OU Language Students

Hi all

I'm studying French and Spanish with the OU but don't often come across many fellow linguists, so thought I'd post a message here!

Feel free to get in touch if you want to chat (in any language haha) or have any questions!

Cheers
Sam.

I'm doing German (L193) at the moment it's quite fun!

Hello, I am interesting in studying a language with the OU, I was wondering how you are finding it? I am just a bit worried about learning a language online and feeling a lack of support? I sometimes wonder if its even possible to self teach a language!

Any thoughts?

Hi Jordan

I too had these reservations before starting, and although it is probably more difficult with the OU, learning at a distance, it's certainly possible.

In terms of the reading and writing aspects, the OU is great. The materials etc are excellent and really push you to develop. You quickly pick up a solid foundation in grammar and the listening materials are also good, but it is the speaking aspect where it does really lack. There aren't enough chances to practice, and obviously with no classroom based lectures per week, it's extremely difficult as you can imagine.

I have found my own ways to develop this, and regularly speak with natives in France and Spain, and my speaking skills have developed massively. If I hadn't have found my own avenues here, then I think, my speaking would be awful as the OU really does lack in this aspect.

Overall though, I think the OU is really good, and recommend it, as all other aspects are brilliant. It is also well organised and structured so you know exactly what's expected to pass the course.

As long as you are proactive and find chat partners elsewhere, you'll be fine. Like I say, I chat by skype once or twice a week with natives and my speaking level is good. The OU also run intensive courses for a week at a time in the summer, in the target country, so you can always go to one of these which I'm sure wull help. OU or traditional university, the only way to get real fluency is by living there for at least a few months, which I intend to do once I've finished

Are you thinking of studying for a qualification, or just for fun to learn for like holidays etc? The level one courses are really quiate in depth, and take you much further than that, and then level two really gets quite involved.

Hope that helps, any other questions feel free to drop me a message!

Cheers
Sam.

Wow thank you for such a good and in depth reply I really appreciate it. I am planning to learn French and Spanish or French and German.

I want to learn much more about the language than just for travel purposes. I am learning because of the mixture for pleasure ad interest as well as to make my CV more impressive- France and Germany have quite booming markets at the moment.

I was reading reviews about the first Level 1 courses and something that continued to crop up was that they weren't actually beginners courses and some knowledge of the language was actually needed to complete the course successfully? Is this something you would agree with?

No worries. The lowest level course can be studied from scratch, although any prior knowledge would of course be helpful. It will teach you basic grammar and vocab, you'll more than be able to "get by" and have simple conversations but I think for anything more you need to take it up to the next level. I had some prior knowledge from travelling in South America so started at the more advanced course - and looking at the books and speaking to people etc it's quite a jump! By the end you'll be able to construct conversations and be able to read/write quite a lot. Only general conversations, nothing specific, but they'll be in depth and you'll be able to express different ideas rather than just set phrases. Level 2 / 3 is way more advanced, it covers cultural things, literature and more specialised language e.g. science, business etc.



In terms of adding more to a CV, it's a definite. To be able to express ideas and make up new ideas though you need a good command of grammar and the context, so you'll have to study more in depth. The first course will give you a good grounding in the core grammar, and loads of set phrases, but like I've said, you'll have to progress to a higher level to have more of a "free thinking" element as you'll have to use more advanced language structures e.g. the dreaded subjunctive haha!


My prior knowledge definitely helped on the more advanced course, but I think you'll be fine if you start on the first one they recommend.

Hope that helps! I've probably not explained it very well haha! If you want some idea of the things you study just let me know.

Cheers,
Sam.

Thanks for getting back so quickly. Are you studying for the degree or just going a diploma course?

I am studying Spanish & German with the OU!

I enjoy studying languages with the OU however I have a few Spanish & German speaking friends, which has helped so much. I can practise my speaking, listening, writing and reading with them which is so good, as you don't get much opportunity with the OU!

I would recommend a language course with the OU - however be prepared to teach yourself a lot of it (of course!) and be prepared to seek out extra materials to compliment the course books that are sent. Websites which have language exchanges are also helpful.

I'm doing a BA in French and Spanish. I'm almost halfway through now I'm studying "full time" and working part time. I work 3 days a week, and study for 3 days, anything up to 32 hours a week + extra speaking practice - depending on how easy the work is for a particular week. It may only be 20 hours, other weeks it's more like 40 haha but it all evens out and I still have plenty of time to go out etc. You just have to be strict with yourself and I've got the motivation to do it so that keeps me going.

Hola lau_88

You're absolutely right, I too have a few friends and have also made friends through the language sites, and without these my speaking and listening abilities would be no where near what they are now! Reading and writing is much easier and very good with the OU, but like you say, oral practices are few and far between!

Which courses are you studying, out of interest?

Buena suerte! Espero que estés bien!
Sam.

How difficult would it be to study and work full time- I know modules have to be taken after each other so in essence you can't study full time but theoretically speaking?

I suppose it depends on lots of things. I used to work full time and could study about 15 hours a week at a push, but want to get my degree in the shortest amount of time possible - hence I'm now part time. I suppose it depends on how many other commitments you have, how much you want to study, and how well you study.

As I'm doing two languages, I can study full time and just progress through the levels in both languages at the same time, but for the degree I also need to do an English Language module, so I'm actually working one level higher in Spanish (as this is my strongest language) and the level behind in French at the same time due to this extra English module.

Each language has four modules e.g. Spanish -

Level 1 - Portales (6 hours p/w study)
Level 1 - En rumbo (8-10 hours p/w study)
Level 2 - Viento en popa (12-14 hours p/w study)
Level 3 - A buen puerto (16-18 hours p/w study)

That's the recommended time to spend on the courses... Like I said before, sometimes it's more, sometimes it's much less... So you can see the kind of commitment needed in relation to full time working...

So at the minute I'm doing two level two courses, so that's 28 hours + additional speaking practice and revision...

I'm looking forward to signing up to study now

Also if you have an iphone/touch download TuneIn Radio as you can listen to radio station from different counties, I find that helps a lot :-)

How difficult would it be to study and work full time- I know modules have to be taken after each other so in essence you can't study full time but theoretically speaking?

Hola lau_88

You're absolutely right, I too have a few friends and have also made friends through the language sites, and without these my speaking and listening abilities would be no where near what they are now! Reading and writing is much easier and very good with the OU, but like you say, oral practices are few and far between!

Which courses are you studying, out of interest?

Buena suerte! Espero que estés bien!
Sam.

Hello, I am interesting in studying a language with the OU, I was wondering how you are finding it? I am just a bit worried about learning a language online and feeling a lack of support? I sometimes wonder if its even possible to self teach a language!

Any thoughts?

I'm doing German (L193) at the moment it's quite fun!

I'm studying Intermediate at the moment, how about yourself?

I think that's the disadvantage of studying languages with the OU - you don't get much speaking or listening practice. As I said in my earlier post, I have a few Spanish & German speaking friends which is good as I can practice to my hearts content.

Even though I enjoy studying with the OU, I'd have loved to gone back to a campus based university to study languages.

Buena suerte para ti tambien!

Good stuff! If you have any questions, like I say just drop me a line. If you ever fancy a chat in French/Spanish - whichever languages you decide to do, just let me know! I'm always glad to find fellow linguists to chat with haha!

Pues, buena suerte con tus estudios y espero que todo vaya bien! Si tienes algunas preguntas, pregúntame!

Saludos
Sam.