Cambridge Modern and Medieval Languages (MML) Students and Applicants

Ooh, Robinson... I was going to apply there, but had a last-minute change of heart! Choosing Downing college at the 11th hour
I went to a Robinson open day though, maybe I saw you there..?

And we're not doing literature this year for coursework, we've been made to do 1 piece on the Civil War, and the other is free reign!
The books I've read have been on my own time So far I've read No se lo digas a nadie, and I'm about to finish Lazarillo de Tormes

if you ask me, thats a little short- they want to see how you develop an argument in an essay- which you cant really do so much in 250 words
but dont worry to much if thats all you send in- im sure most other candidates likely havent written longer essays
I picked one of our set homeworks and wrote it much longer than usual- I know your not supposed to write special essays for oxbridge, but I didn't get it pre-marked- I just knew I was capable of writing a good discursive essay in french but didnt usually bother because I never felt pushed in french

I just emailed the college and they like pieces between 1000-3000 words, I am screwed! Even if I finished my coursework 2 months early (which I've barely done a plan for now) thats only going to be 450-500 words
I'm thinking of sending in my RE coursework on the ethics of eating meat which is 7000 words but will that make it seem like Im more dedicated to philosophy than french?

I don't know what to do!!

Eh... They don't want language pieces that long. You won't even have to write pieces that long in your languages during your first 2 or 3 years here.

When I applied, I sent 2 French pieces, I think about an average of 300 words in length each. I also sent a business studies essay to show what my written English was like, I'm not sure how long it was.... 3 pages handwritten maybe.

I just emailed the college and they like pieces between 1000-3000 words, I am screwed! Even if I finished my coursework 2 months early (which I've barely done a plan for now) thats only going to be 450-500 words
I'm thinking of sending in my RE coursework on the ethics of eating meat which is 7000 words but will that make it seem like Im more dedicated to philosophy than french?

I don't know what to do!!

You can't make threads in that forum. You can only post in existing threads there. (One thread per college and one per course). I'll put this in with the MML thread

i wrote down 3 authors on my PS and they asked me questions, quite in depth ones, about 1 of the authors and his works. in total i think i read about 6 books outside of my IB syllabus.
i also sent in a literature essay in french on a book and i got asked lots of questions about that.

Was that 3 authors for both of your languages together?

I think the general idea is to read a moderate amount but really engage with it, rather than trying to read a lot of books rather superficially. Also, don't read something because you think you should read it (e.g. you think it's a great work of literature or you want to seem intellectual). I'm in my first year studying French and Spanish and before my interview I'd read Camus' L'étranger and La Chute, Flaubert's 'Les Trois Contes' and 'Madame Bovary' and Christiane Rochefort's 'Les Petits Enfants du Siecle' (all for French, although Madame Bovary was an English translation) and for Spanish I read García Lorca's 'Bodas de Sangre' and 'Yerma' and Esquivel's 'Como Agua Para Chocolate'. But I know people who read more and others who read less, so I wouldn't get too hung up on the precise amount of books that everyone's read.


Oh, one final thing: If you've mentioned anything on your Personal Statement that you haven't actually read, now is the time to start!

Good luck!

I agree very strongly with your general approach, but I have to say I somewhat disagree with the sentence in bold- although I know what you mean. Its no use just 'reading' a great work of literature to try to *appear* intellectual certainly- they will see right through you. What is certainly a good idea however, is to try and read works of great literature, which can be feasibly understood (ie Das Annoleid just wouldn't readable unless you are being taught it by a german teacher). While some great works of literature are not readable for a university applicant, many would be just as possible as a lesser work- for instance Camus, Satre and most 18th, 19th or 20th century poetry- and if you really succeed in engaging with the ideas of a particular renowned text of writer, you will show qualities they tend to look for at cambridge- ie that you enjoy an intellectual challenge, and if you can discuss the ideas and argue your own readings and opinions- that will demonstrate a higher level of intellect and intellectual maturity than is needed for reading an average novel or book in that language. It also makes academic sense that a person genuinely interested in a foreign language would want to read works that have been heralded the best of the century or age in that language.

Sorry, I would've put this under 'Cambridge Colleges and Courses' but for some reason it wouldn't let me post.

Anyway, I'm really beginning to panic about my interview (assuming I'll get one) and wondering if I've read enough to talk about... (for literature, not linguistics).

So just wondering for linguists at Cambridge, exactly how many books did you read before your interview? Or for linguists applying, how much have you read?

I think you're taking what I said a little too literally! Obviously, it's a really good idea to read works of great literature but some people may not enjoy them, and I didn't want anyone to think that unless they'd read something terribly literary (e.g. Camus, Proust, Sartre, Flaubert, Cervantes, Lorca etc) that they wouldn't get in. I think at this stage, it's better to read something you enjoy (within reason!) and feel reasonably confident discussing it than to try and read something that's completely out of your depth and end up really nervous and scared because you don't have anything to say about it/maybe don't even understand it.

I agree with everything else you've said, though! What college will you be at next year?

I managed to keep half of my Russian interview solely focused on Anna Karenina.

aside from that- you could just read an essay from a book on linguistics (or even watch the Chomsky Authors@google)