University College London
London
Scandinavian Studies
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Original post by Grumbert
Howdy!
I'm from Australia, and just received offers into SS, Viking Studies, and Icelandic at UCL
, and though I'm very pleased about that I've also received a scholarship to stay in Canberra and study at the uni here. While I feel very strongly that I would enjoy every bit of a Nordic language degree, I feel the same way about studying Japanese, which I've studied for 6 years at school and is offered at the Canberra uni. Really it's a shame that I haven't found any quality universities that offer both Japanese and a Nordic language, because I'd be there in a flash 
(any chance of UCL adding an East Asian Faculty?)
Anyhow taking Japanese here first is definitely the logical choice, due to paying close to $0 over 4 years instead of close to $150,000 and due to the fact I live 20 mins from the university...
So even though I would like to do one of the UCL undergrad degrees after finishing my Japanese undergrad, the earliest I could start would be in 2018 or 2019. I'm of the opinion that taking two undergrad degrees is possibly quite silly, especially if both are language courses
. I was wondering what your opinions are on this.
I was thinking that the best option would be to go to a language school in a Nordic country after finishing my Japanese degree - most likely a folk school in Norway or Sweden. While the completeness of a uni degree (literature/history/qualification/etc) is very attractive, these schools on the whole look quite decent (and are very cheap for someone used to looking at international uni student fees
). Does anyone know how these schools fare in regards to language learning compared to learning the language through a uni course?
I've just started a gap year (Aus unis start in February), so I've got around 4 months to decide. I know this isn't strictly related to Scandinavian Studies, so thanks very much in advance for any help.
I'm from Australia, and just received offers into SS, Viking Studies, and Icelandic at UCL
, and though I'm very pleased about that I've also received a scholarship to stay in Canberra and study at the uni here. While I feel very strongly that I would enjoy every bit of a Nordic language degree, I feel the same way about studying Japanese, which I've studied for 6 years at school and is offered at the Canberra uni. Really it's a shame that I haven't found any quality universities that offer both Japanese and a Nordic language, because I'd be there in a flash (any chance of UCL adding an East Asian Faculty?)Anyhow taking Japanese here first is definitely the logical choice, due to paying close to $0 over 4 years instead of close to $150,000 and due to the fact I live 20 mins from the university...
So even though I would like to do one of the UCL undergrad degrees after finishing my Japanese undergrad, the earliest I could start would be in 2018 or 2019. I'm of the opinion that taking two undergrad degrees is possibly quite silly, especially if both are language courses
. I was wondering what your opinions are on this.I was thinking that the best option would be to go to a language school in a Nordic country after finishing my Japanese degree - most likely a folk school in Norway or Sweden. While the completeness of a uni degree (literature/history/qualification/etc) is very attractive, these schools on the whole look quite decent (and are very cheap for someone used to looking at international uni student fees
). Does anyone know how these schools fare in regards to language learning compared to learning the language through a uni course? I've just started a gap year (Aus unis start in February), so I've got around 4 months to decide. I know this isn't strictly related to Scandinavian Studies, so thanks very much in advance for any help.
I know UCL works quite closely with SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) where they do teach Japanese. I don't know the technical details about it but it may be possible to study a Nordic language at UCL whilst taking Japanese there. I know a few people who take courses at both of these universities so may be worth your while emailing around to see if it would be possible. SOAS is also very very close to UCL too so it would be handy enough :-)
University College London
London
Original post by Grumbert
snip
I thought Edinburgh does Japanese? They do not appear to officially offer a Scandinavian Studies and Japanese degree, but couldn't you take Japanese at least for the first two years as an outside subject?
Norwegian folk high schools are great way (perhaps the best way?) to learn Norwegian. Many of them have special courses for international students to learn the local language, plus going to lessons taught in Norwegian means you will learn quite quickly.
Original post by Samual
I thought Edinburgh does Japanese? They do not appear to officially offer a Scandinavian Studies and Japanese degree, but couldn't you take Japanese at least for the first two years as an outside subject?
Yup. Studying Japanese will be easy for a year or two - but you can't do joint honours Japanese & another language in Edinburgh because the Japanese department want your full attention (which figures - it's not the most straightforward language) - I suspect it'll be the same at UCL with taking some additional classes in Japanese, although obviously I don't know for sure.
Original post by Grumbert
Howdy!
I'm from Australia, and just received offers into SS, Viking Studies, and Icelandic at UCL, and though I'm very pleased about that I've also received a scholarship to stay in Canberra and study at the uni here.
I'm from Australia, and just received offers into SS, Viking Studies, and Icelandic at UCL
, and though I'm very pleased about that I've also received a scholarship to stay in Canberra and study at the uni here.Stay in Canberra. It's a no-brainer financially and a fine university in general. If you intend to stay in Australia then Japanese will clearly be more "useful" than a Scandinavian language. Doing a 2nd UG degree is daft, as you say. If you want to pursue research in Japanese/East Asian Studies after your degree in Canberra, then I suggest you consider the northern Europe/UK/Scandinavia for this and take up Scandinavian language learning then. Or, like you say, spend a year or two in Scandinavia living/working/studying. Much as it pains me to say don't come and study Scandinavian Studies!
Really liked today's open day - will most likely be firming
The open day was great - I'm definitely putting UCL as my insurance. Loved the mini lectures, especially the one on early Danish cinema
Original post by paperstainedink
The open day was great - I'm definitely putting UCL as my insurance. Loved the mini lectures, especially the one on early Danish cinema
Where you planning on firming?
Original post by placebo24
Where you planning on firming?
Sheffield for Archaeology
I'll have to wait until I've visited the uni in April, though. But I really love the course there, and the facilities are amazing!Thanks for the replies, they've really helped Having had closer looks at Japanese at SOAS and Edinburgh, I think I'll follow nearlyheadlessian's advice and stay in Canberra then pursue a Nordic language later.
"Norwegian folk high schools are great way (perhaps the best way?) to learn Norwegian"
This is reassuring, thank you.
Having had closer looks at Japanese at SOAS and Edinburgh, I think I'll follow nearlyheadlessian's advice and stay in Canberra then pursue a Nordic language later."Norwegian folk high schools are great way (perhaps the best way?) to learn Norwegian"
This is reassuring, thank you.
BBB offer from Edinburgh. Now I have to decide between there and UCL
Firmed my unconditional for Icelandic. So excited for September! Anyone else planning on icelandic or have taken the course themselves?
Original post by nearlyheadlessian
*gulp* Application submitted for further study that's not Scandinavian Studies (but inspired by my time studying it) - wonder if they'll have me - or if they'll fund me, more importantly!
For longwinded reasons that I don't need to go into on a public forum, my offer was bumped sideways ... to Scandinavian Studies. I now have an unconditional offer for PhD Scandinavian Studies
Lets see how funding goes...placebo24
BBB offer from Edinburgh. Now I have to decide between there and UCL
*whispers* Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Edinburgh.
Seriously, I know people from both who did SS, and everyone came out happy. You'll enjoy either university and either programme. Only you know how you feel about London vs. Edinburgh as cities. I'd be happy to field any questions about SS in Edinburgh that you have (as a graduate and tutor of SS).
Original post by khoc1993
Firmed my unconditional for Icelandic. So excited for September! Anyone else planning on icelandic or have taken the course themselves?
I did the degree years ago, but the department I knew barely exists anymore so no idea how useful my input will be.
Also congrats Nearlyheadlessian. Great news on the offer, even if it wasn't what you had originally applied for. Hope you get funding.
Original post by Grumbert
Howdy!
I'm from Australia, and just received offers into SS, Viking Studies, and Icelandic at UCL, and though I'm very pleased about that I've also received a scholarship to stay in Canberra and study at the uni here. While I feel very strongly that I would enjoy every bit of a Nordic language degree, I feel the same way about studying Japanese, which I've studied for 6 years at school and is offered at the Canberra uni. Really it's a shame that I haven't found any quality universities that offer both Japanese and a Nordic language, because I'd be there in a flash (any chance of UCL adding an East Asian Faculty?)
Anyhow taking Japanese here first is definitely the logical choice, due to paying close to $0 over 4 years instead of close to $150,000 and due to the fact I live 20 mins from the university...
So even though I would like to do one of the UCL undergrad degrees after finishing my Japanese undergrad, the earliest I could start would be in 2018 or 2019. I'm of the opinion that taking two undergrad degrees is possibly quite silly, especially if both are language courses. I was wondering what your opinions are on this.
I was thinking that the best option would be to go to a language school in a Nordic country after finishing my Japanese degree - most likely a folk school in Norway or Sweden. While the completeness of a uni degree (literature/history/qualification/etc) is very attractive, these schools on the whole look quite decent (and are very cheap for someone used to looking at international uni student fees). Does anyone know how these schools fare in regards to language learning compared to learning the language through a uni course?
I've just started a gap year (Aus unis start in February), so I've got around 4 months to decide. I know this isn't strictly related to Scandinavian Studies, so thanks very much in advance for any help.
I'm from Australia, and just received offers into SS, Viking Studies, and Icelandic at UCL
, and though I'm very pleased about that I've also received a scholarship to stay in Canberra and study at the uni here. While I feel very strongly that I would enjoy every bit of a Nordic language degree, I feel the same way about studying Japanese, which I've studied for 6 years at school and is offered at the Canberra uni. Really it's a shame that I haven't found any quality universities that offer both Japanese and a Nordic language, because I'd be there in a flash (any chance of UCL adding an East Asian Faculty?)Anyhow taking Japanese here first is definitely the logical choice, due to paying close to $0 over 4 years instead of close to $150,000 and due to the fact I live 20 mins from the university...
So even though I would like to do one of the UCL undergrad degrees after finishing my Japanese undergrad, the earliest I could start would be in 2018 or 2019. I'm of the opinion that taking two undergrad degrees is possibly quite silly, especially if both are language courses
. I was wondering what your opinions are on this.I was thinking that the best option would be to go to a language school in a Nordic country after finishing my Japanese degree - most likely a folk school in Norway or Sweden. While the completeness of a uni degree (literature/history/qualification/etc) is very attractive, these schools on the whole look quite decent (and are very cheap for someone used to looking at international uni student fees
). Does anyone know how these schools fare in regards to language learning compared to learning the language through a uni course? I've just started a gap year (Aus unis start in February), so I've got around 4 months to decide. I know this isn't strictly related to Scandinavian Studies, so thanks very much in advance for any help.
A few years back, I was exactly in the same situation, choosing between Danish and Japanese) and I would say that although I went for Scandinavian, it was mainly due to money, location, etc. reasons. Saying that, in your case I would stay in Australia to read Japanese and save the money for an European trip including language summer school (where and how depends what language do you want to study)
So I spoke to a nice Australian guy at Aberdeen about their Scandinavian Studies programme and he said they're not going to be taking on students for the next few years... bleh I'm gutted.
Original post by Samual
So I spoke to a nice Australian guy at Aberdeen about their Scandinavian Studies programme and he said they're not going to be taking on students for the next few years... bleh I'm gutted.
Any reasons given?
Original post by placebo24
Any reasons given?
He said something about bureaucracy and problems within the university... I don't know what that means though. He did say that if I applied for a different course I would still be able to take Scandinavian modules though. They do have a new degree in Celtic and Anglo-Saxon which would be an alright alternative... hmp.
P.S. I see you've firmed Nottingham? How come?
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by Samual
He said something about bureaucracy and problems within the university... I don't know what that means though. He did say that if I applied for a different course I would still be able to take Scandinavian modules though. They do have a new degree in Celtic and Anglo-Saxon which would be an alright alternative... hmp.
P.S. I see you've firmed Nottingham? How come?
P.S. I see you've firmed Nottingham? How come?
Hmm, well that sucks. Wouldn't be surprised if it's fee related - 9k fees must kill off some niche courses
I went for Nottingham mainly because of the course though I am gutted I am not going to be able to learn a Scandinavian language
At UCL I personally think all the interesting modules will have been taken by the time I got to the fourth year and Edinburgh's history department seemed both vague and too modern related. For someone who wants to study early medieval it seemed to be the best and I get to study the Anglo-Saxons too Will stick around here though
If it's possible it'd be cool if a mod could move this to a non-UCL specific location and add Viking Studies to the name :3Original post by placebo24
Hmm, well that sucks. Wouldn't be surprised if it's fee related - 9k fees must kill off some niche courses
I went for Nottingham mainly because of the course though I am gutted I am not going to be able to learn a Scandinavian language At UCL I personally think all the interesting modules will have been taken by the time I got to the fourth year and Edinburgh's history department seemed both vague and too modern related. For someone who wants to study early medieval it seemed to be the best and I get to study the Anglo-Saxons too
Will stick around here though If it's possible it'd be cool if a mod could move this to a non-UCL specific location and add Viking Studies to the name :3
I went for Nottingham mainly because of the course though I am gutted I am not going to be able to learn a Scandinavian language
At UCL I personally think all the interesting modules will have been taken by the time I got to the fourth year and Edinburgh's history department seemed both vague and too modern related. For someone who wants to study early medieval it seemed to be the best and I get to study the Anglo-Saxons too Will stick around here though
If it's possible it'd be cool if a mod could move this to a non-UCL specific location and add Viking Studies to the name :3There used to be a Scandinavian Studies thread in the languages subforum, but it fell into disuse - people kept using this one.
It's a shame you passed over Edinburgh - they have a decent assortment of Viking/Scandinavian/Pict/Celt courses that take a very interesting approach to Scotland/Scandinavia/the North Atlantic - you just have to look hard for them. Unfortunately, the people put forward to talk about the history section tend to just talk about world war 2 and so on. Good luck in Nottingham though - people like Judith Jesch are living legends, so you'll do well.
I suspect the Aberdeen thing is due to it being a centre rather than department and that there is some internal politics going on about how they market themselves (it's ok to produce research output and the occasional postgrad, but mass marketing an undergrad degree might be seen to be ambitious) - but I'm speculating there. Shame though - hopefully they can accept new students soon.
Original post by placebo24
Hmm, well that sucks. Wouldn't be surprised if it's fee related - 9k fees must kill off some niche courses
I went for Nottingham mainly because of the course though I am gutted I am not going to be able to learn a Scandinavian language At UCL I personally think all the interesting modules will have been taken by the time I got to the fourth year and Edinburgh's history department seemed both vague and too modern related. For someone who wants to study early medieval it seemed to be the best and I get to study the Anglo-Saxons too
Will stick around here though If it's possible it'd be cool if a mod could move this to a non-UCL specific location and add Viking Studies to the name :3
I went for Nottingham mainly because of the course though I am gutted I am not going to be able to learn a Scandinavian language
At UCL I personally think all the interesting modules will have been taken by the time I got to the fourth year and Edinburgh's history department seemed both vague and too modern related. For someone who wants to study early medieval it seemed to be the best and I get to study the Anglo-Saxons too Will stick around here though
If it's possible it'd be cool if a mod could move this to a non-UCL specific location and add Viking Studies to the name :3Yeah I must admit that worries me about UCL - who knows what courses will be cut next. It's my only option now though as Edinburgh have said they can't accept my OU course (they asked for a level 2 course, which would require me doing a whole extra year of OU... just to satisfy them)... no thank you!
Is there a year abroad on the Nottingham course? For me the year abroad is the biggest pull factor, whatever degree I do it must have one.
Original post by nearlyheadlessian
There used to be a Scandinavian Studies thread in the languages subforum, but it fell into disuse - people kept using this one.
It's a shame you passed over Edinburgh - they have a decent assortment of Viking/Scandinavian/Pict/Celt courses that take a very interesting approach to Scotland/Scandinavia/the North Atlantic - you just have to look hard for them. Unfortunately, the people put forward to talk about the history section tend to just talk about world war 2 and so on. Good luck in Nottingham though - people like Judith Jesch are living legends, so you'll do well.
It's a shame you passed over Edinburgh - they have a decent assortment of Viking/Scandinavian/Pict/Celt courses that take a very interesting approach to Scotland/Scandinavia/the North Atlantic - you just have to look hard for them. Unfortunately, the people put forward to talk about the history section tend to just talk about world war 2 and so on. Good luck in Nottingham though - people like Judith Jesch are living legends, so you'll do well.
The only options which were really presented to me relevant to the Vikings were apparently a module on Old Norse and a module on Viking Studies in the last year (though apparently they are quite broad?) - I wanted to focus on it more consistently. Perhaps Edinburgh's more 'general' approach just wasn't for me. Shame really 'cus I loved the city and the feel for the university. The Scandinavian Studies department seemed really lovely and passionate too, but as I said, the problem was more with the history department. Also the bursars wouldn't tell me if I still got my grant/bursary on the year abroad which worried me! I'd love to do post-grad though so maybe I'll be there as a later date, who knows, aha
And thank you! Original post by Samual
Yeah I must admit that worries me about UCL - who knows what courses will be cut next. It's my only option now though as Edinburgh have said they can't accept my OU course (they asked for a level 2 course, which would require me doing a whole extra year of OU... just to satisfy them)... no thank you!
Is there a year abroad on the Nottingham course? For me the year abroad is the biggest pull factor, whatever degree I do it must have one.
Is there a year abroad on the Nottingham course? For me the year abroad is the biggest pull factor, whatever degree I do it must have one.
Well that sucks :/ There's an option to do a term abroad in the second year at Oslo (and possibly Lund?), but not a whole year abroad, I am afraid.
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