Cambridge Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES) Students and Applicants

I just really like Japanese

Madness, I just don't know how much I'm supposed to know before I arrive!

Well, how much do you know already? I know barely any Arabic at all. Though I do know the alphabet very well, and I think that's one of teh things they expect you to have learned before you come up.

I've just got to grips with the alphabet and reading it, but I've got myself a lady to teach me so hopefully I'll learn a fair bit!

Well, then I don't think you need to worry about not knowing enough! It is an ab-initio course after all.

By the way, does anybody here know how possible it is to change one of the languages? I mean, how likely is it that I would be allowed to change one of my languages to another Middle Eastern language, like, say, Persian or Akkadian? Not that I'm seriously planning this- I'm just curious.

Have you seen the pack on the AMES website of what they expect you to know before starting? It's madness...it's practically like having a GCSE in it!

Gosh, really? Nobody's informed me about this pack... I can't seem to find it on the website, could you give me a link? (If links aren't allowed to be posted, you can private message me) What does it say we have to know? I thought it was just the alphabet...

Got my offer for AMES (Japanese) at Selwyn yesterday - 39 points with 7 6 6 at HL. Should be all right, I hope...! I'm not seeing many people with offers for Japanese on TSR though, which is a shame! And there were some really nice people at interview I'd love to have a chat to and see how they got on, but oh well.
Congrats to everyone who got offers!

Hey guys. Im still waiting (pooled and reinterviewed at Robinson) for my reply to study chinese. Just wondering how many other potential students are still waiting for a reply?

It's not quite a pack, (I exaggerate, slightly!) but this is what I found, and I think there's something else too. I'll keep looking.
http://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/dmes/islamic/arabic-script-worksheet.pdf

Surely they ought to send us something telling us what they expect us to know?

dear wannabe Arabists: please don't worry about the worksheet or anything else. That worksheet is a standard thing and I think it's very useful because a)it does help you to learn the alphabet - which I advise you to do for you own good b)it gives you a taster of the language and provides some basic vocab.
Yes, it is an initio course so in theory you don't need to know anything in detail. BUT if you're interested in the language (and I'd assume you are) then why not learn the script before coming up to uni? Why not familiarise yourself with the language?First year is very hectic and it's hard work because by the end of the year you should be able to read texts in Arabic. You need to do it for most courses in your second year. Not without a dictionary or anything but you're expected to work out things on your own. So it will be a hard -though very enjoyable and rewarding - year. Why not give yourselves a headstart?

I am one such "wannabe Arabist" (my offer is also for MML and also at your college, so in some respects I am a mini-you). I'm not worried by the preparation- because of my background, I'm already at ease with the alphabet and I know much of the basic vocabulary in the pack, my main concern for the moment is to meet my offer. But just out of interest, now that you've completed one term, how much Arabic do you know now and how well could you, for example, read a newspaper article? Also, how many hours a week of Arabic do you have (classes etc)? And how many hours have you on average had to put in yourself as "homework"? (Just curious.)

Hey, Jucus is a 2nd yr doing the old Oriental Studies Tripos. I'm in my 1st year on the new AMES tripos (that you will take next year)
Basically you have 6hrs of class time for Arabic a week. There are about (10 people in the class). And then you have 1hr of supervisions a week. As you're doing MML you wont have any culture/history/politics papers in your first year so thats pretty much it.
We get a lot of homework but its pretty all self motivated (to a certain extent) as is she doesnt really check up on much. I suppose if you did it all properly you would do about 10yrs a week. But it varies massively because sometimes she'll give random extra things too. The homework you get for supervisions also varies, probably another 2 or 3 hrs a week.

That said the majority of your time will be taken up with MML. for MML you will have a grammar class, an oral supervision, literature (or linguistics) lectures AND supervisions and a fortnightly translation class. For each of these you will be given essays/translations/hours of grammar exercises.

But back to Arabic I dont know if i could read a newspaper article - i havent tried yet! but i can read childrens story books and stuff =D The lessons are really intense so i guess it sounds like we dont do much work for arabic but we learn so much in the lessons! its quite fun really. annoyingly most of my time is taken with Spanish!!