Linguistics students: present and future

Hi everyone! This is a space for all those who are currently studying/planning to study linguistics at uni where we can share experience, give advice and of course be nerdy together about linguistics

Let me introduce myself. I am a 2021 candidate applying to Edinburgh, UCL, Leeds, York and Lancaster for Bachelor’s programmes in linguistics, now in my second IB year.
Apart from being a linguistics enthusiast, I’m also an aspiring polyglot and currently speak 4 languages: Russian (native), English, French (B2) and Spanish (A2).
...while dabbling in some 10 others.

Why did you choose linguistics? Where do you study/intend to study? What are your future plans? If you wish, tell a bit about yourself as you join so we can all quickly break the ice!

So... Welcome and I hope this little thread will be both entertaining and useful to us all

Hi! I'm Danae and I'm also a 2021 candidate (for BA English Language and Linguistics). I've applied to Warwick, Lancaster, Sussex, Reading and Cardiff and, so far, I have offers from all except Warwick (still waiting...)! As well as English (obviously ) I also speak Greek and I learnt the very basics of Russian as part of my EPQ, I found it so difficult but it's amazing that it is your native language! My main interest is phonetics and phonology, and I want to go into either TESOL or speech and language therapy, but that might change in the future Maybe see you at Lancaster haha!

Nice to meet you, Danae!

Wow, congrats on receiving almost all of your offers so early; I have no doubts Warwick will also respond favourably
Do feel free to let me know how things turn out and which uni you eventually choose — maybe we’ll indeed study together
However, I myself have got offers from all except Lancaster and UCL at this point, so I still can’t know for sure... We’ll see haha.

I’m so excited to hear you speak Greek — that’s one of the languages I’ve began learning in previous years but had to drop because of a lack of time, and I so hope to return to it again once I’m less busy than now!
Also, I’ll be happy to help you anytime with Russian if you ever wish to take it up again

Your plans sound very interesting. I’ve assisted a speech therapist for a short while during a holiday two years ago and I find this a very compelling (and meaningful) prospect, no less than teaching English as a second language. Good luck achieving all the dreams you have!

I myself am hoping to pursue an academic career after studies, possibly focusing on first language acquisition.

Nice to meet you too Thank you so much! I’m sure Lancaster and UCL will respond to you very soon! Also, thank you for your offer about Russian, the same goes for you if you have any questions about Greek. I’m in a similar position to you with learning... there just aren’t enough hours in the day That sounds amazing, thank you for sharing (about assisting a speech therapist), I was hoping to do a similar thing this year but we all know why that couldn’t go ahead! Sorry, by academic career do you mean completing a PhD? I haven’t ever considered this and I don’t know much about it but it sounds really interesting!

Oh that’s very nice of you! It would be great if we could do some language exchange some day

Yes, I would love to obtain a doctoral degree in linguistics to further become a research assistant/fellow and then perhaps an associate — or maybe a lecturer. So is my dream; but things might of course go differently for me in the end.

Oh wow, that sounds really interesting! Well whatever you decide in the end I am sure will be for the best. But for now, good luck with the rest of this year! I hope the rest of those university offers come in soon

I did my undergraduate degree in speech and language therapy, my masters degree in Linguistics (with a specialism in Bilingualism), and doing my PhD in Bilingualism. I'm a jack of many languages, master of one (English)!

Welcome! Your background certainly sounds very impressive. May I ask which university you are currently doing your doctoral at?

Oh, sorry to bother you with the question when it says that on your profile 🤦*♀️
I’m still learning to use this platform

Hi! I'm Danae and I'm also a 2021 candidate (for BA English Language and Linguistics). I've applied to Warwick, Lancaster, Sussex, Reading and Cardiff and, so far, I have offers from all except Warwick (still waiting...)! As well as English (obviously ) I also speak Greek and I learnt the very basics of Russian as part of my EPQ, I found it so difficult but it's amazing that it is your native language! My main interest is phonetics and phonology, and I want to go into either TESOL or speech and language therapy, but that might change in the future Maybe see you at Lancaster haha!

Hey @danae02,

It's so exciting hearing that you applied to Reading Univerisity! If you don't mind me asking what made you interested in applying to Reading?

As always if you have any questions about anything feel free to let us know!😊
From,

Amina

I've applied for philosophy and linguistics at Oxford, Edinburgh, Leeds, York and Sheffield, have received offers from Leeds and York, interviews from Oxford, still waiting for the rest tho... I'm really interested in historical linguistics and PIE and so on but also sociolinguistics, semantics, morphology etc. I'm bilingual in French and English, and I do Spanish, German, Latin and ancient Greek in school!

Nice to meet you!

You certainly have very impressive background 👏 I share your interest in historical linguistics in the Indo-European context, as well as semantics and morphology.
Also, I find it really cool that you are bilingual! Was this something that inspired your interest in linguistics?

Hello! Sorry I’ve only just seen this! I applied because I was really impressed at the online open days when we were told about the course. I liked the sound of the modules and the university-wide modules, as well as the study abroad opportunities!

Hi! I've applied to study English Language and Linguistics with Portuguese at Glasgow (recently received an offer!), Sheffield, Newcastle, Edinburgh, and Southampton. I found it quite hard to find courses with all of those subjects, particularly with a focus of the history of the English language.

I'm a mature student and spent a couple of years travelling, a couple of years teaching English in Brazil. I speak one and a half languages: English (native) and Portuguese (B2? but only learnt through speaking, so my writing and grammar is questionable)

I'm very excited to find a linguistics thread on here!