Oxford Modern Languages Students and Applicants

Thanks Have you had any experience with her, then?

Hmm, back in the Dark Ages, when I was in the first year of my BA, I was interested in joining the Old Norse reading group (although I soon figured out that I had too much other stuff going on, so I didn't persist with it), so I've seen her once or twice. I'm not sure if you could really call that experience, though...
Incidentally, if it turns out that for some reason you can't do Old Norse as your special subject, the reading group might be a way of getting to do it anyway. They meet once a week (in the Turville Petre Room, I think), and back in the day there was also an Old Norse society at St John's, which essentially consisted of the same members and also met once a week - although that may well be defunct by now.

Thank you both for your replies, they have given me lots of things to think about.

Does anyone who is studying German at Oxford at the moment, or has recently studied German sole there know who teaches the Old Norse module for Paper XII?

I would love to do my dissertation, or at least a couple of essays on that but I'm worried that the person who teaches it won't still be there when Im in my final years (2013-2015). Obviously there's no 'real' way of predicting if and when a lecturer/professor will leave, or if this module will still be available (are they even referred to as such?), but somtimes it's possible to have a feel.

If you have studied Old Norse within German at Oxford, what experiences can you share, either about Old Norse or how Paper XII works?

I'm also interested in the Bildungsroman module and the German Expressionism module.

I was considering applying to Oxford for French and German. I love both of the languages, but German is definitely my strength.

So if I apply for French and German, is it possible that I could be accepted for single honours German, if they thought I wasn't good enough at French but that I was strong enough in German?

Has anyone had any direct experience of this?

Thank you!

You can only do one paper XII subject (possibly one per language? Not sure...) and they announce what subjects are available in the Oxford Gazette a year or two in advance. It's examined by a portfolio of two essays, rather than by examination, and you have to do it in Hilary of your fourth year. What is available changes year to year as tutors come and go and think of new things.

Thanks for the info! Just one is alright* - Old Norse is all I want to do, though it's a shame I won't be able to do Expressionism.

Does this mean that I can already check in the Oxford Gazette what will be available for me, or will I only be able to check in my 2nd or 3rd year? And am I right in believing you start to study Paper XII in second year?

*I just thought - as you're doing German & Philosophy, and I only German sole, do you know if I might be able to do two after all?

I'm at least 90% sure you'll only be able to do one if you're German sole. The only thing I was unsure about was if you were doing two languages. And you won't be able to check until third year at the earliest - you only start (and finish) in Hilary of 4th year - that term is spent on paper XII, you don't do any work on it before then.

Oh no, that's a shame! So the course really is choice-less and fully prescribed until the final year?! Eugh.

Does anyone know what the differences are between studying french at oxford and at cambridge??
cheers

Does anyone know what the differences are between studying french at oxford and at cambridge??
cheers

Hello!
I was torn between oxford and cambridge, now currently studying french at oxford so feel free to pm me for further details!

My experience of the oxford course is to be very literature-based. There's a fantastic range within those parameters, but that is the primary focus. I don't believe this is the case at cambridge- I went on a language open day there and they suggested that you could do papers in all sorts of areas- literature, periods of history, and society too. Also, the cambridge tripos system is much more flexible than in Oxford, so you can also change subjects and do different papers through there.

Also, at cambridge, I think it's classed as 'MML', whereby you have to do at least two languages. In contrast, at Oxford, you study 'French' (and another language if you want to). This means that, in theory, you can switch languages about/change up your percentages at cambridge, but at Oxford, it's more set in stone. Maybe someone doing MML at cambridge can clarify if what I've said above is correct?!

I think, course-wise, I much preferred the sound of the cambridge one.. I ultimately chose Oxford just because something about it meant a lot more to me than cambridge did- difficult to explain! That isn't to say that the course at Oxford doesn't have its merits, too- the amount of literature you can study is fantastic, obviously, and I'm sure you would enjoy the rigorous approach to language teaching. Also, 'literature' doesn't just mean novels- there's poetry, plays, and philosophical texts, too- I've chosen to do lots of the latter, as it interests me the most. You can navigate your way around (to some extent) the things you do/n't like. There is also quite a lot of scope to do linguistics at Oxford as part of a language degree.

Also, check out the modern languages handbooks for Oxford and cambridge. Here's the link to the Oxford one: http://www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk/handbooks
It details the exact specifications of the course. 'Prelims' is first year and 'FHS' is second and third year (there are no exams in second year).
Just google til you find the cambridge one.

Hope that helps somewhat- take your time... ultimately the course is what you will be doing for the next four years so choose wisely!

Do you study French Sole? Because I'm starting that course in October at Oxford...
Just a quick question - please tell me you struggled with the 'Cahier d'un retour au pays natal' when you first read it....just a little bit? Also....the literary theory texts are pretty....thought provoking..

Do they expect you to just 'get' the texts when you arrive...or are they're expectations a little less exacting?

Do you study French Sole? Because I'm starting that course in October at Oxford...
Just a quick question - please tell me you struggled with the 'Cahier d'un retour au pays natal' when you first read it....just a little bit? Also....the literary theory texts are pretty....thought provoking..

Do they expect you to just 'get' the texts when you arrive...or are they're expectations a little less exacting?

Trust me, we were still struggling with it by Prelims-time in June... the approach undoubtedly varies according to college, tutor and so on, but the first tutorials are definitely far less intimidating than you might anticipate. I think we were asked as a group what we thought of each text, and perhaps to give a summary together, and then we'd be told more about each one. In some ways it's ultimately quite a refreshing paper, because you're given one extract in the exam to analyse closely, so it's all there in front of you. They're not really looking for detailed extra-textual knowledge, criticism etc. Worry not