Why I WOULDN'T recommend UCLAN APS course to study a language.
I personally wouldn't recommend UCLAN for this course, as a student who is currently on this course - but I want to finish my degree obviously so I'm not going to leave.
1. I WOULDN'T recommend if - you want to learn Korean. (at least at a fluent/advanced level)
Whilst this class has lessons specific to Korean, the classes are rather large, not focused and may not always have a Korean teacher teaching. (I know) Whilst learning Korean can be successful with sufficient self study at home, you also have other mandatory classes that need attending that focus on Asia as a continent, and of course other modules you can choose freely that may not even relate to your main major. We were also told consistently by teachers that if we wanted to learn Korean alone, we should have chosen a language school. If this is the case for you, I am saving you the stress, so go ahead and find a language school that teaches Korean if that is what you want specifically.
2. I WOULDN'T recommend if - you have a specific University in Korea that you want to study at during the 3rd year abroad.
I wanted to study at a specific University in Seoul and was excited to do so. However, it doesn't work how you might think. You are given a choice of around 15 (maybe) universities all over South Korea, of which I believe about 7 are based in Seoul. I understand why students would generally want to study in Seoul due to accents and everything else in other parts of Korea. You basically have 10 options you HAVE TO fill in, even if it means choosing universities out of Seoul. Then UCLAN decide themselves over a period of around 2 months where they want to put you, and communicate back and forth with Korean unis to place you accordingly. Therefore, you may have expected your 1st, 2nd or 3rd choice, as would anyone, and end up getting your 8th, 9th or 10th depending on where THEY want you go to. This makes it really difficult to plan accommodation, visas and everything else as the study abroad team, in my opinion, is only helpful at repeating information; other specific details, INCLUDING finding and booking accommodation, they do not help you with. You are essentially on your own.
I just want to add that this is my OPINION of UCLAN and if you still wish to study there then, by all means go for it! There are many lovely people. However, I know many people would expect to come here and receive intensive Korean language classes and have a prepared for and stress free year abroad plan. Unless you study Korean already or plan to spend hours of self study revising Korean, I don't personally believe one can acquire this skill when on this course. There are a multitude of other things I dislike about this university, but I won't bore you as most universities are probably the same as far as miscommunications and such go. Again, just MY OPINION.
Good Luck!
- When deciding where to go, I actually rather liked the look of SOAS, so that may be another University option for you going forward!
1. I WOULDN'T recommend if - you want to learn Korean. (at least at a fluent/advanced level)
Whilst this class has lessons specific to Korean, the classes are rather large, not focused and may not always have a Korean teacher teaching. (I know) Whilst learning Korean can be successful with sufficient self study at home, you also have other mandatory classes that need attending that focus on Asia as a continent, and of course other modules you can choose freely that may not even relate to your main major. We were also told consistently by teachers that if we wanted to learn Korean alone, we should have chosen a language school. If this is the case for you, I am saving you the stress, so go ahead and find a language school that teaches Korean if that is what you want specifically.
2. I WOULDN'T recommend if - you have a specific University in Korea that you want to study at during the 3rd year abroad.
I wanted to study at a specific University in Seoul and was excited to do so. However, it doesn't work how you might think. You are given a choice of around 15 (maybe) universities all over South Korea, of which I believe about 7 are based in Seoul. I understand why students would generally want to study in Seoul due to accents and everything else in other parts of Korea. You basically have 10 options you HAVE TO fill in, even if it means choosing universities out of Seoul. Then UCLAN decide themselves over a period of around 2 months where they want to put you, and communicate back and forth with Korean unis to place you accordingly. Therefore, you may have expected your 1st, 2nd or 3rd choice, as would anyone, and end up getting your 8th, 9th or 10th depending on where THEY want you go to. This makes it really difficult to plan accommodation, visas and everything else as the study abroad team, in my opinion, is only helpful at repeating information; other specific details, INCLUDING finding and booking accommodation, they do not help you with. You are essentially on your own.
I just want to add that this is my OPINION of UCLAN and if you still wish to study there then, by all means go for it! There are many lovely people. However, I know many people would expect to come here and receive intensive Korean language classes and have a prepared for and stress free year abroad plan. Unless you study Korean already or plan to spend hours of self study revising Korean, I don't personally believe one can acquire this skill when on this course. There are a multitude of other things I dislike about this university, but I won't bore you as most universities are probably the same as far as miscommunications and such go. Again, just MY OPINION.
Good Luck!
- When deciding where to go, I actually rather liked the look of SOAS, so that may be another University option for you going forward!
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by leslie..iesx
I personally wouldn't recommend UCLAN for this course, as a student who is currently on this course - but I want to finish my degree obviously so I'm not going to leave.
1. I WOULDN'T recommend if - you want to learn Korean. (at least at a fluent/advanced level)
Whilst this class has lessons specific to Korean, the classes are rather large, not focused and may not always have a Korean teacher teaching. (I know) Whilst learning Korean can be successful with sufficient self study at home, you also have other mandatory classes that need attending that focus on Asia as a continent, and of course other modules you can choose freely that may not even relate to your main major. We were also told consistently by teachers that if we wanted to learn Korean alone, we should have chosen a language school. If this is the case for you, I am saving you the stress, so go ahead and find a language school that teaches Korean if that is what you want specifically.
2. I WOULDN'T recommend if - you have a specific University in Korea that you want to study at during the 3rd year abroad.
I wanted to study at a specific University in Seoul and was excited to do so. However, it doesn't work how you might think. You are given a choice of around 15 (maybe) universities all over South Korea, of which I believe about 7 are based in Seoul. I understand why students would generally want to study in Seoul due to accents and everything else in other parts of Korea. You basically have 10 options you HAVE TO fill in, even if it means choosing universities out of Seoul. Then UCLAN decide themselves over a period of around 2 months where they want to put you, and communicate back and forth with Korean unis to place you accordingly. Therefore, you may have expected your 1st, 2nd or 3rd choice, as would anyone, and end up getting your 8th, 9th or 10th depending on where THEY want you go to. This makes it really difficult to plan accommodation, visas and everything else as the study abroad team, in my opinion, is only helpful at repeating information; other specific details, INCLUDING finding and booking accommodation, they do not help you with. You are essentially on your own.
I just want to add that this is my OPINION of UCLAN and if you still wish to study there then, by all means go for it! There are many lovely people. However, I know many people would expect to come here and receive intensive Korean language classes and have a prepared for and stress free year abroad plan. Unless you study Korean already or plan to spend hours of self study revising Korean, I don't personally believe one can acquire this skill when on this course. There are a multitude of other things I dislike about this university, but I won't bore you as most universities are probably the same as far as miscommunications and such go. Again, just MY OPINION.
Good Luck!
- When deciding where to go, I actually rather liked the look of SOAS, so that may be another University option for you going forward!
1. I WOULDN'T recommend if - you want to learn Korean. (at least at a fluent/advanced level)
Whilst this class has lessons specific to Korean, the classes are rather large, not focused and may not always have a Korean teacher teaching. (I know) Whilst learning Korean can be successful with sufficient self study at home, you also have other mandatory classes that need attending that focus on Asia as a continent, and of course other modules you can choose freely that may not even relate to your main major. We were also told consistently by teachers that if we wanted to learn Korean alone, we should have chosen a language school. If this is the case for you, I am saving you the stress, so go ahead and find a language school that teaches Korean if that is what you want specifically.
2. I WOULDN'T recommend if - you have a specific University in Korea that you want to study at during the 3rd year abroad.
I wanted to study at a specific University in Seoul and was excited to do so. However, it doesn't work how you might think. You are given a choice of around 15 (maybe) universities all over South Korea, of which I believe about 7 are based in Seoul. I understand why students would generally want to study in Seoul due to accents and everything else in other parts of Korea. You basically have 10 options you HAVE TO fill in, even if it means choosing universities out of Seoul. Then UCLAN decide themselves over a period of around 2 months where they want to put you, and communicate back and forth with Korean unis to place you accordingly. Therefore, you may have expected your 1st, 2nd or 3rd choice, as would anyone, and end up getting your 8th, 9th or 10th depending on where THEY want you go to. This makes it really difficult to plan accommodation, visas and everything else as the study abroad team, in my opinion, is only helpful at repeating information; other specific details, INCLUDING finding and booking accommodation, they do not help you with. You are essentially on your own.
I just want to add that this is my OPINION of UCLAN and if you still wish to study there then, by all means go for it! There are many lovely people. However, I know many people would expect to come here and receive intensive Korean language classes and have a prepared for and stress free year abroad plan. Unless you study Korean already or plan to spend hours of self study revising Korean, I don't personally believe one can acquire this skill when on this course. There are a multitude of other things I dislike about this university, but I won't bore you as most universities are probably the same as far as miscommunications and such go. Again, just MY OPINION.
Good Luck!
- When deciding where to go, I actually rather liked the look of SOAS, so that may be another University option for you going forward!
Thank you for posting this, I'm seeing more and more people looking to study at UCLAN but I've yet to see anyone's experience of the uni here! Just out of curiosity, how are the Korean classes structured? And how many hours do you have a week? It would be interesting to hear about the department and about what kind of level most students reach by the end of the 4 years too
Original post by umbrellala
Thank you for posting this, I'm seeing more and more people looking to study at UCLAN but I've yet to see anyone's experience of the uni here! Just out of curiosity, how are the Korean classes structured? And how many hours do you have a week? It would be interesting to hear about the department and about what kind of level most students reach by the end of the 4 years too
Hi! The first year is basic level Korean studies, I did around 4 hours a week split into 2 separate classes. These we're helpful at first because most people were around the same level of understanding, but for myself it got difficult to practise with classmates unless they were at the same/similar level. The first half of the lessons was learning new vocabulary and the second half was practise and applying what you learned onto worksheets and such. In my 2nd year, we do one 2 hour class and focus more on Korean society and culture based topics rather than language study. These classes are pretty much the exact same as first year classes; you study vocab and apply it into conversations or on paper, but there are less lessons for language overall. I have heard that after the year abroad (3rd year) depending on if students take classes in Korean and use Korean daily, they can become pretty fluent once they come back to graduate. But of course this depends on the student and if they decide to use Korean all of the time, or not. I am hoping my exchange to Korea will improve my language skills more than I am improving here
Hi! Just stumbled upon this thread. As a final year student doing Asia Pacific Studies - Korean Pathway, I have to say that a lot of this information is quite skewed/based on personal qualms.
1. The placement of university for year abroad is based on grades and attendance. If you attend the classes and study enough you should be able to attain your university of choice, like I did! It's great that our university has a much wider diversity in regional partners, including Jeju now; this is something other UK universities do not offer.
2. The main component of the degree is Asia Pacific Studies. So yes, if you only want to do the language perhaps look into other institutions. But for someone who wants more than just a level of fluency I find the schools range of available qualifications good.
3. The main proponent of language study is up to the willingness of the students themselves. Our Language modules add up to 200 independent learning hours, 2-4 hours a week of that are in class tutoring. Being able to self-study is a vital skill in learning a language. This something that the lecturers - whomst come from a range of backgrounds - teach us to do throughout the years. This helped me attain level 5 in the TOPIK examinations.
I can say, as a student in my final semester of my final year, that I also have the odd concern regarding aspects of the course such as the constant change in teachers for the APS section. However, I can say that the length to which the lecturers go to make this school what it is shouldn't go unnoticed
1. The placement of university for year abroad is based on grades and attendance. If you attend the classes and study enough you should be able to attain your university of choice, like I did! It's great that our university has a much wider diversity in regional partners, including Jeju now; this is something other UK universities do not offer.
2. The main component of the degree is Asia Pacific Studies. So yes, if you only want to do the language perhaps look into other institutions. But for someone who wants more than just a level of fluency I find the schools range of available qualifications good.
3. The main proponent of language study is up to the willingness of the students themselves. Our Language modules add up to 200 independent learning hours, 2-4 hours a week of that are in class tutoring. Being able to self-study is a vital skill in learning a language. This something that the lecturers - whomst come from a range of backgrounds - teach us to do throughout the years. This helped me attain level 5 in the TOPIK examinations.
I can say, as a student in my final semester of my final year, that I also have the odd concern regarding aspects of the course such as the constant change in teachers for the APS section. However, I can say that the length to which the lecturers go to make this school what it is shouldn't go unnoticed
Original post by Malang88
Hi! Just stumbled upon this thread. As a final year student doing Asia Pacific Studies - Korean Pathway, I have to say that a lot of this information is quite skewed/based on personal qualms.
1. The placement of university for year abroad is based on grades and attendance. If you attend the classes and study enough you should be able to attain your university of choice, like I did! It's great that our university has a much wider diversity in regional partners, including Jeju now; this is something other UK universities do not offer.
2. The main component of the degree is Asia Pacific Studies. So yes, if you only want to do the language perhaps look into other institutions. But for someone who wants more than just a level of fluency I find the schools range of available qualifications good.
3. The main proponent of language study is up to the willingness of the students themselves. Our Language modules add up to 200 independent learning hours, 2-4 hours a week of that are in class tutoring. Being able to self-study is a vital skill in learning a language. This something that the lecturers - whomst come from a range of backgrounds - teach us to do throughout the years. This helped me attain level 5 in the TOPIK examinations.
I can say, as a student in my final semester of my final year, that I also have the odd concern regarding aspects of the course such as the constant change in teachers for the APS section. However, I can say that the length to which the lecturers go to make this school what it is shouldn't go unnoticed
1. The placement of university for year abroad is based on grades and attendance. If you attend the classes and study enough you should be able to attain your university of choice, like I did! It's great that our university has a much wider diversity in regional partners, including Jeju now; this is something other UK universities do not offer.
2. The main component of the degree is Asia Pacific Studies. So yes, if you only want to do the language perhaps look into other institutions. But for someone who wants more than just a level of fluency I find the schools range of available qualifications good.
3. The main proponent of language study is up to the willingness of the students themselves. Our Language modules add up to 200 independent learning hours, 2-4 hours a week of that are in class tutoring. Being able to self-study is a vital skill in learning a language. This something that the lecturers - whomst come from a range of backgrounds - teach us to do throughout the years. This helped me attain level 5 in the TOPIK examinations.
I can say, as a student in my final semester of my final year, that I also have the odd concern regarding aspects of the course such as the constant change in teachers for the APS section. However, I can say that the length to which the lecturers go to make this school what it is shouldn't go unnoticed
Hello! Thank you for answering my post.
I did reiterate in the last half of my post that this is, more than anything, my personal opinion of UCLAN's Asia Pacific Course and why it is not a suitable course for a student looking to study Korean full time. It is a fault on my part probably for not doing thorough enough research into the course and it's full details before I enrolled.
I do want to say that yes, if you get good grades on the course, then you are more than able to get on the year abroad in one of your top choices of University in Korea, but it is not guaranteed and you just have to hope and work hard for it.
Again, yes if you are interested in Asian history and other aspects like that, alongside the language, then I'm sure there will be people who enjoy those kinds of classes and are looking for that in a course.
I completely understand that language study majorly revolves around self study as you can always learn new things about it. I have been doing this since I started uni and I hope to get a level as good as yours on the TOPIK test eventually. However, for others looking to study here and people on my course currently, they would've liked to have more language based classes and from a native of the country as they find it more difficult on their own.
I am not doubting the language skill of the Korean lecturers who are not Korean, they have incredible Korean skills, but language learning is something that never stops and I find those teachers sometimes leaning new things also. That is why I think personally that a native should teach their native language to ensure it is more thorough.
I stand by my opinion of the course and I understand your personal view also. I do want to make clear that this post was in no way to bash UCLAN or make people avoid it. I just wanted to outline that the language compared to the history (and other modules) is probably 30/70, and if language alone is what you are looking to study, then it probably isn't the option you should consider. I also stand by my point that, yes you can more often than not get into one of your favourite universities if your grades and attendance allow you, but it isn't guaranteed, because it isn't.
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