The Cambridge Modern and Medieval Languages Thread
For all questions and discussion about every aspect of Cambridge courses.
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The Cambridge Modern and Medieval Languages Thread
MMlers, relax! I've taken it upon my wonderful self to create this thread for the new-fangled courses section, so that we can all marvel in this glorious set of subjects which we're either currently embarking upon or will be very soon!
Come one, come all! Let us bask in the warming glowing warm glow of Moliere, Goethe, Dante et al and step back and gaze upon our lives that have been enriched by our choice to enter into the realm of this wonderful subject!
Now, this is MY thread, and i OWN it!
(I really want to make an emoticon like this saying Raised Faculty Buliding! Sad? Yes. Pathetic? Yes.)
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Re: Modern and Medieval Languagesyou have oral exams in both languages at the end of your first year; if you're taking a subject ab initio, you will have another oral (i.e. the 1A oral, when you catch up with the post alevel lot) in your second year as well.
Oral exams usually take the following format; you're given a passage, usually on something topical (mine was on 'Denglish' for German, and recycling and the environment in Italian). You get 15 mins to read and prep points for discussion.
In the exam, you'll be asked to read a couple of lines aloud- to break you in and check your intonation etc carefully - summarise the passage briefly, and then there'll be some questions. It's designed to work out like a dialogue between you and the examiners - with most exams of this nature, you can probably steer it in the direction you want by not shutting up
Oh, and there will be two examiners in the room. Usually one native speaker and one english/other, but that's not the case 100% of the time. One of them will mark content, the other grammar, which are weighted equally.
The oral itself, however, is worth half of the translation paper - you'll sit six papers overall, so it works out at something silly like 8.3%. Still worth doing well on though to boost everything else.
that's probs more than you wanted to know, sorry! anything to avoid an essay though.... -
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Re: Modern and Medieval LanguagesOh thank you, that was interesting!
So, as a first year German and ab-initio Russian student, how would my whole first year be assessed?
Haha, me thinks this may be a question with a very long answer! Don't feel obliged to answer it! -
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Re: Modern and Medieval LanguagesHi, im hopefully going to be doing MML in October!(Original post by priya)
you have oral exams in both languages at the end of your first year; if you're taking a subject ab initio, you will have another oral (i.e. the 1A oral, when you catch up with the post alevel lot) in your second year as well.
Oral exams usually take the following format; you're given a passage, usually on something topical (mine was on 'Denglish' for German, and recycling and the environment in Italian). You get 15 mins to read and prep points for discussion.
In the exam, you'll be asked to read a couple of lines aloud- to break you in and check your intonation etc carefully - summarise the passage briefly, and then there'll be some questions. It's designed to work out like a dialogue between you and the examiners - with most exams of this nature, you can probably steer it in the direction you want by not shutting up
Oh, and there will be two examiners in the room. Usually one native speaker and one english/other, but that's not the case 100% of the time. One of them will mark content, the other grammar, which are weighted equally.
The oral itself, however, is worth half of the translation paper - you'll sit six papers overall, so it works out at something silly like 8.3%. Still worth doing well on though to boost everything else.
that's probs more than you wanted to know, sorry! anything to avoid an essay though....
That was how my interview was - definitely for French, there was a French lady there and i had to read some aloud, summarise it and then answer questions! In the German, I had to do that too but there was no native speaker.
Im so excited!
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Re: Modern and Medieval Languageshey everyone
im in lower sixth at the moment, studying maths, economics, sociology and french...up till recently wanted to do economics at university. BUT i have now realised that French is what i really really want to do hopefully at Cambridge...can you give me any advice on how to prepare? im worried that because i havent got another language i wont be able to do MML...
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Re: Modern and Medieval Languagesi know what you mean... i can hardly believe that (subject to results) i will be doing a french and german degree at CAMBRIDGE!!! and that i will be spending the next four years in a wondeful place, doing things i love!!!!(Original post by butterfly_girl_5)
hi laura and pantoufles
im hopefully doing french & German at king's
it seems so unreal
also, pantoufles, what languages are you doing?
