Languages at Uni ^_^
Hey guys 
So I'm currently in year 12, and I've decided that I reaaaaally want to read French and another language (possibly Russian ab-initio) at university. However, this is a decision that I have only recently made, as before AS Level I was very confused about what to do in the future.
I was wondering if any of you could give me some ideas about what I can do to make my UCAS application stronger, as I've only ever studied French, and at the moment I don't have much evidence to prove that I really love it.
Also, my subjects are half arts and half sciences - would this affect my application?
Thanks
So I'm currently in year 12, and I've decided that I reaaaaally want to read French and another language (possibly Russian ab-initio) at university. However, this is a decision that I have only recently made, as before AS Level I was very confused about what to do in the future.
I was wondering if any of you could give me some ideas about what I can do to make my UCAS application stronger, as I've only ever studied French, and at the moment I don't have much evidence to prove that I really love it.
Also, my subjects are half arts and half sciences - would this affect my application?
Thanks
Scroll to see replies
Original post by beau-malheur
Hey guys
So I'm currently in year 12, and I've decided that I reaaaaally want to read French and another language (possibly Russian ab-initio) at university. However, this is a decision that I have only recently made, as before AS Level I was very confused about what to do in the future.
I was wondering if any of you could give me some ideas about what I can do to make my UCAS application stronger, as I've only ever studied French, and at the moment I don't have much evidence to prove that I really love it.
Also, my subjects are half arts and half sciences - would this affect my application?
Thanks
So I'm currently in year 12, and I've decided that I reaaaaally want to read French and another language (possibly Russian ab-initio) at university. However, this is a decision that I have only recently made, as before AS Level I was very confused about what to do in the future.
I was wondering if any of you could give me some ideas about what I can do to make my UCAS application stronger, as I've only ever studied French, and at the moment I don't have much evidence to prove that I really love it.
Also, my subjects are half arts and half sciences - would this affect my application?
Thanks
Maybe it's best to ask the career guidance people at your college, they'll probably know more as well. But of course, study well to do well in French
Bonne chance!!
Original post by beau-malheur
Hey guys
So I'm currently in year 12, and I've decided that I reaaaaally want to read French and another language (possibly Russian ab-initio) at university. However, this is a decision that I have only recently made, as before AS Level I was very confused about what to do in the future.
I was wondering if any of you could give me some ideas about what I can do to make my UCAS application stronger, as I've only ever studied French, and at the moment I don't have much evidence to prove that I really love it.
Also, my subjects are half arts and half sciences - would this affect my application?
Thanks
So I'm currently in year 12, and I've decided that I reaaaaally want to read French and another language (possibly Russian ab-initio) at university. However, this is a decision that I have only recently made, as before AS Level I was very confused about what to do in the future.
I was wondering if any of you could give me some ideas about what I can do to make my UCAS application stronger, as I've only ever studied French, and at the moment I don't have much evidence to prove that I really love it.
Also, my subjects are half arts and half sciences - would this affect my application?
Thanks
I'm currently reading French, Spanish and Italian ab initio. So my advice is:
- Further reading - Literature. Pick out some well known French Authors like Voltaire and read the translations or original text if competent. (But you will HAVE to read them if you cite them)
- I wrote about my interest in Linguistics and cited some books I had read "Little book of Language" "Unfolding of Language". They're both quite interesting. And I expanding into a bit of Etymology.
-Even though i'm doing Italian ab initio, I started learning a bit during the summer for fun. And put that down.
Research the courses and find out what they cover. May I ask what universities you are interested in?
I've just finished 1st year at uni studying French, Spanish and beginners Italian (just like the above poster haha) but next year I'll just be doing French and Italian.
In your personal statement the most important thing is to come across as passionate about the subjects you want to do, explain why you want to study French, maybe talk about any past trips/holidays to France and how they may have inspired you, talk about what you hope to do with your languages in the future. Also mention your other subjects and how they may have influenced you in choosing what to study at uni, even if they aren't really related to what you're doing, i.e. I did English Language at A-level, so I said that in studying the use of English in depth, it gave me an interest in having as in-depth a knowledge in other languages.
Hope this helped a bit it's good how you are already thinking about your personal statement, I didn't start writing mine until a month before I sent my application off!
In your personal statement the most important thing is to come across as passionate about the subjects you want to do, explain why you want to study French, maybe talk about any past trips/holidays to France and how they may have inspired you, talk about what you hope to do with your languages in the future. Also mention your other subjects and how they may have influenced you in choosing what to study at uni, even if they aren't really related to what you're doing, i.e. I did English Language at A-level, so I said that in studying the use of English in depth, it gave me an interest in having as in-depth a knowledge in other languages.
Hope this helped a bit
it's good how you are already thinking about your personal statement, I didn't start writing mine until a month before I sent my application off!Original post by lucinda9999
Maybe it's best to ask the career guidance people at your college, they'll probably know more as well. But of course, study well to do well in French Bonne chance!!
Bonne chance!!Thanks!
Original post by languagelover
I'm currently reading French, Spanish and Italian ab initio. So my advice is:
- Further reading - Literature. Pick out some well known French Authors like Voltaire and read the translations or original text if competent. (But you will HAVE to read them if you cite them)
- I wrote about my interest in Linguistics and cited some books I had read "Little book of Language" "Unfolding of Language". They're both quite interesting. And I expanding into a bit of Etymology.
-Even though i'm doing Italian ab initio, I started learning a bit during the summer for fun. And put that down.
Research the courses and find out what they cover. May I ask what universities you are interested in?
- Further reading - Literature. Pick out some well known French Authors like Voltaire and read the translations or original text if competent. (But you will HAVE to read them if you cite them)
- I wrote about my interest in Linguistics and cited some books I had read "Little book of Language" "Unfolding of Language". They're both quite interesting. And I expanding into a bit of Etymology.
-Even though i'm doing Italian ab initio, I started learning a bit during the summer for fun. And put that down.
Research the courses and find out what they cover. May I ask what universities you are interested in?
Oooh thank you
Since I posted the message I have read some French literature and and some Russian history, but thanks for the recommendation about the linguistics books, I think its something that would interest me too.
I also learnt a little bit of Russian! Did you find that the workload was hard because you are doing ab-initio?
The universities I'm going to apply to really depend on my AS results I guess... If I do well enough I'm thinking about applying to Oxford because I found out that I really like the literature and the language learning more than anything, which is what their course focuses on, but at the same time I don't want to pin my hopes on it because I know how hard it is to get on to the course. I also really like Nottingham! xD
I'm thinking about Durham, UCL and Birmingham as well... but I'm not sure about those yet.
Where do you go?
Original post by gottabeme
I've just finished 1st year at uni studying French, Spanish and beginners Italian (just like the above poster haha) but next year I'll just be doing French and Italian.
In your personal statement the most important thing is to come across as passionate about the subjects you want to do, explain why you want to study French, maybe talk about any past trips/holidays to France and how they may have inspired you, talk about what you hope to do with your languages in the future. Also mention your other subjects and how they may have influenced you in choosing what to study at uni, even if they aren't really related to what you're doing, i.e. I did English Language at A-level, so I said that in studying the use of English in depth, it gave me an interest in having as in-depth a knowledge in other languages.
Hope this helped a bit it's good how you are already thinking about your personal statement, I didn't start writing mine until a month before I sent my application off!
In your personal statement the most important thing is to come across as passionate about the subjects you want to do, explain why you want to study French, maybe talk about any past trips/holidays to France and how they may have inspired you, talk about what you hope to do with your languages in the future. Also mention your other subjects and how they may have influenced you in choosing what to study at uni, even if they aren't really related to what you're doing, i.e. I did English Language at A-level, so I said that in studying the use of English in depth, it gave me an interest in having as in-depth a knowledge in other languages.
Hope this helped a bit
it's good how you are already thinking about your personal statement, I didn't start writing mine until a month before I sent my application off!Haha thank you, it did help!
But yeah, I think I'm going to mention my Ennglish Literature, because I just studied 1984 this half term and there are a lot of links between it and russian history, which i found quite interesting :P
(oh and my school is forcing me to start thinking about my personal statement xD)
Original post by beau-malheur
Also, my subjects are half arts and half sciences - would this affect my application?
I did three sciences and French at A Level - and went on to do French and an ab initio language (Spanish) at university. So don't worry!
This is quite a simple and amusing book in French where a French woman living in England takes different English stereotypes and discusses how true they are. You could give that a read as it would show you read something in French + thought about culture differences a bit (bonus - it isn't a snoozefest!)
Good luck!
Original post by moutonfou
I did three sciences and French at A Level - and went on to do French and an ab initio language (Spanish) at university. So don't worry!
This is quite a simple and amusing book in French where a French woman living in England takes different English stereotypes and discusses how true they are. You could give that a read as it would show you read something in French + thought about culture differences a bit (bonus - it isn't a snoozefest!)
Good luck!
I did three sciences and French at A Level - and went on to do French and an ab initio language (Spanish) at university. So don't worry!
This is quite a simple and amusing book in French where a French woman living in England takes different English stereotypes and discusses how true they are. You could give that a read as it would show you read something in French + thought about culture differences a bit (bonus - it isn't a snoozefest!)
Good luck!
Oooooh thanks, that sounds really interesting!
Original post by beau-malheur
Oooh thank you
Since I posted the message I have read some French literature and and some Russian history, but thanks for the recommendation about the linguistics books, I think its something that would interest me too.
I also learnt a little bit of Russian! Did you find that the workload was hard because you are doing ab-initio?
The universities I'm going to apply to really depend on my AS results I guess... If I do well enough I'm thinking about applying to Oxford because I found out that I really like the literature and the language learning more than anything, which is what their course focuses on, but at the same time I don't want to pin my hopes on it because I know how hard it is to get on to the course. I also really like Nottingham! xD
I'm thinking about Durham, UCL and Birmingham as well... but I'm not sure about those yet.
Where do you go?
Since I posted the message I have read some French literature and and some Russian history, but thanks for the recommendation about the linguistics books, I think its something that would interest me too.
I also learnt a little bit of Russian! Did you find that the workload was hard because you are doing ab-initio?
The universities I'm going to apply to really depend on my AS results I guess... If I do well enough I'm thinking about applying to Oxford because I found out that I really like the literature and the language learning more than anything, which is what their course focuses on, but at the same time I don't want to pin my hopes on it because I know how hard it is to get on to the course. I also really like Nottingham! xD
I'm thinking about Durham, UCL and Birmingham as well... but I'm not sure about those yet.
Where do you go?
If you have any questions about languages Oxford, feel free to ask me (I study French there)
Also, a friend of mine does French and ab initio Russian at Oxford and he absolutely loves it!
Original post by qwertyuiop1993
If you have any questions about languages Oxford, feel free to ask me (I study French there)
Also, a friend of mine does French and ab initio Russian at Oxford and he absolutely loves it!
Also, a friend of mine does French and ab initio Russian at Oxford and he absolutely loves it!
OMG no wayyy! ^_^
I have so many questions hahaha! I guess the first thing is what is your typical week like? Oh and what did you have to do in your interview, if you remember? I know that no two interviews are the same, but it would be nice to have some kind of idea of what goes on
...Did your friend find the workload manageable in his first year?
I'll stop there for now lol xD
Original post by beau-malheur
OMG no wayyy! ^_^
I have so many questions hahaha! I guess the first thing is what is your typical week like? Oh and what did you have to do in your interview, if you remember? I know that no two interviews are the same, but it would be nice to have some kind of idea of what goes on...
Did your friend find the workload manageable in his first year?
I'll stop there for now lol xD
I have so many questions hahaha! I guess the first thing is what is your typical week like? Oh and what did you have to do in your interview, if you remember? I know that no two interviews are the same, but it would be nice to have some kind of idea of what goes on
...Did your friend find the workload manageable in his first year?
I'll stop there for now lol xD
A typical week will involve one, sometimes two tutorials, a translation/grammar class, and oral class and a few lectures. (Each class is normally an hour long, though tutorials can overrun if the tutor gets really into it and my grammar class for first year was 1.5 hours long).
For every translation class I'll normally get a literary translation into French to be submitted beforehand, though every other week I also get set a 1200 word discursive essay in French.
For each tutorial I have to write a 2000+ word essay (though mine often end up in the 3000+ range) - this will form the bulk of weekly work - you get a reading list and it's up to you to do the research and formulate a vaguely coherent argument. The essays aren't formally assessed.
The workload is definitely manageable and there is enough free time to socialise and do sport/join societies - it's normally sleep that suffers
My friend said that Russian took up the majority of his time, given that he did it ab initio and so there was a lot of vocab and grammar to absorb in a short space of time, but he seemed to be going out a lot and doing a lot of drama so he evidently found it manageable! Interview will normally be based on a passage/poem that they give you beforehand. After a few icebreaker questions (how was the journey/what have you been reading recently etc.) they'll move on to the interview proper - asking about the passage, pushing you to think in new ways etc. They might then get you to talk about some of the extra reading you've done or just any literature you have read before (in class etc.). There will probably be a portion where you speak the foreign language, but this varies in length depending on the tutor and the topic really is unpredictable (I got "Tell me about your time in France" and the next guy got "I see your submitted essay was about a cellist/composer, who is your favourite cellist?" while my friend at another college got "let's talk about the film La Haine that you mentioned in your ps)
As for ab initio Russian, I have no idea what the interview entails unfortunately.
Don't be too daunted by the interviews - my tutor himself is quite nervous because he feels a great responsibility to choose the best candidates. They're not monsters who are out to trip you up at every move
Original post by qwertyuiop1993
A typical week will involve one, sometimes two tutorials, a translation/grammar class, and oral class and a few lectures. (Each class is normally an hour long, though tutorials can overrun if the tutor gets really into it and my grammar class for first year was 1.5 hours long).
For each tutorial I have to write a 2000+ word essay - you get a reading list and it's up to you to do the research and formulate a vaguely coherent argument.
For each tutorial I have to write a 2000+ word essay - you get a reading list and it's up to you to do the research and formulate a vaguely coherent argument.
Oh wow, thank you!
)))Do you just do French, or do you do another language as well?
How much reading do you do in a week? I know you said you get a reading list, but how many books are usually on it?
Alsoooooo would you be able to recommend some books to me please? I am already reading a lot of Maupassant short stories (which I really like, especially Boule de Suif and La Parure xD), and I have read L'Etranger but I feel like I should probably read more of a variety...
Heehee sorry for all the questions
Original post by beau-malheur
Oh wow, thank you! )))
Do you just do French, or do you do another language as well?
How much reading do you do in a week? I know you said you get a reading list, but how many books are usually on it?
Alsoooooo would you be able to recommend some books to me please? I am already reading a lot of Maupassant short stories (which I really like, especially Boule de Suif and La Parure xD), and I have read L'Etranger but I feel like I should probably read more of a variety...
Heehee sorry for all the questions
)))Do you just do French, or do you do another language as well?
How much reading do you do in a week? I know you said you get a reading list, but how many books are usually on it?
Alsoooooo would you be able to recommend some books to me please? I am already reading a lot of Maupassant short stories (which I really like, especially Boule de Suif and La Parure xD), and I have read L'Etranger but I feel like I should probably read more of a variety...
Heehee sorry for all the questions
I just do French
The amount of reading depends on how prepared you are. We get primary reading lists in the holidays and we're suppose to have read the primary texts before term. This means that in theory every week you'll just be doing secondary reading/brushing up on quotes from the primary texts, though plenty of people end up having to frantically read the novels etc in the week, having failed to do so beforehand.
The reading lists always contain more books than you could possibly read. For an essay I'd normally pick around 5 books and read the relevant chapters for the essay title. I'd also find articles online through Jstor etc. For commentaries (close analysis of an extract or poem) you don't need to do any extra reading, you just need to analyse the passage in minute detail.
I'd recommend reading some theatre and poetry. Baudelaire's 'Les fleurs du mal' is a good place to start for the latter (it's on the first year course and often a Baudelaire poem is set for interview). The poems are all available online (http://fleursdumal.org/1868-table-of-contents) and the great thing about the site is each poem is accompanied by various English translations: it's interesting seeing how different translators have adopted different approaches.
I'd also recommend getting a poetry anthology so you can get a taste of a variety of poets.
For theatre I would recommend Racine's 'Phèdre' and any Molière comedy (Le bourgeois gentilhomme is great).
For something more modern, I personally enjoyed Sartre's plays (Huis Clos especially) and a short story by him called 'Les Jeux sont faits'. He uses accessible vocabulary but the ideas behind the works are interesting and complex.
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(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by beau-malheur
Oooh thank you
Since I posted the message I have read some French literature and and some Russian history, but thanks for the recommendation about the linguistics books, I think its something that would interest me too.
I also learnt a little bit of Russian! Did you find that the workload was hard because you are doing ab-initio?
The universities I'm going to apply to really depend on my AS results I guess... If I do well enough I'm thinking about applying to Oxford because I found out that I really like the literature and the language learning more than anything, which is what their course focuses on, but at the same time I don't want to pin my hopes on it because I know how hard it is to get on to the course. I also really like Nottingham! xD
I'm thinking about Durham, UCL and Birmingham as well... but I'm not sure about those yet.
Where do you go?
Since I posted the message I have read some French literature and and some Russian history, but thanks for the recommendation about the linguistics books, I think its something that would interest me too.
I also learnt a little bit of Russian! Did you find that the workload was hard because you are doing ab-initio?
The universities I'm going to apply to really depend on my AS results I guess... If I do well enough I'm thinking about applying to Oxford because I found out that I really like the literature and the language learning more than anything, which is what their course focuses on, but at the same time I don't want to pin my hopes on it because I know how hard it is to get on to the course. I also really like Nottingham! xD
I'm thinking about Durham, UCL and Birmingham as well... but I'm not sure about those yet.
Where do you go?
I go to the University of St Andrews which is REALLY good, and their modular system means that I can do a triple honours in French, Spanish and Italian. We have a very good rep for our language courses. And the town is really nice too!
I come from the Nottingham area and I can tell you that Nottingham itself is a bit crime ridden, not in the centre but the outskirts. The campus is obviously safe. (Y) Have a look at St Andrews, often people forget about us!
I study French and Spanish at Cambridge. Fire away any questions!
Posted from TSR Mobile
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Hi everyone! I love languages and want to study them at university (possibly one with Linguistics). Next year for AS Level I plan on taking English literature, French, Latin and then I'm not sure whether to choose Spanish or History. Do you think it's all right to apply to do languages at university with 4 language a levels? Or should I have History for diversity? I do love Spanish but I like History as well and it would be good for a languages course.
I hope you don't mind me asking a lot of questions!
How were the interviews at Cambridge?
Is there a lot of linguistics in the course?
Where do you want to go and what do you want to do in your year abroad?
Thanks!
I hope you don't mind me asking a lot of questions!
How were the interviews at Cambridge?
Is there a lot of linguistics in the course?
Where do you want to go and what do you want to do in your year abroad?
Thanks!
Original post by qwertyuiop1993
I just do French
The amount of reading depends on how prepared you are. We get primary reading lists in the holidays and we're suppose to have read the primary texts before term. This means that in theory every week you'll just be doing secondary reading/brushing up on quotes from the primary texts, though plenty of people end up having to frantically read the novels etc in the week, having failed to do so beforehand.
The reading lists always contain more books than you could possibly read. For an essay I'd normally pick around 5 books and read the relevant chapters for the essay title. I'd also find articles online through Jstor etc. For commentaries (close analysis of an extract or poem) you don't need to do any extra reading, you just need to analyse the passage in minute detail.
I'd recommend reading some theatre and poetry. Baudelaire's 'Les fleurs du mal' is a good place to start for the latter (it's on the first year course and often a Baudelaire poem is set for interview). The poems are all available online (http://fleursdumal.org/1868-table-of-contents) and the great thing about the site is each poem is accompanied by various English translations: it's interesting seeing how different translators have adopted different approaches.
I'd also recommend getting a poetry anthology so you can get a taste of a variety of poets.
For theatre I would recommend Racine's 'Phèdre' and any Molière comedy (Le bourgeois gentilhomme is great).
For something more modern, I personally enjoyed Sartre's plays (Huis Clos especially) and a short story by him called 'Les Jeux sont faits'. He uses accessible vocabulary but the ideas behind the works are interesting and complex.
Posted from TSR Mobile
The amount of reading depends on how prepared you are. We get primary reading lists in the holidays and we're suppose to have read the primary texts before term. This means that in theory every week you'll just be doing secondary reading/brushing up on quotes from the primary texts, though plenty of people end up having to frantically read the novels etc in the week, having failed to do so beforehand.
The reading lists always contain more books than you could possibly read. For an essay I'd normally pick around 5 books and read the relevant chapters for the essay title. I'd also find articles online through Jstor etc. For commentaries (close analysis of an extract or poem) you don't need to do any extra reading, you just need to analyse the passage in minute detail.
I'd recommend reading some theatre and poetry. Baudelaire's 'Les fleurs du mal' is a good place to start for the latter (it's on the first year course and often a Baudelaire poem is set for interview). The poems are all available online (http://fleursdumal.org/1868-table-of-contents) and the great thing about the site is each poem is accompanied by various English translations: it's interesting seeing how different translators have adopted different approaches.
I'd also recommend getting a poetry anthology so you can get a taste of a variety of poets.
For theatre I would recommend Racine's 'Phèdre' and any Molière comedy (Le bourgeois gentilhomme is great).
For something more modern, I personally enjoyed Sartre's plays (Huis Clos especially) and a short story by him called 'Les Jeux sont faits'. He uses accessible vocabulary but the ideas behind the works are interesting and complex.
Posted from TSR Mobile
Thank you so much! This was really useful.
)At the moment I've just been reading Maupassant's short stories, mostly in translation, so this will help me a lot!
Original post by nevim001
Hi everyone! I love languages and want to study them at university (possibly one with Linguistics). Next year for AS Level I plan on taking English literature, French, Latin and then I'm not sure whether to choose Spanish or History. Do you think it's all right to apply to do languages at university with 4 language a levels? Or should I have History for diversity? I do love Spanish but I like History as well and it would be good for a languages course.
I hope you don't mind me asking a lot of questions!
How were the interviews at Cambridge?
Is there a lot of linguistics in the course?
Where do you want to go and what do you want to do in your year abroad?
Thanks!
I hope you don't mind me asking a lot of questions!
How were the interviews at Cambridge?
Is there a lot of linguistics in the course?
Where do you want to go and what do you want to do in your year abroad?
Thanks!Do you know which languages you want to study at uni? Because if not then maybe you should consider keeping up Spanish in case you find you actually really like it...
If you prefer history though, you should take it because it is still an essay subject and it probably would be useful if you take history modules.
Obviously I'm not at uni yet either, but that's what I think xD
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