University of Glasgow

Russian and German at Glasgow

Hi, I am thinking of applying for a joint honours degree in Russian and German at Glasgow Uni for 2017. Anybody on here that study either of these or are looking to? Their Russian resources are apparently 'world-class' according to the prospectus. However I am a relative beginner in both of these subjects - is this degree maybe too ambitious for me? I imagine a lot of students on modern languages degree may already be fluent/have a bigger understanding of the languages than I do.

Language fascinates me though and Russian particularly is something i've been interested in for years. If anyone can give me advice on what the course, lectures, workload is like, and if they do cater for beginner learners, that would be great! :smile:

Reply 1

vilr

I have the same problem with Spanish, I'm a beginner in this subject and it scares me too that maybe most students will already know the language quite well and that it will be hard for me. Well, I hope the best for both of us :biggrin:

University of Glasgow

No don't worry! I've just finished my first year of beginners italian and I remember this time last year I was scrolling through the student room looking for replies like this haha. The work load for beginners languages is very manageable, last year I was thinking about picking French as well but I was worried that I wouldn't be able to handle 2 beginners languages but looking back I wish I took French too! There are only a few hours at uni a week (every uni is like this with art students!) so you have a lot of time to study (or not haha!) I have a friend who studies beginners Russian and she loves it, she is the sort of person who goes out a lot but she still got good grades so if she can do it so can you :smile:

glasgow is amazing you'll love it if you come :smile:

Reply 4

lime-jelly

[QUOTE=vilr;66562774]I have the same problem with Spanish, I'm a beginner in this subject and it scares me too that maybe most students will already know the language quite well and that it will be hard for me. Well, I hope the best for both of us :biggrin:

Don't worry! Seriously, the course is so intensive (even though it doesn't feel like it) you'll be stunned by how much you've learnt by Christmas :smile:

I know a few people doing beginners spanish and they have really enjoyed it, they have said that the teachers are lovely. What's really good about languages here is that we get taught in little classes not in huge lecture theatres so you can easily make friends and chat with the teachers if you have a problem :smile:

come to glasgow!

Reply 5

toulouseexpress

Original post by lime-jelly

glasgow is amazing you'll love it if you come :smile:

Thanks for the reply :smile:

How many students roughly are on your Italian course?

I've heard that modern languages aren't popular degree choices anymore and are considered 'useless' ? Ha! Well.. we've just left the EU, I think having a degree in a foeign language has never been more valuable in terms of employment.

Reply 6

Skyseastars

Original post by toulouseexpress

Hello! I'm just going into second year of German and Italian at the University of Glasgow. The Modern Languages department is superb, large enough to be world-recognized but small enough that you get to know them really well.

The German department are lovely, and it's relatively easy to contact them in office hours. They make the seminars and discussions really interesting and quite relaxed. I mean, really they're wonderful tutors and you get a great mixture of native speakers and people who are fluent in the language from English.

Reply 7

Eternalhater

Hey guys if you need Russian language courses i can do that for u, i know russian very well, my experience is 12 years of stuying in a russian-speaking country got a perfect marks even know russian literature, so contact me for further details