help me choose my languages please!

sorry if i have already posted this, i thought i did, but my account hasn't it included it in the threads i have started.

i want to study modern languages at uni starting in 2009 but am having trouble choosing between whether to do french and spanish as a joint honours or a modern languages degree where i could do these two but italian also.

teachers have advised me against the latter, due to the high demand of the course and the fact that the more languages i study, the less time i will have to study the culture of the countries involved.

however, i study all three of these languages now and don't find them difficult, i rarely get confused and very much enjoy learning them - to the extent that if i couldn't carry on with italian in 2009 i would be really disappointed.

any other opinions please? thank you :smile:

Reply 1

Fizzee

I advise you to pick a maximum of 2.

Reply 2

city_chic

13

I'd take 3 if you're confident you could cope with them. Even if you found 3 were too much you could always drop one after first year maybe.

Reply 3

username145063

I'd pick French and Spanish personally. It all boils down to personal preference though - do you like the idea of studying Italian? Do you think you can cope with the prospect of three languages?

Reply 4

Altruism And Me

10

I'd take three. If you're naturally pretty good at languages anyway you should cope, and as you said, you'd miss Italian if you had to drop it. I was making a similar decision to yours and ended up picking dual honours, but only because I wanted to spend some time studying the actual culture and not just the language, not because 3 languages would be overwhelming. Besides, they're all romance languages, so you'll find it easier to establish similarities than you would with say, Japanese.

I say go for three!

Reply 5

katrin21

if you like italian so much why dont you consider a french/italian course? i'd do two max, think about your year abroad, do you go to three countries if you do three languages? if you do you're gonna have hardly any time in each country to really learn the language. but if you love all three then go for it, really look at what each separate course offers and it should be easier to choose.

Reply 6

mosesff

11

Apart from interpreting, UN Jobs, and so on, what can a modern langues degree allow for prospects, also if I for instance integrate CS and French?

Reply 7

NickEM

Take 2. Taking 3 isn't really a sensible option (unless you're some kind of super-genius.)

Reply 8

mosesff

11

Yes being bilinguil helps. - Anglais.
Oui, etant bilinguil aide.- Francais (:/)
Balah, zabonah komakit mekanad. - Dari

Reply 9

mosesff

11

4k really?
4000 livres vraiment?

Langue 4= Mandarin
oui quatre langues est difficile. En particulier a la fois.

Reply 10

xBillyBrownx

14

I'd advise you to do two only. It's always better because you'd really be able to study both properly. But it really is up to you and we are all unaware of your abilities so if you think you'd be able to work well with three then go for it.

Reply 11

megan28

Look into specific Uni course, because in a few which I looked at you do two langauges in your 1st year then have the option to take up another (from scratch or will an understaning already) in the second year. Chances are you wouldnt visit the country of your third language though.
But I'd say start with two, its obviously a big workload already.
Then look into taking one up later. Or see if the uni does evening classes or taster session etc just so you don't loose your skill with the third.

Reply 12

Zoedotdot

18

katrin21

i think i read somewhere that people who are bilingual etc earn £4000 a year more on average than other graduates lol. im doing a joint honours history/french course because i do think that languages are a bit limiting in terms of what you can do, im probably wrong though, i mean i dont know what employers look for.

Languages are limiting?!?!? I suppose all you can do is go to another country and communicate with anyone you meet... what a limited degree :rolleyes:

Out of interest, what is History going to give you in terms of scope that langauges can't? You study history within a languages degree. You get the same transferrable skills in a languages degree that you can in a History degree, plus the added bonus of being bi-, tri- or even quadrilingual at the end of it. I personally wouldn't count that as a limitation. I'm sorry to pick on this, but I've had people telling me all year that I won't get anywhere doing languages and that I should have done law or something instead because languages won't take me anywhere. It's just not true - languages are highly desirable in the workplace. How else would we be able to connect with other countries, whether in business or diplomacy?

Ahem. Anyway, to the OP - personally, I'd say that you should only take two languages. From what I've heard, taking three limits the level of fluency and cultural understanding you can achieve because you physically can't spend as much time on each of the languages. Two is plenty. If you really think you'd miss Italian and you don't think the workload would be too heavy, then there's no harm in having a stab at it and you can always change courses later if you want to. You may find your choices of universities limited though: I only remember coming across one or two who allowed you to take three languages, although I may be wrong :smile:

Perhaps it would be best to go on an open day and have a chat with a member of staff who would be able to advise you better on this.

Reply 13

jonnythemoose

15

Zoedotdot

Languages are limiting?!?!? I suppose all you can do is go to another country and communicate with anyone you meet... what a limited degree :rolleyes:

Out of interest, what is History going to give you in terms of scope that langauges can't? You study history within a languages degree. You get the same transferrable skills in a languages degree that you can in a History degree, plus the added bonus of being bi-, tri- or even quadrilingual at the end of it. I personally wouldn't count that as a limitation. I'm sorry to pick on this, but I've had people telling me all year that I won't get anywhere doing languages and that I should have done law or something instead because languages won't take me anywhere. It's just not true - languages are highly desirable in the workplace. How else would we be able to connect with other countries, whether in business or diplomacy?
.

I agree completely! A language course is probably the least limiting course out there! Employers not only seek those with a language, but those with the skills necessary to undertake the study of a language! And with due respect to the poster you quoted, history certainly isn't as transferrable as languages. Language graduates pretty much develop the same skill as a historian, plus the skill of being a linguist in one, two or even three foreign languages!

Reply 14

Emma27

OP

thanks to everyone so far for all the comments, they have been useful :smile:

however, it seems the majority here says take 2 languages, and having thought about it that does seem to be the most sensible idea! i suppose there is plenty of time to learn italian later, but i think i would be able to cope with 3 (i took my spanish gcse in year 10 and got one of the top five marks, A* french.)

in terms of choosing unis, i haven't been paying loads and loads of attention to the course content yet, because i don't really mind what cultural elements i study, because i think they will all be relatively interesting! for now, i'm just picking ones i like the idea of and reading prospectuses :smile:

any more comments from dual/tri-linguists appreciated!!

:biggrin:

EDIT: to those arguing the usefulness of languages, i recently went to an oxbridge applicants conference in my area, and a cambridge admissions tutor said that maths and modern langs degree were the two most desired by employers, that and/or something about them being desired for the real top-end jobs. can't quite remember but something similar!!! hope that helps.

Reply 15

*cath*

I'm not sure if three would be too much, but you could try it as a lot of unis are really flexible and allow you to change courses if you don't get on with it - you could always drop your least favourite language if you couldn't cope.

I suppose it depends on your career plan - if you need all three - e.g. interpretor
but then even for this you can specialise in whichever languages you like, and many are only bi- or trilingual

Reply 16

Joanna May

15

I;d do all three for certain. Why not, if you don;t have any problem coping with learnign three now?I could understand if you struggled and were relucctant to jeapodise the other two, but if you're good at three then take three. It doesn't make sense to drop one just for the sake of it.

Reply 17

shakerbaby

i think you answered your own question.

Reply 18

NickEM

Zoedotdot

Languages are limiting?!?!? I suppose all you can do is go to another country and communicate with anyone you meet... what a limited degree :rolleyes:

Out of interest, what is History going to give you in terms of scope that langauges can't? You study history within a languages degree. You get the same transferrable skills in a languages degree that you can in a History degree, plus the added bonus of being bi-, tri- or even quadrilingual at the end of it. I personally wouldn't count that as a limitation. I'm sorry to pick on this, but I've had people telling me all year that I won't get anywhere doing languages and that I should have done law or something instead because languages won't take me anywhere. It's just not true - languages are highly desirable in the workplace. How else would we be able to connect with other countries, whether in business or diplomacy?

Zoe, you are so, so right. I agree with everything you have said. Even if you didn't go on to use your language (and you most certainly could), a language degree is very respectable because it is a real, academic degree. Moreover, as well as having everything that a History degree does, you're left with 2 clear advantages:
1. You're fluent in another language
2. You've had a full year of work experience/living abroad

So, basically, to anybody who thinks doing a language degree is limiting: stop talking completely and utter ****.

Reply 19

ciaranfleck

I know so many people doing 3 languages it is unreal.. and tbh.. I think you should choose 3 as well if you think that you could cope with them. I plan to pick up French in my second year, having done German and Russian in my first. But my friends have done all three in their first and plan to stick with them and have done rather well. So again.. if you feel that you can cope with 3 and that it would a major dissapointment if you decided to drop one of them, why not just continue with them?

help me choose my languages please!

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