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thinking of studying linguistics

I need advice or opinions from anyone studying linguistics, especially if it's at SOAS or UCL. I never knew what it was until I went to university taster courses recently and now I really want to study it, but I feel like I don't know enough about it. I need to write my personal statement soon so I really need some advice. Also, if anyone is studying Korean (or any language) and linguistics at SOAS or just linguistics at UCL, can you tell me what it's like please? Thanks in advance!

Reply 1

blackamericano

Hi wranga, I have just completed the BA in Linguistics at UCL, so I can answer some of your questions. What would you like to know about the degree programme? The classes/courses, the department, the people, the university...? It would be great if you had something specific you'd like to know about, so that my reply can be more in depth than otherwise it would be.

I can say that generally I have enjoyed myself quite a bit on the programme, and that I am quite glad I chose to pursue this subject here at UCL. Linguistics can take different forms at different universities, so I highly recommend that you look at the details of the different degrees before committing to a set of universities.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 2

wranga

Oh that would be really helpful! Could you tell me more about the actual course and classes? Also, what types of jobs do people with linguistics degrees go into generally?

Reply 3

blackamericano

Sure, I can expand a bit on that. Bear in mind that most of this information can be easily found on the website/course description, so I don't know if I am telling you anything other than what's there already. But let me know if you have any more specific questions. :smile:

The degree as it is at the moment is structured in a 3-3-2 format, as in there are 3 core areas (syntax, semantics/pragmatics, phonetics/phonology) that you have to keep studying over the 3 years. So in year 1 and 2 you have to do all of them, and in year 3 you have the choice to drop one of them. Each core area comes in 2 different modules, so that would be 6-6-4 core modules. The remaining 2-2-4 modules (each year you do 8 modules) are in year 1 chosen for you, in year 2 picked by yourself, and in year 3 2 of those go towards your final year project, so essentially you'd have only 2 picks.

There is a strong preference at UCL towards very theoretical approaches to language studies. This means that most of the modules you will do are going to be about theories of grammar and how the play out across different sentence types/structures (e.g. what are the rules that govern the use of him over himself and vice versa?), or about theories of the sound patterns of language(s) (what is a syllable and how do you recognize one?), or about logic and formal semantics (things you might have touched upon in maths class, e.g. propositional logic with premises, conclusions, disjunction, negation, etc. etc.). The optional modules vary from year to year, but popular ones are neurolinguistics, sociolinguistics, animal communication, etc.. These are very much a secondary focus: you will be able to do at most one module in any one of these subjects. The focus of the degree remains very much on the core areas I have described to you.

In other universities you may do very little of what is at the heart of a UCL linguistics degree. For example, Manchester Metropolitan University does a lot of conversation analysis, language in society, TESOL instead. Or other places might not have a 3-3-2 format, but a more/less restrictive one. I highly recommend that you inform yourself on the varying approaches before you make your selection of universities to apply for.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 4

Neelima

Hi there, i also study BA linguistics at UCL but just finished my first year. I must say that the course itself is very interesting and somewhat enjoyable, if you do have a genuine interest in language and rules, but it is also very hard and testing. It requires a lot of problem solving and teamwork - particularly in Grammar, as you have to do two group problem sets a week. However i do reccomend the course as it opens your eyes to simple things in language which you wouldn't really have noticed. Plus all the lecturers are really friendly and nice.