The York Award and LFA courses - advice?

To anyone at the uni who is working towards getting the York Award and/or doing a 'Languages For All' course - I read about both of these in the prospectus and they are two of the things which are weighing in favour of me joining the uni as a PPE student next year...but how time-consuming are they, and is it sometimes difficult to juggle work and take part in these extra schemes?

One of the students from my school went to York to do PPE a few years ago and said it was more work than most other courses - I don't mind this as I'm not afraid of hard work, but I was just wondering if it would make it difficult to take on extra work such as an LFA course as well as try and have some sort of social life?! Thanks for any advice you can give

Reply 1

Orabelle

Hi, I have done an LFA Japanese level 1 and 2 since I got to York. The courses are usually 6.15-8.15pm one evening a week (there are a few on Wednesday afternoon too I think). From my experience (and my friends') it's harder work starting a language from scratch than carrying on one from say A Level, but all the courses require commitment anyway as you have to do a fair bit of practice to get the most out of them- at least half the class have usually given up by the end of the first term! I've really enjoyed learning Japanese though - it's nice to do something different from your degree and it's a good way of meeting another group of people.

The York Award is excellent - there are huge numbers of courses (http://www.york.ac.uk/services/careers/ya_courses.cfm?ID=) at all sorts of times, some run for a couple of hours, some over several weeks. You can count the LFA courses and/ or any volunteering and work experience towards the award too.

You can definitely make time to do the courses (I do Physics so have plenty of lectures as well!) and they're a lot of fun!

Reply 2

lm318

OP

Thanks very much! That was very helpful!

Reply 3

lm318

OP

Sorry, just thought of a couple more questions...for the LFA courses, do you have to apply before joining the uni or can you enrol when you get there. Also, how much extra does a course cost? Thanks for your help!

Reply 4

Da_Head

£70 approx and you get sent an application form in the post prior to starting. Orabelle is Japanese a well taught course?

Reply 5

newDana

1

Does anyone know how existing students can apply? I'm going to have more time on my hands next year (my 4th year) and think i'd like to learn some more French. Anyone know how i can apply?

Reply 6

lizg

newDana

Does anyone know how existing students can apply? I'm going to have more time on my hands next year (my 4th year) and think i'd like to learn some more French. Anyone know how i can apply?

Ask at the LFA office (it's in Vanbrugh C block now). I don't know whether they'll be able to tell you much before the beginning of next term, but then you'll be able to pick up the form you need.

Reply 7

Aylia

1

newDana you can apply online. Sometime over the Summer holidays you should get an email about it. At least I did last year.

lm318 - try and find out what night your chosen language course is on before you enroll. If the course is on Tues/Weds 6.15- 8.15 you will find it will clash with sports/society socials. If you're dedicated to the language, that won't be a problem. But when I tried it in my first year I dropped out by Christmas!

Reply 8

username36063

11

I did LFA and York award, I did it over 3 years and I cant say that it made any impact in my time. Maybe 2hrs per week max.

Its a really nice way to get some extra curricula stuff on a CV, esp. in a day where everyone has a degree.

Reply 9

happyslacker

Haha, I'm signing up for York Award courses right now! A guy I talked to said that the courses he's been on have been really interesting, some of them only last half a day or less but have been really useful. It seems like staff from PricewaterhouseCoopers are teaching an interactive half day course at some point this term too!
I'm going to attend a course called 'Numbers for Work' which helps students who tend to shy away from maths or who find it difficult to brush up on their numerical skills for work. Really useful since employers sometimes do look for evidence of numerical aptitude when you apply for jobs. So given that it's all free it's definitely something that's worth looking into.

Reply 10

Makin_waves

happyslacker

I'm going to attend a course called 'Numbers for Work' which helps students who tend to shy away from maths or who find it difficult to brush up on their numerical skills for work. Really useful since employers sometimes do look for evidence of numerical aptitude when you apply for jobs. So given that it's all free it's definitely something that's worth looking into.

I'm doing Numbers At Work this term as well! :-D sound so useful, especially when you're doing a degree that doesn't involve numeracy at all! xxx

Reply 11

happyslacker

I'm doing Numbers At Work this term as well! :-D sound so useful, especially when you're doing a degree that doesn't involve numeracy at all! xxx

How cool - we're studying the same course as well! My friend did this course last term and said that it was fairly relaxed. It covers a lot of basic maths that you may need to use in everyday life. Seeing as my maths is terrible this course can only be a good thing :smile:

Reply 12

hotgoose

Which languages are on taught on the LFA programme?

Reply 13

67382

It says in the prospectus I think. Although they do say availablity is subject to changes in demand.

For those who have done it from beginners level how would you describe you ability in your selected language now? Would you expect to be fluent (or near enough) after the full 3 years?

Thanks,
Alex.

Reply 14

Aylia

1

Languages available are:

* French
* German
* Spanish
* Italian
* Dutch
* Portuguese
* Russian
* Japanese
* Chinese (Mandarin)
* Hindi
* Arabic
* Modern Greek
* Classical Latin
* Medieval Latin

There's lots of information about Lfa here: http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/ltc/lfa/lfa.htm

Reply 15

The Little Mermaid

Any idea what degree of fluency you can expect to leave the LFA with if you start first year around Level 2 and continue with it through third year?

Reply 16

Makin_waves

happyslacker

How cool - we're studying the same course as well! My friend did this course last term and said that it was fairly relaxed. It covers a lot of basic maths that you may need to use in everyday life. Seeing as my maths is terrible this course can only be a good thing :smile:

Lol, I bet the course will be full of English Students who can't do maths! :p:

I don't know anyone who's done Numbers at Work before, so I'm glad you told me it's fairly relaxed, cos I was imagining it being like my GCSE maths classes - eek our teacher was TERRIFYING!!! Looking forward to it; will definitely be useful!!

Reply 17

Orabelle

Da_Head

Orabelle is Japanese a well taught course?

Sorry, haven't been online for a while! In my experience the LFA Japanese teachers are extremely enthusiastic and yes, they do teach well. However, the current recommended textbook is shockingly bad, though they are supposed to be changing it for next year. You do have to put the work in yourself though if you want to get the most out of it, especially if you're learning from scratch.

Reply 18

Orabelle

The Little Mermaid

Any idea what degree of fluency you can expect to leave the LFA with if you start first year around Level 2 and continue with it through third year?

To do level 2 you need to have a GCSE-level knowledge of the language, for level 3 you should be at A level standard. Hopefully that gives you some idea?

The York Award and LFA courses - advice?

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