[TheBigJosh]

Hey everyone,
I'm starting a degree in French and Mandarin at Leeds soon, I need to pick 20 credits of electives. Obviously I am starting Mandarin from scratch, do you think it would be wise to do a bit of another? I was looking at Russian - because it doesn't have any requisites unlike Spanish and German.

I looked at some of the 10 credit modules for French and Chinese, and they are so boring! (except the sounds of French) As are the Geography ones
I'm not interested in anything else really, any advice?x

[tommyjazzhands]

I like Italian

[Alqahira09]

Hi,

I did a language degree, starting in the first year with French and Arabic from scratch. My advice would be to use the 20 credits for something non-language-based. If there's genuinely nothing else that interests you, I'd recommend going with a European language; a non-European one is far more difficult than you'll expect. The letters, sounds and grammar structure are completely different and trying to learn two different written alphabets isn'the best plan. It took me most of my first year to be properly comfortable with Arabic script and if you want to learn Mandarin to a good standard, you're better off making that ypur focus. Most unis tend to offer literature modules as the optionals (which I hated), but there are other choices. If you're into grammar (as I am) you might like to try a linguistics module (which may come under the English department dependant upon your university), or alternatively a history/politics/cultural option. I did optional modules in Middle Eastern politics, which both gave me a break from language studies and helped me understand the region a little more. I'd caution that if you're serious about learning Mandarin (as like my Arabic class it may be a third of the size by final year - people found it too difficult and dropped out), make it your focus and do your 20 credits on the history or culture of China and the Far East insyead. Hope that's helpful!

[TheBigJosh]

(Original post by Alqahira09)
Hi,

I did a language degree, starting in the first year with French and Arabic from scratch. My advice would be to use the 20 credits for something non-language-based. If there's genuinely nothing else that interests you, I'd recommend going with a European language; a non-European one is far more difficult than you'll expect. The letters, sounds and grammar structure are completely different and trying to learn two different written alphabets isn'the best plan. It took me most of my first year to be properly comfortable with Arabic script and if you want to learn Mandarin to a good standard, you're better off making that ypur focus. Most unis tend to offer literature modules as the optionals (which I hated), but there are other choices. If you're into grammar (as I am) you might like to try a linguistics module (which may come under the English department dependant upon your university), or alternatively a history/politics/cultural option. I did optional modules in Middle Eastern politics, which both gave me a break from language studies and helped me understand the region a little more. I'd caution that if you're serious about learning Mandarin (as like my Arabic class it may be a third of the size by final year - people found it too difficult and dropped out), make it your focus and do your 20 credits on the history or culture of China and the Far East insyead. Hope that's helpful!

That's very helpful thanks! My extra credits cover the history of China so that's all set Yeah I see exactly what you are saying. I was like I say going to do Russian electives but 3 languages and 3 alphabets with 3 different complete sounds is just silly isn't it? I'm in a quandary because I want to be an interpreter/translator so having a diverse set of language skills is highly important - but deep down I don't think it's viable to do what I just said.

I'm looking for another elective I guess