Cambridge Modern and Medieval Languages (MML) Students and Applicants

OP

If you take Spanish and ab-initio German then you can take the portuguese paper as well somewhere along the line, isn't that right? Pg3 or something?
Don't know if it's any good or not tho lol..!

Reply 1021

Melz0r

16

Duck and Cover

If you take Spanish and ab-initio German then you can take the portuguese paper as well somewhere along the line, isn't that right? Pg3 or something?
Don't know if it's any good or not tho lol..!

Yeah you can, anyone can take Pg3 I think.

Reply 1022

NatashaxMay

I'm still at GCSE level at the moment , but when it comes to choosing A levels, I would like to take five. Even now I know I really want to study MML at Cambridge and will probably take Spanish and German if I ever got in. The A levels I have been considering are:

Spanish, German and English Lit (these I will definitely pick)

PLUS 2 of these:
Economics
History - 20th century European Dictatorships
Italian

I would really like to study Italian because I believe I would be able to cope and it's been a language that I've always wanted to learn. Also, do you think having three languages at A level for the MML course would make me stand out a bit more (I'm good at languages)?

Yet I'd also like to take Economics because at least then I have some background with things that occur in business because I'd like to do something with languages - hopefully work for the EU but I heard it takes at least a year for them to finalise you from their waiting list, so I'd like to work in business potentially to tide it over.

But History would give me a good background on the European countries and is highly regarded?!

I just don't know! If I decided against Italian (I intend to pick up the basics within the next week because I've ordered books from Amazon) then I'd choose the other A levels I've listed, but are they strong enough for me to be considered to study languages at Cambridge? Are they suitable?

What A levels would you recommend for MML?

Reply 1023

MathsHamster

10

Of course they're strong enough. They are all well-regarded A levels, and perfectly fine for getting into anywhere. If you're interested in economics, do economics. It's another area that you can show you have skills in and will do just as well as history. :smile:

Reply 1024

Crazy Paving

17

Why don't you want to take French? Did you not do it at GCSE? They all sound like very good A Levels but I'd stick to 5 maximum, otherwise you will have way too much work.

Reply 1025

NatashaxMay

No, I took German instead. I think it's quite annoying that you have to have French GCSE to study it at A level, but then to study it at university you need an A level in it! :mad:

Reply 1026

alexandragazi

If you think you can cope with a third language, do italian. I'd say do History, 'cause that's really respected and compliments the languages :smile:

Good luck ~

Reply 1027

Mrs Cullen

10

NatashaxMay

What A levels would you recommend for MML?

You should pick whichever subjects you are going to enjoy the most. So long as you have A levels in at least one language you want to study, then it doesn't matter what else you pick.

If you are genuinely interested in Italian then do that, but don't do it just for the sake of wanting to get into Cambridge. Interviewers will be able to tell if you aren't really interested in your subject, and besides, you're likely to get better grades if you enjoy the course.

History and economics are both respected subjects, so if you'd order to do them, then pick one of them. (personally I found economics extremely boring, but that's my personal opinion.) Don't forget that if you decide that you would like to take up Italian after all, you could always start it ab initio at Camb.

Basically, pick whatever you like the most. None of them would 'damage' your application. Good luck!

Reply 1028

Melz0r

16

For maximum academic awesomeness, go for History over Economics. However, it doesn't really matter as the rest of your subjects are all super-solid, so if you love Economics, do it.

Reply 1029

Duck and Cover

OP

15

I did Economics, and I got in ;D
Really enjoyed it too!

Reply 1030

NatashaxMay

Ok, so you think I should just not bother with Italian? Like I said, I'm going to be starting to teaching myself anyway, so couldn't I just mention this on my personal statement? Surely if I'm interested enough in a language that I want to learn it outside of school, that's more impressive than just having an A level in it like everybody else?
Bearing in mind I'll only be applying in two years anyway...

Reply 1031

Ziffachan

2

I think you should just be honest with yourself about which subjects you would prefer and not worry about which you think will give you an advantage, I only do one language, one arts subject and 2 sciences and I got in so it really doesn't matter :smile:

Especially doing 2 languages and english, your A level choices will pose you no problems :smile:

Reply 1032

thats_attractive

Also, ab-initio Italian is the best thing ever :biggrin:

Reply 1033

Ziffachan

2

thats_attractive

Also, ab-initio Italian is the best thing ever :biggrin:

Ooh GOOD that's what i'm doing, how've you found it?

Reply 1034

NatashaxMay

These would have been the A levels I would have been deciding between anyway, Cambridge or not because they're the only ones that I'm interested in and believe I'd do well in; I was just asking for your thoughts in general about whether these would make a strong application for Cambridge in the future. Regardless of universities, I am just finding it difficult to decide because there are so many A levels I would choose if I was able to cope, but these are the ones I feel should make up my 5. I was just wondering which ones you'd pick and why you'd drop the sixth one from my list?

Reply 1035

Ziffachan

2

I peeeeeeeeeeeersonally would do Italian and History, but I'm not interested in economics anyway.

Reply 1036

toddy21

1

Hey everyone!!

So I finished my first year of MML a couple of weeks ago and have been thinking about my options for next year. So far I've decided on Pg3 (really excited about it!) Fr5 and Sp4. I've got a reading list for Fr5 but have nothing on Sp4 yet. Does anyone else who did the paper remember when their reading list was sent out?

Also, I've been thinking recently of maybe taking Sp1 instead of doing spanish literature. I enjoyed my first year lit papers and wrote good essays for my supervisions but when it came to the exams it was a different story. Therefore, I'm thinking that I could give linguistics a try to see if I'd be any better at it (that's not my sole motivation as I think I would find the linguisitcs paper really interesting). Also I think it would be a shame not to take the opportunity of studying linguistics as I might never have it again. That said, my dos and Sp2 supervisor last year have warned me taking against Sp1 (apparently the teaching isn't as good as it is for lit).

Any advice would be welcome guys. Hope you're all having an awesome summer :smile:

Reply 1037

Zoedotdot

18

Wouldn't recommend Sp4. At all. I can expand if you want any advice, if you're already set then I'm happy to keep mum :smile:

Reply 1038

Chubasco

1

Zoedotdot

Wouldn't recommend Sp4. At all. I can expand if you want any advice, if you're already set then I'm happy to keep mum :smile:

Ditto. I mean, my experience of it was pretty extreme but everyone I know who took it as an exam found the revision for it to be awful. If you're interested in the topics, then it might be worth doing as a portfolio (people who took that option seemed to do well).

Zoe, if you don't mind me asking, how did you do in Sp4?

Hey everyone!!

So I finished my first year of MML a couple of weeks ago and have been thinking about my options for next year. So far I've decided on Pg3 (really excited about it!) Fr5 and Sp4. I've got a reading list for Fr5 but have nothing on Sp4 yet. Does anyone else who did the paper remember when their reading list was sent out?

Also, I've been thinking recently of maybe taking Sp1 instead of doing spanish literature. I enjoyed my first year lit papers and wrote good essays for my supervisions but when it came to the exams it was a different story. Therefore, I'm thinking that I could give linguistics a try to see if I'd be any better at it (that's not my sole motivation as I think I would find the linguisitcs paper really interesting). Also I think it would be a shame not to take the opportunity of studying linguistics as I might never have it again. That said, my dos and Sp2 supervisor last year have warned me taking against Sp1 (apparently the teaching isn't as good as it is for lit).

Any advice would be welcome guys. Hope you're all having an awesome summer

I'd agree with Zoe (see what I said above). But I can send you the reading list for Sp4 if you'd find that helpful.

I took Pg3 and mostly enjoyed it - it is definitely easier than Sp4. It took me a while to get used to it as the course seemed a bit disorganised at first but I really enjoyed most of what I studied for it. Don't think that you'll be anywhere near fluent in Portuguese at the end of it, though (unless you work really hard. Unfortunately, most of my friends and I prioritised work for our other subjects and relied on our knowledge of Spanish, which isn't very good but is completely understandable).

Fr5 -I took one of the other medieval papers (Fr3) and really enjoyed that and I think a lot of the teaching is done by the same people, so I think it's a good choice. The topics definitely look interesting. Shame I don't think it will be offered in my fourth year, I'd really like to have taken it.

About Sp1, I've heard similar complaints about the teaching...and in my experience, it's pretty rare for supervisors and DoSs to warn people off taking a paper because of the teaching quality, so it might not be such a good choice. But, that said, it would be a shame not to take linguistics if you're interested in it.

Sorry, I've rambled on a bit, hope this is useful!

Reply 1039

Zoedotdot

18

Crazy_emz

Ditto. I mean, my experience of it was pretty extreme but everyone I know who took it as an exam found the revision for it to be awful. If you're interested in the topics, then it might be worth doing as a portfolio (people who took that option seemed to do well).

Zoe, if you don't mind me asking, how did you do in Sp4?

I wish I knew myself. My DoS likes to send us each a personal letter containing our breakdown and comments on our results and what to think about. Unfortunately, he doesn't get round to doing this until mid-July, so I won't know for a couple of weeks. Will let you know when I know, but I don't imagine I did very well, the revision for it was just hopeless.

Cambridge Modern and Medieval Languages (MML) Students and Applicants

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