Where do you want to study in 2006?

OP

It's a good point, I'm not sure how useful Italian would be for commerical law. Durham is a top uni so maybe I should go there. That's if they make me an offer!! Ah well, I know where I'm applying, we'll see what happens. 5/6 of my unis are for 3 language degrees but they are really flexible which is good, so I could just do 2. So much to think about! I heard Leicester was quite nice too.

Reply 23

OP

Ignore that bit of my PM iris, you just answered it! My language skills are good I think, despite the fact that I was practically fluent when doing my work experience, I bet I'll be crap when I go back! And my work experience was only for French :frown:

. I need to improve drastically to take the AEAs anyway, well start remembering stuff anyhow! I don't want to read this book, I want to read my own stuff for enjoyment! But no, always stay on the right side of your teachers!

Reply 24

Richy Rich$$

2

leannemann

Ignore that bit of my PM iris, you just answered it! My language skills are good I think, despite the fact that I was practically fluent when doing my work experience, I bet I'll be crap when I go back! And my work experience was only for French :frown:

. I need to improve drastically to take the AEAs anyway, well start remembering stuff anyhow! I don't want to read this book, I want to read my own stuff for enjoyment! But no, always stay on the right side of your teachers!

Are you sure you have to send in 3-4 pieces of written work? Most colleges only ask for 2 or 3 max, or at least that's what i had to do. And they dont all have to be in French/spanish, and they can also be history essays etc.

Secondly if literature really isnt your thing, dont spend too much time on it. I much prefer lingustics, and only did a bit of literature for my interview preparation. And that i did do was all in translation- they wont know! So in my interview we didnt really touch on literature at all.

Reply 25

Richy Rich$$

Are you sure you have to send in 3-4 pieces of written work? Most colleges only ask for 2 or 3 max, or at least that's what i had to do. And they dont all have to be in French/spanish, and they can also be history essays etc.

Secondly if literature really isnt your thing, dont spend too much time on it. I much prefer lingustics, and only did a bit of literature for my interview preparation. And that i did do was all in translation- they wont know! So in my interview we didnt really touch on literature at all.

I think for Sidney you have to send 2, at least one of which is in a foreign language, plus you have 3 interviews (1 for each language and 1 more general) and have a written test.

Reply 26

OP

I'm only reading this one book because I have to! But I have been reading other stuff. I do like literature but studying it as a degree, I kind of get the feeling would be like doing an English degree just in another language. I'm just going to do what I enjoy and if they don't like it then that's not a problem! I just checked my info, it says 3-4 interview (I was told 1 Eng, 1 French, 1 Spanish and possibly a 2nd english one). I remember being told pretty much the same for the work too, 1 Eng, 1 French, 1 Span and possibly a 2nd English/History one. The written test looks like it might be quite good. A change from boring AS exams though - that's why A2 coursework would be good too :smile:

Reply 27

leannemann

I'm only reading this one book because I have to! But I have been reading other stuff. I do like literature but studying it as a degree, I kind of get the feeling would be like doing an English degree just in another language. I'm just going to do what I enjoy and if they don't like it then that's not a problem! I just checked my info, it says 3-4 interview (I was told 1 Eng, 1 French, 1 Spanish and possibly a 2nd english one). I remember being told pretty much the same for the work too, 1 Eng, 1 French, 1 Span and possibly a 2nd English/History one. The written test looks like it might be quite good. A change from boring AS exams though - that's why A2 coursework would be good too :smile:

What college are you applying to? For Sidney, I have it as 2 or 3 interviews, either one for French that would be half in French and half in English and one for Spanish that would be mostly in English because I'm doing ab-initio and would also include some more general questions, or a third more general interview. For written work, they want 2 essays, one in French and one in English that can be for any subject. Then there's the written test, which I know nothing about :redface:

Reply 28

OP

Girton I think. It was between Girton and Tit Hall but I think Tit Hall has lost! It varies college to college, and perhaps because I'm applying post A Level for two languages they want more evidence of my language skills/lack of? Check out Queen's college' website. Was going to apply there originally and they have good egs of written tests. There is a passage in English, and you just respond to it in French or whichever language you choose.

Reply 29

Richy Rich$$

2

The written tests, or at least the one i did, was *absolutely* dreadful. They give you a text in English and ask you to summarise it and answer a related question in French. The test varies between colleges, but i found it too intellectual and it all went over my head. I hadnt got a clue what i was writing about, and i was very below the word limit. It was the worse piece of writing i think i've ever done, both in content and language, and i still got in. So dont worry too much about the test, i dont really think they use it very much or even at all.

Reply 30

OP

Yeah I heard it didn't really count for much either. I was told it would only go for you not against you. i.e. they would only use it to confirm giving you an offer and not a way of rejecting you. There's hope for us all :smile:

Reply 31

priya

14

uni choices:

if you're going to apply to bristol, then by all means do so, but if you're going to apply to oxbridge as well, be careful how your references/application etc are worded. if bristol have any clue that you might get an offer from oxbridge, you may be putting yourself at a disadvantage. on the other hand langs are heavily undersubscribed, so the danger is far more minimal than in comparison to something like law/history.

kelly- 3 interviews?! lordy that won't be nice. you'll have pete collier for the french one though- he's a sweetheart but sooooooo clever and scary on first impressions!

manchester is great for languages, it's consistently high in the tables, i was very impressed. as for the interview, leanne, don't worry about it. they'll let you in as long as you can speak gcse level french!! that's pretty much all i did for my german interview, she didn't even ask me why i wanted to study italian ab-initio. offers are low as well, mine was BBC (might have changed now though)

with oxbridge, although iris is right in sayin that they can be stressful, i definitely think it's worth it for the MML course. as i said earlier, langs are undersubscribed- if you have an application good enough for ox/camb, you are almost guaranteed offers from everywhere else you apply. even warwick, who are reputed to have a good german course, offered me the equivalent of BCD. so yes, it's worth it. because you'll kick yourself later, thinking "what if"

Reply 32

priya

14

leannemann

Ignore that bit of my PM iris, you just answered it! My language skills are good I think, despite the fact that I was practically fluent when doing my work experience, I bet I'll be crap when I go back! And my work experience was only for French :frown:

. I need to improve drastically to take the AEAs anyway, well start remembering stuff anyhow! I don't want to read this book, I want to read my own stuff for enjoyment! But no, always stay on the right side of your teachers!

read a bit to keep your teachers happy. but read whatever else you want for your own enjoyment. i know iris has given you a detailed account of her interview, but thats not will necessariliy happen in yours. you language skills should be up to scratch, yes, but also remember that 2 of your papers, and eventually more, of the mml course at camb will be 'scheduled' papers- they will not be language papers as such (literature/history/linguistic) so reading books (even linguistics ones if they take your fancy?!) will be useful. mention it on your PS and see what happens at interview, can't guarantee they'll ask you about it, but they're more likely to if they're aware of your interests

Reply 33

Richy Rich$$

The written tests, or at least the one i did, was *absolutely* dreadful. They give you a text in English and ask you to summarise it and answer a related question in French. The test varies between colleges, but i found it too intellectual and it all went over my head. I hadnt got a clue what i was writing about, and i was very below the word limit. It was the worse piece of writing i think i've ever done, both in content and language, and i still got in. So dont worry too much about the test, i dont really think they use it very much or even at all.

Sounds nasty :frown:

I'll check out the Queens' website for some examples, but it's nice to know they don't really matter that much!

Reply 34

priya

uni choices:

if you're going to apply to bristol, then by all means do so, but if you're going to apply to oxbridge as well, be careful how your references/application etc are worded. if bristol have any clue that you might get an offer from oxbridge, you may be putting yourself at a disadvantage. on the other hand langs are heavily undersubscribed, so the danger is far more minimal than in comparison to something like law/history.

kelly- 3 interviews?! lordy that won't be nice. you'll have pete collier for the french one though- he's a sweetheart but sooooooo clever and scary on first impressions!

manchester is great for languages, it's consistently high in the tables, i was very impressed. as for the interview, leanne, don't worry about it. they'll let you in as long as you can speak gcse level french!! that's pretty much all i did for my german interview, she didn't even ask me why i wanted to study italian ab-initio. offers are low as well, mine was BBC (might have changed now though)

with oxbridge, although iris is right in sayin that they can be stressful, i definitely think it's worth it for the MML course. as i said earlier, langs are undersubscribed- if you have an application good enough for ox/camb, you are almost guaranteed offers from everywhere else you apply. even warwick, who are reputed to have a good german course, offered me the equivalent of BCD. so yes, it's worth it. because you'll kick yourself later, thinking "what if"

Thanks for the advice. I'll take another look at Manchester later. I really need to get on with this reading though- I have 7 books that I promised myself I was going to read over the summer (3 French, 2 Spanish, 1 French history, 1 Spanish history) so I have something to write about on my PS, but so far I'm only a quarter of the way through the first one. I should really start my Spanish course at some point today too........

Reply 35

OP

priya

read a bit to keep your teachers happy. but read whatever else you want for your own enjoyment. i know iris has given you a detailed account of her interview, but thats not will necessariliy happen in yours. you language skills should be up to scratch, yes, but also remember that 2 of your papers, and eventually more, of the mml course at camb will be 'scheduled' papers- they will not be language papers as such (literature/history/linguistic) so reading books (even linguistics ones if they take your fancy?!) will be useful. mention it on your PS and see what happens at interview, can't guarantee they'll ask you about it, but they're more likely to if they're aware of your interests

I have only read that one book that my teachers asked me to. 2 other people are applying for MML at Oxford so they have to read literature. I've read loads of books in the languages and I do enjoy it, I'm just not sure if I want to study it if that makes sense. I've been reading loads of linguistics stuff to because it will influence what course I apply for at Durham, and will help with English next year and some of it is really interesting. I'm mentioning books I've read if i think it's relevant because I do like literature, I'm just more attracted to the linguistics modules. I've already spoken to a couple of people at Cam about it when I went down and they advised me on which colleges are better for linguistics. Iris didn't give me an account of her interview, er she's a scientist :s-smilie:

. It was a PM about something else!

Reply 36

khil

15

leannemann

I have only read that one book that my teachers asked me to. 2 other people are applying for MML at Oxford so they have to read literature. I've read loads of books in the languages and I do enjoy it, I'm just not sure if I want to study it if that makes sense. I've been reading loads of linguistics stuff to because it will influence what course I apply for at Durham, and will help with English next year and some of it is really interesting. I'm mentioning books I've read if i think it's relevant because I do like literature, I'm just more attracted to the linguistics modules. I've already spoken to a couple of people at Cam about it when I went down and they advised me on which colleges are better for linguistics. Iris didn't give me an account of her interview, er she's a scientist :s-smilie:

. It was a PM about something else!

Lol well I did mention my interviews in this thread :biggrin:

But yeh as Priya says, mine wasn't a language interview so it's probably gonna be different to yours!

You're gonna do an AEA? :eek:

Would you really wanna when Cam's probably gonna base their offer on that as wekk if they offer you, besides the straight A's?

Hehe I'm really a writer and artist at heart :biggrin:

Although I call myself a scientist when I wanna act like I know something :p:

*bounces off to reply to your PMs* :biggrin:

Reply 37

Richy Rich$$

2

kellywood_5

Sounds nasty :frown:

I'll check out the Queens' website for some examples, but it's nice to know they don't really matter that much!

Do you mean these examples - www.quns.cam.ac.uk/Queens/Admissions/mml/sample.htm ? These are ones you might get in your interview to talk about
If so i found them soooo useful. I took them to my teacher and we went over the question that are under neath. I learnt so much by doing that. So my advice would be to do the same with your teacher if possible. You'll hopefully get loads of useful vocab for french analysis.

The written test is like this - www.mml.cam.ac.uk/apply/guideapplyafter.html#test

Reply 38

OP

Richy Rich$$

Do you mean these examples - www.quns.cam.ac.uk/Queens/Admissions/mml/sample.htm ? These are ones you might get in your interview to talk about
If so i found them soooo useful. I took them to my teacher and we went over the question that are under neath. I learnt so much by doing that. So my advice would be to do the same with your teacher if possible. You'll hopefully get loads of useful vocab for french analysis.

The written test is like this - www.mml.cam.ac.uk/apply/guideapplyafter.html#test

This were the ones I found as well but I definitely found examples of the written test which I thought was on the Queen's website but it's actually your second link. I knew it was something about London. I only said this because I was going to apply to Queen's and that's where I got the reading things from.

About the AEAs, I didn't mean to do three. My Eng teacher mentioned English first and I thought I was happy about that but then I complained about French and the head of the department said I should do an AEA then he said if I did the French one I would have to do the Spanish one so that was kind of an accident. I may reconsider doing English but I do love it! Tbh only Cambridge would include it in an offer and there are plenty of good unis out there anyhow!

Reply 39