice:

Practise analysing short passages of French (poems/prose extracts etc.) as this is an important part of most ML interviews. Pay particular attention to how form relates to thematic content.

Make sure your grammar is up to scratch in preparation for the MLAT and you should be in good stead. Learn your irregular conjugations/uses of subjunctive/uses of prepositions/concordance des temps/verb agreement etc.

I've just finished a French degree at Oxford so if you have any other questions, fire away.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by qwertyuiop1993
Have a browse of the Prelims reading list:

https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/access/content/group/modlang/general/handbooks/2014-15/Prelims/French%20Prelim%2014-15.pdf

I'd recommend reading some Molière as well: genuinely funny and not too hard to understand. My favourites are Le Bourgeois gentilhomme and Le malade imaginaire.

More general advice:

Practise analysing short passages of French (poems/prose extracts etc.) as this is an important part of most ML interviews. Pay particular attention to how form relates to thematic content.

Make sure your grammar is up to scratch in preparation for the MLAT and you should be in good stead. Learn your irregular conjugations/uses of subjunctive/uses of prepositions/concordance des temps/verb agreement etc.

I've just finished a French degree at Oxford so if you have any other questions, fire away.


Thank you so much! Uhm, do you have any advice on how to make my personal statement stand out and really show the tutors that I have a strong passion for both subjects I'm applying for? How many books did you mention in your personal statement? What did you find the hardest part of the MLAT and how did you do with the translations? xx
Original post by gabrielabernal
Thank you so much! Uhm, do you have any advice on how to make my personal statement stand out and really show the tutors that I have a strong passion for both subjects I'm applying for? How many books did you mention in your personal statement? What did you find the hardest part of the MLAT and how did you do with the translations? xx


To be honest your personal statement is probably one of the less important aspects of the application so I wouldn't worry too much about making it really stand out. Mention your wider exploration of the subject: this might include foreign literature/philosophy/politics etc. You might mention whether you have travelled to the countries concerned.

I would mention a broad range of books (ideally covering poetry, prose, theatre) but not too many, as often the personal statement is used as a springboard for discussion at interview and so you need to know the texts you mention pretty well; best not to give yourself too much unnecessary work. I think I mentioned around 4 or 5 authors.

The hardest part of the MLAT (i.e. hardest to prepare for) is probably the preposition gap fill, just because on the day one might come up that you just happen not to have seen before, whereas things like agreement/use of tenses are (more or less) systematic. If you do some solid grammar revision it really shouldn't be too difficult though. I went through Ferrar's A French Reference Grammar pretty thoroughly and got 95%.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by qwertyuiop1993
To be honest your personal statement is probably one of the less important aspects of the application so I wouldn't worry too much about making it really stand out. Mention your wider exploration of the subject: this might include foreign literature/philosophy/politics etc. You might mention whether you have travelled to the countries concerned.

I would mention a broad range of books (ideally covering poetry, prose, theatre) but not too many, as often the personal statement is used as a springboard for discussion at interview and so you need to know the texts you mention pretty well; best not to give yourself too much unnecessary work. I think I mentioned around 4 or 5 authors.

The hardest part of the MLAT (i.e. hardest to prepare for) is probably the preposition gap fill, just because on the day one might come up that you just happen not to have seen before, whereas things like agreement/use of tenses are (more or less) systematic. If you do some solid grammar revision it really shouldn't be too difficult though. I went through Ferrar's A French Reference Grammar pretty thoroughly and got 95%.


Thank you so much, you've been a great help!! :h::h:
Reply 5
Original post by qwertyuiop1993
Have a browse of the Prelims reading list:

https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/access/content/group/modlang/general/handbooks/2014-15/Prelims/French%20Prelim%2014-15.pdf

I'd recommend reading some Molière as well: genuinely funny and not too hard to understand. My favourites are Le Bourgeois gentilhomme and Le malade imaginaire.

More general advice:

Practise analysing short passages of French (poems/prose extracts etc.) as this is an important part of most ML interviews. Pay particular attention to how form relates to thematic content.

Make sure your grammar is up to scratch in preparation for the MLAT and you should be in good stead. Learn your irregular conjugations/uses of subjunctive/uses of prepositions/concordance des temps/verb agreement etc.

I've just finished a French degree at Oxford so if you have any other questions, fire away.


Hi! Do all books for French at Oxford have to be read in French? Are there ever literature books from reading lists that are only expected to be read in English?
Original post by mjk27
Hi! Do all books for French at Oxford have to be read in French? Are there ever literature books from reading lists that are only expected to be read in English?

Yeah, the expectation is that you will read the books in French. In reality I think some people get away with reading a few in translation if they're really short on time during term. However, the reading is an invaluable time to assimilate French in general and so reading in English essentially hobbles your linguistic progress in the long run.
(edited 4 years ago)

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