[ZombieYoshi]

(Original post by taeace)
SORRY ZOMBIEYOSHI ;n; was it good though? And just the single Korean Studies? You had fun though.. yes ;A;

Yeah, it was good having a talk with just the Korean tutors and a couple students as opposed to just the general talk about the whole department, and I even talked a bit with Miss Cho before the talk which was nice. She was shocked I didn't want to do it because of K-Pop and in fact didn't start listening to K-Pop until after choosing to do it
Hellish car journey aside, it was a good and informative day~

[fl4mers]

(Original post by ZombieYoshi)
Yeah, it was good having a talk with just the Korean tutors and a couple students as opposed to just the general talk about the whole department, and I even talked a bit with Miss Cho before the talk which was nice. She was shocked I didn't want to do it because of K-Pop and in fact didn't start listening to K-Pop until after choosing to do it
Hellish car journey aside, it was a good and informative day~

Hahaha I just got a vivid image of her "shocked" face when you wrote that hahaha... glad you had a good day! ^-^

[taeace]

(Original post by ZombieYoshi)
Yeah, it was good having a talk with just the Korean tutors and a couple students as opposed to just the general talk about the whole department, and I even talked a bit with Miss Cho before the talk which was nice. She was shocked I didn't want to do it because of K-Pop and in fact didn't start listening to K-Pop until after choosing to do it
Hellish car journey aside, it was a good and informative day~

How many other students were there? ;A; And dsjnjrenvgrfk yeah the journey is going to be tough, I'll probably be getting the train which will take about an hour though so it's okay ;n;

[ZombieYoshi]

For Korean there was only four I think, and they say they're expecting a small group.

[taeace]

(Original post by ZombieYoshi)
For Korean there was only four I think, and they say they're expecting a small group.

Woah that is kind of small... it's not really a bad thing though!

[ZombieYoshi]

The smaller class sizes is one of the things that I like about the course, especially in relation to Japanese, so I'm fine with it :3

[dsml]

(Original post by taeace)
I was extremely worried about being at a disadvantage to not learning Korean, so it's okay if you don't have a prior knowledge? I don't really have enough time as it is learning for my A-levels so ;A; but that's good, and I guess there'll be others on the course in the same position as you.. so you don't feel like you're the only one not knowing anything.

It's ok if you don't have any prior knowledge. If you do know some there's no option to move to a higher class or anything like that cos everyone starts at the same level. However there is one girl in my year who is really advanced in korean compared to everyone else but she just ended up not taking the language module in the winter semester which personally i think is a disadvantage as now she doesn't know her course mates very well. My best friend on the course started off now knowing any korean at all and she probs one of the better specialists in the year so it really doesn't matter if you don't know anything. And many non k studies students choose to do the first semester module and most of them are chinese or international and struggle learning a third language (korean) through their second language (english). If that makes sense. So honestly there is nothing to worry about at all.

[taeace]

(Original post by dsml)
It's ok if you don't have any prior knowledge. If you do know some there's no option to move to a higher class or anything like that cos everyone starts at the same level. However there is one girl in my year who is really advanced in korean compared to everyone else but she just ended up not taking the language module in the winter semester which personally i think is a disadvantage as now she doesn't know her course mates very well. My best friend on the course started off now knowing any korean at all and she probs one of the better specialists in the year so it really doesn't matter if you don't know anything. And many non k studies students choose to do the first semester module and most of them are chinese or international and struggle learning a third language (korean) through their second language (english). If that makes sense. So honestly there is nothing to worry about at all.

That is definitely reassuring! And yeah, I think you'd be able to make friends easier when you've met them and known them from the start! And so other students do it too? ;a; woah, that's cool!

[Raiden10]

What's the point of studying 2012 if it hasn't even happened yet?

[buthoney]

Hey guys!
d;

I got two conditionals, so for Korean studies and Korean with Japanese. I'm not sure what to take, but my conditional is REALLY easy. So I guess I'll be seeing you guys there, depending on what course I choose so happy!

[taeace]

(Original post by buthoney)
Hey guys!
d;

I got two conditionals, so for Korean studies and Korean with Japanese. I'm not sure what to take, but my conditional is REALLY easy. So I guess I'll be seeing you guys there, depending on what course I choose so happy!

wooo congratulations!!! :3 This is great ^^;;

[ZombieYoshi]

January results back soon! I think I'll use my English coursework mark to decide how confident I am at getting the grades ._.

[taeace]

(Original post by ZombieYoshi)
January results back soon! I think I'll use my English coursework mark to decide how confident I am at getting the grades ._.

We get them by text on the Thursday at 6am... oh my goodness ;n; Yeha, I'm like that but the opposite- I'll have my grade and if they are lower than a B then I'll have to resit, maybe if they're a high B or (hopefully!) A then I can boost that up more with my coursework. I reaaally hope I don't have to resit though, that way by the time April comes I won't have either Literature or Language and I can just focus on my Classics. dfjkbsejkgbjks GOOD LUCK ANYWAYS! My mum thinks I've failed... which is lovely.

[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]

What is the best uni in the world for Korean Studies for an Englishman?

And is there such a course where it focuses on the language?

Korean Studies is rather general and focuses on history, culture, literature etc.

It is my dream to be fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, each to a perfect native-speaker level.

[0w3n-69]

(Original post by Isambard Kingdom Brunel)
What is the best uni in the world for Korean Studies for an Englishman?

And is there such a course where it focuses on the language?

Korean Studies is rather general and focuses on history, culture, literature etc.

It is my dream to be fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, each to a perfect native-speaker level.

Korean Studies is called 'Korean Studies' because, shockingly, it focuses on the studies of all things Korean. Therefore it is only natural to expect a degree of that name to include the study of various aspects of Korea.

Virtually 90% of all language degrees at all universities across the world will never teach you just a language for the whole degree. It's boring and pointless. You would know nothing about the culture, history etc of the people you would be conversing with. Reading about it on wikipedia is not the same as studying it academically.

If you dream to be fluent in Chinese, Japanese and Korean to a 'perfect native-speaker level' I would recommend spending over 20 years before you could honestly say you have achieved it. You have to take into account that reaching native fluency requires living and working in the country for around 5 years minimum on top of already learning each language for about 4 years intensively like the degrees our department provides. Obviously it varies, depending on whether you are even good at learning languages or not. 'Fluency' is a very difficult word to define. 'Native fluency' though, is very clear cut definition. Some say no matter how long you spend in a country, as a foreigner native fluency is never possible.

... good luck!

[DISCLAIMER: taught myself Japanese, studied A-level Chinese and currently living in Seoul on my second year of my Korean studies degree]

[buthoney]

So what accommodation is everyone going for? I'm not really fussed where I end up, as long as it's en-suite and preferably self-catering. I may end up saying I want to share with other mature-students, since I'm sure they'd be a bit quieter, but I'm not entirely sure, haha!

What was everyone planning to do freshers week? =] maybe I'm thinking too far ahead aha. I'm not really the type to 'party' or anything, so I suppose my freshers week evenings are going to be full of cake baking to bribe my flatmates into liking me! n_n, or just wandering around the places to find out where to go.

I'm really excited, haha, can you tell? XD. Bring on the open day on the 28th! Seems too long, ahh.. I've been annoying everyone since I got my conditional, including freaking out with my ICT and English Lit. tutors which has included having coffee being bought for me. XDDDDDDDDDDD.

[ZombieYoshi]

I was planning to go for en-suite self-catered, preferably in Ranmoor or Endcliffe.

Don't worry, I'm not exactly a party animal either. We could spend crazy, quiet evenings in the library getting a head-start on Korean whilst everyone else is busy wasting time partying ;D

I really want to get in, but I just have crappy confidence ._. I'm planning to see what I get in my English Lit. Coursework this Thursday, and if it's A or B I'll be confident I can get the grades, but if it's not... I dunno D: So much relies on 4 exams ;A; Especially when I have no other option than Sheffield... although that's not really anyone's fault but my own.

[taeace]

I'm going on the accommodation tour tomorrow at my open day so I'll have a look then, and I'd definitely go for self-catering.. it's cheaper and I don't eat much so :3
And I'm not much of a party person either sobseu, I don't even drink so I won't be much fun waah. I'm excited.. but really nervous |:

[buthoney]

Haha I'm quite confident I can get in... I just need 10 pieces of work at merit level, and my history tutor is doing everything to help me with that, so... Though, I think if you get like one grade just a bit lower than what they want, they won't mind so much. I think the only way they would say no when your grades are submitted is if you're CCC or BBB across the board =]

I was thinking about the city apartments, they're a bit cheaper but I keep hearing bad things about them. But Endcliffe and Ranmoore put me off because you could potentionally be sharing with 10 other people and I don't do well in groups of people whom I have nothing in common with, especially if I get put with one messy person.. my germophobe self will have a fit, lmao. I'm going self-catered mostly because I did catering a few years ago and I can cook pretty well so I'll end up going to aldi or lidl or asda to do weeks worth of shopping or something! I'm already budgeting at around £35 a week, but I have about £2k for the entire year for food, so... really I should be more than okay if I want to have a nice meal once in a while, hahahaha. I'm a cheapo.. I will be happy with instant ramen and my rice cooker n_n. which I am taking, even though you're ot supposed to have them *hiding it in my closet ftw*

I think I may put ranmor as my first choice and city as second..... as long as it's en-suite though.. I really don't care much XDD.

My open day is on the 28th, I'm really excited hahaha n_n. Not excited about 6am until 11pm and a field trip to go pond dipping the day after, but hey-ho! If I drown someone can have my uni space lolololol.

We all need to meet during freshers week or something, I mean, we will have induction lectures so we can meet then.. maybe we can wear name badges with our TSR usernames on, rofl, so we know and then just get to know each other outside of that introduction stuff and get rid of the awkwardness, or something. Oh god I am pre-planning way too much... this is my personality of having to be 15 minutes early everywhere, I am obsessive and a worrier in real life, lmao, so please excuse me if I get anxious about being late for stuff....

then again a wizard is never late, nor is he early; he (or rather she) arrives precisely at the time he means to! n_n

[ZombieYoshi]

I got AAB at AS, so I should probably be more confident, but self-confidence was never really my thing

I wasn't too keen on being in the middle of the city, so I'd rather go Endcliffe or Ranmoor. Oh, I'm awful in groups too, but unfortunately there doesn't seem to be much of an option to live by myself, so I'll just have to live in my bedroom instead... much like I do right now It shouldn't be too hard to work out who I am. If my Open Day was anything to go by, you'll just have to look for the only guy there.

Lord of the Rings quote... I can tell we're going to get along swimmingly

EDIT: I was talking to someone who applied last year and failed to get the ABB, and they said they're actually quite strict on getting the grades... then again, nobody asked at the Open Day, so I don't know an answer straight from someone who actually works there. Maybe you can ask at yours and tell me haha