studying two languages at uni?

i've got an unconditional to study russian at bristol in september but i'm interested in taking up ab initio italian but i'm worried that it might be too much for me, and i don't want to jeopardise my chances of doing well in russian by being too ambitious. can anyone tell me of their experiences of doing two languages, especially if at bristol/if it's either of those languages. thanks! :smile:

Reply 1

TheTechN1304

21

Original post by weevilface

i've got an unconditional to study russian at bristol in september but i'm interested in taking up ab initio italian but i'm worried that it might be too much for me, and i don't want to jeopardise my chances of doing well in russian by being too ambitious. can anyone tell me of their experiences of doing two languages, especially if at bristol/if it's either of those languages. thanks! :smile:

Are you doing Russian ab-initio or post-A level? Because if it's ab-initio would you be able to do ab-initio Italian as well? (most unis I've seen allow one post-A level language and one ab-initio language together, but never two ab initio languages)

Regardless, if you're studying Russian then you will not have a problem with Italian. It's not particularly difficult, and your Russian will not be any worse (you won't have fewer contact hours with Russian). If you struggle with languages then stick to one, but to get an unconditional from Bristol must mean you're good, so I'd go ahead and do Italian too :smile:

Reply 2

weevilface

OP

1

Original post by TheTechN1304

Are you doing Russian ab-initio or post-A level? Because if it's ab-initio would you be able to do ab-initio Italian as well? (most unis I've seen allow one post-A level language and one ab-initio language together, but never two ab initio languages)

Regardless, if you're studying Russian then you will not have a problem with Italian. It's not particularly difficult, and your Russian will not be any worse (you won't have fewer contact hours with Russian). If you struggle with languages then stick to one, but to get an unconditional from Bristol must mean you're good, so I'd go ahead and do Italian too :smile:

russian is post a-level, i couldn't cope with two ab initio haha! i did latin before so Im hoping that maybe gives me a slight in with italian and i've been looking into it just on duolingo and i'm actually really enjoying it. i think out of everything languages are my strong point and my unconditional is because i took a gap year so i've been holding the place since results day last year.

thanks for your encouragement, are you studying/looking to study two languages or at bristol too? :smile:

Reply 3

TheTechN1304

21

Original post by weevilface

russian is post a-level, i couldn't cope with two ab initio haha! i did latin before so Im hoping that maybe gives me a slight in with italian and i've been looking into it just on duolingo and i'm actually really enjoying it. i think out of everything languages are my strong point and my unconditional is because i took a gap year so i've been holding the place since results day last year.
thanks for your encouragement, are you studying/looking to study two languages or at bristol too? :smile:

I studied Latin for about 3 years before I started learning Italian and it definitely helped, especially with vocabulary. And yes, I'm looking to doing two languages as well. Either this year or next (depending on whether or not I decide to do a gap year), I'll be going to study Japanese and Chinese :smile:

Reply 4

InadequateJusticex

18

Original post by weevilface

i've got an unconditional to study russian at bristol in september but i'm interested in taking up ab initio italian but i'm worried that it might be too much for me, and i don't want to jeopardise my chances of doing well in russian by being too ambitious. can anyone tell me of their experiences of doing two languages, especially if at bristol/if it's either of those languages. thanks! :smile:

My friend is learning spanish, german and ab initio czech and she seems to be coping fine so I'd say go for it!

Reply 5

weevilface

OP

1

Original post by TheTechN1304

I studied Latin for about 3 years before I started learning Italian and it definitely helped, especially with vocabulary. And yes, I'm looking to doing two languages as well. Either this year or next (depending on whether or not I decide to do a gap year), I'll be going to study Japanese and Chinese :smile:

ah that's good to hear! chinese and japanese sound hard but so useful. :smile:

i'm on a gap year at the moment and i would definitely recommend it. i've only been working and saving and a bit of volunteering but it's been a good break from school and i feel much more ready for uni and independence and whatever now. do you now what you want to do?

Reply 6

weevilface

OP

1

Original post by InadequateJusticex

My friend is learning spanish, german and ab initio czech and she seems to be coping fine so I'd say go for it!

ah awesome! i think two is my limit to be honest but thanks for the help, i'm going to send an email probably tomorrow enquiring. exciting! :smile:

Reply 7

sophia5892

20

Original post by weevilface

i've got an unconditional to study russian at bristol in september but i'm interested in taking up ab initio italian but i'm worried that it might be too much for me, and i don't want to jeopardise my chances of doing well in russian by being too ambitious. can anyone tell me of their experiences of doing two languages, especially if at bristol/if it's either of those languages. thanks! :smile:

I did French, German and ab-initio Italian at A Level, before doing French, German and ab-initio Japanese at uni.

If you've done any French or Spanish before Italian should be pretty easy, and I imagine your Latin will help too. Italian is nice as it has logical pronunciation and grammatically it's very similar to French. But of course I can only comment on the language up to A Level standard :tongue:

studying two languages at uni?

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