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Joint degree honour and options

Hi,

I am a 20 year old French girl. I spent 2 years in Australia after high school and must now start uni in sept 2013. However I still don't know if I will be staying longer or not in Australia. God knows what is going to happen between my boyfriend and I.
Anyway I am considering about trying to come back to Australia later on with a degree in my pocket. I want to be a teacher but I am still confused about the subjects to choose.
I have always thought about French/German since I don't want to study and stay in France. I always liked German as my 3rd language after English. However German is not popular in Australia so I was thinking about switching for History instead.

My question is: what happen when we select our joint degree honour on UCAS? Can we still switch before the entry or can we take options during the first year at least? What I want to know is the subjects I could study under my joint degree honour. Would it only be French and German or French and History?

Thank you for your help,
Celine

Reply 1

Origami Bullets

UK degrees are quite specific, so if you applied for French and German, then you would *only* study those subjects (you might manage one module of the other subject, but not enough to count for anything) If you wanted to change subjects after the first year, then it's likely you'd have to start from the beginning again.

I'm not sure about your subject choice though - you'd be learning French as a second language, when you are clearly already fluent in it, and employers will know that because you were educated in France. I think you would be better off taking German & history.

Reply 2

Celine-B

Thank you for your reply.

I am really lost now!
I had that answer from February from Aberdeen university about doing a PGDE after my studies in order to be able to teach French and German:

"Thank you for your enquiry. You need to gain a degree in the academic study of a language. If you wish to teach French only then it could be French, German, Spanish, or English. If you wish to teach two languages your degree would need to be either German or Spanish. Please see attached the current academic entry requirments and course information for the PGDE courses."

On the PGDE leaflet it is written: "Native speakers of a modern foreign language who have finished a degree in their own language which meets the entry requirements in paragraph 1 above, may train to teach their native language.Students who are native speakers of a modern foreign language and have a degree in a language other than their native tongue, which meets the entry requirements in paragraph 1 above, may train to teach that language plus their native language. For example, a French student with a degree in German can train to teach German and French in Scotland."

So don't i need to get an academic degree in my native tongue?

Thank you for your help,
Celine