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Ab Initio degree

Hello all, I am planning on going on to do a degree in French and ab initio Italian after I complete my a-levels. However, the ab initio aspect of the degree is fairly daunting to me and I was just wondering if it would be worth getting myself to a proficient level of Italian before I start. I know that ab initio means from scratch so the degree will be taught from a beginners level but I don’t want a nasty surprise if I don’t put any work in now and find that I am not at a suitable level.
Original post by Bluecamo
Hello all, I am planning on going on to do a degree in French and ab initio Italian after I complete my a-levels. However, the ab initio aspect of the degree is fairly daunting to me and I was just wondering if it would be worth getting myself to a proficient level of Italian before I start. I know that ab initio means from scratch so the degree will be taught from a beginners level but I don’t want a nasty surprise if I don’t put any work in now and find that I am not at a suitable level.

I did ab-initio Italian A Level, meaning I did GCSE in the first year and a whole A Level in the second year, so I know how much it takes to do a language from scratch especially if it's examined. Perhaps it's best to go over some basic grammar points, learn colours, numbers, just so you could progress better. However what you really need in order to get through learning a language from scratch under pressure is resilience, passion for the language and genuine interest to learn, because it will be fast pace and you will be expected to get everything. So it's not necessary for you to learn before hand but then again what are you gonna lose?:smile: Good luck!
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Original post by RoseRouge
I did ab-initio Italian A Level, meaning I did GCSE in the first year and a whole A Level in the second year, so I know how much it takes to do a language from scratch especially if it's examined. Perhaps it's best to go over some basic grammar points, learn colours, numbers, just so you could progress better. However what you really need in order to get through learning a language from scratch under pressure is resilience, passion for the language and genuine interest to learn, because it will be fast pace and you will be expected to get everything. So it's not necessary for you to learn before hand but then again what are you gonna lose?:smile: Good luck!

Thank you so much!
Original post by Bluecamo
Hello all, I am planning on going on to do a degree in French and ab initio Italian after I complete my a-levels. However, the ab initio aspect of the degree is fairly daunting to me and I was just wondering if it would be worth getting myself to a proficient level of Italian before I start. I know that ab initio means from scratch so the degree will be taught from a beginners level but I don’t want a nasty surprise if I don’t put any work in now and find that I am not at a suitable level.


Hiya,

I did German as an ab initio language alongside French, spent my year abroad in Germany, and am now doing 80% German in my fourth year.

I wouldn't be too daunted by it, but it does require you to put the effort in in your first year to get your ab initio language up to a good standard. It's probably a good idea to do a bit of basic grammar work before you start the course, just so you're not completely overwhelmed by that as you're also getting used to being at uni – you might even find your uni set you some over the summer break.
Original post by Bluecamo
Hello all, I am planning on going on to do a degree in French and ab initio Italian after I complete my a-levels. However, the ab initio aspect of the degree is fairly daunting to me and I was just wondering if it would be worth getting myself to a proficient level of Italian before I start. I know that ab initio means from scratch so the degree will be taught from a beginners level but I don’t want a nasty surprise if I don’t put any work in now and find that I am not at a suitable level.

Hi,

I am doing Spanish with ab initio Italian at the University of Bath. I have no prior experience with Italian apart from having been there on holiday (but can't say I learned much). Although some people in my class did GCSE and in a few cases A-Level I haven't felt out of my depth. It certainly helps to have another romance language under your belt already as I've found the languages can cross over quite a bit. All in all I'd say you haven't got much to worry about!

Let me know if you have any other questions or are interested in our course at Bath!
Katie, 2nd Year Modern Languages student

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