[Howells]

Right, I've finally decided (I think ) that I'm going to apply for French and German at university, rather than French and ab initio Spanish as I had been considering for a while. But now I'm stuck between a few universities and I'm wondering if anyone knows which would be best for me/has any opinions on the following:
Exeter
Cardiff
Southampton
Warwick
Bristol
Cambridge (Clare)
Oxford (Queen's/Exeter)

My A-Level courses in both languages include no literature and I don't take English Lit now, so I'm worried that applying to Oxford would be foolish as I'd be written off almost straight away, and I'd get frustrated in being so far behind the rest of the class in terms of literature even if I did get in. Do any of my other possible choices lay a greater emphasis on literature? It's not that I don't enjoy books (I love them in fact ) but I don't enjoy analysing books that I have little interest in.

Thanks for any help

[Greatleysteg]

(Original post by Howells)
Right, I've finally decided (I think ) that I'm going to apply for French and German at university, rather than French and ab initio Spanish as I had been considering for a while. But now I'm stuck between a few universities and I'm wondering if anyone knows which would be best for me/has any opinions on the following:
Exeter
Cardiff
Southampton
Warwick
Bristol
Cambridge (Clare)
Oxford (Queen's/Exeter)

My A-Level courses in both languages include no literature and I don't take English Lit now, so I'm worried that applying to Oxford would be foolish as I'd be written off almost straight away, and I'd get frustrated in being so far behind the rest of the class in terms of literature even if I did get in. Do any of my other possible choices lay a greater emphasis on literature? It's not that I don't enjoy books (I love them in fact ) but I don't enjoy analysing books that I have little interest in.

Thanks for any help

Don't worry!!!

I've never done any literature, ever, and I'm going to Oxford to read French and German!

Yes, Oxford does focus on Literature, but that's what makes it greater and more challenging (and rewarding) than any other MFL course. ANY other MFL course.

I'm told Cambridge's is ~50/50 split, with regards to literature.

Oxford
Warwick
Bristol
Cardiff
Exeter

looks like a good range of choices. Any reason why you've not thought of UCL? Their language facilities and rankings are excellent, and there's a whole plethora of native speakers with whom to practise.

[Howells]

(Original post by Greatleysteg)
Don't worry!!!

I've never done any literature, ever, and I'm going to Oxford to read French and German!

That's a relief then. I definitely would prefer Oxford to Cambridge but the literature aspect was holding me back a bit, so thanks for that

Any reason why you've not thought of UCL? Their language facilities and rankings are excellent, and there's a whole plethora of native speakers with whom to practise.

It does look like a really great place to study, but I don't really fancy going to London - it's expensive and I wouldn't want to live in too big a city really

[Anatheme]

I'm French, and tbh, the books you could study for French at Ox are great, especially Les Liaisons Dangereuses . And I remember last year I was also a bit reluctant at the idea of analysing books, and finally it was way more interesting than I expected it to be ! (Explanation : My French lessons switched to Literature lesson, lol). Analysing books in a foreign language can be hard though, I studied Macbeth this year and I struggled a hell of a lot to understand it, lol, I was like picking the dictionary every five minutes, lol.

(Original post by Greatleysteg)
Yes, Oxford does focus on Literature, but that's what makes it greater and more challenging (and rewarding) than any other MFL course. ANY other MFL course.

Awww, I love when courses have a History part ! Makes it even more interesting, just to know the political, social, economic context so that you can learn more about the book and it gives you an idea of why it has been written this way, etc. Couldn't learn a foreign languages without have a part of History imo. I can't imagine studying Russian without any historical context (like how the Russian language was born, why it has been changed in some ways, etc.).

[jonnythemoose]

(Original post by Howells)
Right, I've finally decided (I think ) that I'm going to apply for French and German at university, rather than French and ab initio Spanish as I had been considering for a while. But now I'm stuck between a few universities and I'm wondering if anyone knows which would be best for me/has any opinions on the following:
Exeter
Cardiff
Southampton
Warwick
Bristol
Cambridge (Clare)
Oxford (Queen's/Exeter)

My A-Level courses in both languages include no literature and I don't take English Lit now, so I'm worried that applying to Oxford would be foolish as I'd be written off almost straight away, and I'd get frustrated in being so far behind the rest of the class in terms of literature even if I did get in. Do any of my other possible choices lay a greater emphasis on literature? It's not that I don't enjoy books (I love them in fact ) but I don't enjoy analysing books that I have little interest in.

Thanks for any help

You sound very similar to me

I was going to do French and ai Spanish, but then I decided I wanted to do German still...and I also wanted to do Linguistics! I'm much more interested in language in general, and the language structure, than studying literature and history. Once again, it's not because I'm not interested in it, I'm just not enthusiastic enough to do it as part of my degree course.

Anyway, I applied to Cambridge, Southampton, St. Andrews, Newcastle and York. Got offers from the last four, and am now going to be at Southampton (hopefully) in October!

[Howells]

(Original post by jonnythemoose)
You sound very similar to me

I was going to do French and ai Spanish, but then I decided I wanted to do German still...and I also wanted to do Linguistics! I'm much more interested in language in general, and the language structure, than studying literature and history. Once again, it's not because I'm not interested in it, I'm just not enthusiastic enough to do it as part of my degree course.

Anyway, I applied to Cambridge, Southampton, St. Andrews, Newcastle and York. Got offers from the last four, and am now going to be at Southampton (hopefully) in October!

Ooh, yes, that's exactly like me - I much prefer Linguistics and the cultural side of things than the literature
I like the look of Southampton and I'm hopefully going to the Open Day in July/September, and I'm going to the Exeter and Bristol ones this month. But the main thing I'm caught up on is the Oxford/Cambridge decision
I really like Oxford as a place (though I've never been to Cambridge ) and I think that Cambridge is just a bit too far away maybe

[Anatheme]

(Original post by Howells)
Ooh, yes, that's exactly like me - I much prefer Linguistics and the cultural side of things than the literature
I like the look of Southampton and I'm hopefully going to the Open Day in July/September, and I'm going to the Exeter and Bristol ones this month. But the main thing I'm caught up on is the Oxford/Cambridge decision
I really like Oxford as a place (though I've never been to Cambridge ) and I think that Cambridge is just a bit too far away maybe

Follow your heart, lol. (and look at the courses )
I had a crush on Cam personally, lol. Don't know why, I just preferred Cam than Ox, lol.

[Howells]

(Original post by Anatheme)
Follow your heart, lol. (and look at the courses )
I had a crush on Cam personally, lol. Don't know why, I just preferred Cam than Ox, lol.

Haha, I feel like that about Oxford - I don't even know why, I just visited there a year or two ago and I was like 'Wow, this is where I want to live!'

[Anatheme]

(Original post by Howells)
Haha, I feel like that about Oxford - I don't even know why, I just visited there a year or two ago and I was like 'Wow, this is where I want to live!'

Then go for it, there pretty much similar after all, if you except the fact that Ox is more literature-based. I think you can have the same experience at both

[jonnythemoose]

(Original post by Howells)
Haha, I feel like that about Oxford - I don't even know why, I just visited there a year or two ago and I was like 'Wow, this is where I want to live!'

Yeah, I wanted to apply to Oxford at first. I loved the city, and the uni was obviously great - but trust me, it's VEEEEEERY literature based. Fine if you love studying lit, but maybe not otherwise. It's why I ended up applying to Cam. Although in the end I didn't get in anyway

On an unrelated note, I've done A2 literature, and actually really enjoyed it. But it's also proved to me that I don't quite think I'd want to do it at uni.

Anyway Howells, take a look at the French and German (Linguistic Studies) option at So'ton (RRC2 )

[Howells]

(Original post by jonnythemoose)
Anyway Howells, take a look at the French and German (Linguistic Studies) option at So'ton (RRC2 )

I've looked at the information on that and it definitely looks like the sort of course I'd enjoy, although it's not very flexible in the first yea is it?
And I was just wondering, what are the interviews like for Soton? Are they conducted in English, French, German or a mix? What sort of stuff do you talk about?

[jonnythemoose]

(Original post by Howells)
I've looked at the information on that and it definitely looks like the sort of course I'd enjoy, although it's not very flexible in the first yea is it?
And I was just wondering, what are the interviews like for Soton? Are they conducted in English, French, German or a mix? What sort of stuff do you talk about?

No, first year is pretty fixed - but it's quite similar in many universities. And personally the first year course looks great anyway...

The interview is FINE. Literally, it's like 10/15 minutes in English, basically asking about what you find particularly interesting etc., why you've written certain things on your ps etc. Nothing taxing. Especially compared to what you get if you're interviewed at Oxbridge

[Anatheme]

(Original post by jonnythemoose)
Especially compared to what you get if you're interviewed at Oxbridge

I'm glad I've been straight rejected, lol. Probably couldn't have coped with Oxbridge interview, lol. 15min by phone in English with the guy from Manchester were particularly impressive, so I can't really imagine Oxbridge ones...

[jonnythemoose]

(Original post by Anatheme)
I'm glad I've been straight rejected, lol. Probably couldn't have coped with Oxbridge interview, lol. 15min by phone in English with the guy from Manchester were particularly impressive, so I can't really imagine Oxbridge ones...

Haha, tbh I know I just said they were awful, but they're no where near as bad as you think. Well, mine weren't. Very challenging, very nerve-wracking...quite anti-climactic if anything. Either way, it's an experience!