Ask a current Modern Languages student

Hi guys!

I'm Katie, a 2nd year student studying Spanish, ab initio Italian and European Studies at the University of Bath. I am currently planning my year abroad - a requirement for all Modern Languages students at Bath! I chose Bath as it was the only university I was looking at that taught entirely in the target language (unless starting ab initio) and was much more politics/history based than literature based (although there is definitely enough literature content to satisfy any book lovers interested).

When looking to study languages I didn't have many people to reach out to, so I thought this thread could help some people who are unsure about what they want to do or have any questions.

Ask away!
Katie

Reply 1

Liv2109

13

What's it like doing Italian as a beginner? I've recently posted on here about thinking about doing the same thing :smile:

OP

Original post by Liv2109

What's it like doing Italian as a beginner? I've recently posted on here about thinking about doing the same thing :smile:

Hi Liv!

Having already learnt another romance language (Spanish) to a higher level, it hasn't been too bad. Sometimes it is frustrating feeling like my Italian is so far behind my Spanish however to think I didn't know any Italian a couple of years ago is crazy! I'm so excited to be graduating with 2 languages and feel more confident in knowing the best strategies to learn a language having already studied Spanish.

Let me know if you have any more questions!
Katie

Reply 3

Misskx

2

Hi! I'm currently applying to study French & German full time at Bristol as a mature student.

What's your timetable like? In terms of how many days you're at uni/how many hours of lectures you have? Study groups etc?

I'd love an insight into the workload of a language student!

OP

Original post by Misskx

Hi! I'm currently applying to study French & German full time at Bristol as a mature student.

What's your timetable like? In terms of how many days you're at uni/how many hours of lectures you have? Study groups etc?

I'd love an insight into the workload of a language student!

Hi!

I currently (depending on the week) have 12-15 hours a week.
This is broken down into 5 components:
Spanish (3 seminars with 10ish people per week, broken up into reading/writing, grammar and speaking classes)
Italian (the same as Spanish)
Spanish/Latin American history (2-hour lecture with 50ish people every week, 1-hour seminar of 10ish people every other week)
Italian history (the same as Spanish history)
European Studies (2-hour lecture per week with 70ish people, 1-hour seminar of 10ish people every other week)

The seminars usually don't start until a few weeks into the term so we only have about 4 per subject. As you're going to Bristol and doing a slightly different course it obviously won't be exactly the same, however, I have a friend who does French and Italian at Bristol and she seems to have similar hours to me. We get set work, but with any language course, it is important you do enough independent learning to reinforce what you are learning in lesson and through set work.

The way my uni assesses the history/culture/politics modules we have 1 group presentation and an individual essay worth 20% and 40% respectively in semester 1 and in semester 2 an exam that is worth 40%.

At the moment I have some days with only 1 hour and others with 6 so they really can vary! However on the days with 1 hour I usually do work and catch up with homework etc.

Hope this helps, and let me know if you have any other questions!

Katie, 2nd year Modern Languages student at the University of Bath

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 5

Sophieeelou

11

Hiya, sorry I’ve a ton of questions

How competitive is it to get an offer to study languages?
Do you typically need a good maths grade?
What careers can you go into?
Is it difficult to remember which language is which?x

Reply 6

polyclass

3

Hey Katie,

I'm a linguistics first year in Florida.
I taught myself Spanish, though not in a formal manner and I've not done anything serious with Italian ( passed duolingo course thats it )

From one language enthusiast to another, I wanted to ask what is your preferred method of study/ activity for foreign language?
Also do you all study Spain dialect over there?

Reply 7

hannanas

9

Original post by University of Bath

Hi guys!

I'm Katie, a 2nd year student studying Spanish, ab initio Italian and European Studies at the University of Bath. I am currently planning my year abroad - a requirement for all Modern Languages students at Bath! I chose Bath as it was the only university I was looking at that taught entirely in the target language (unless starting ab initio) and was much more politics/history based than literature based (although there is definitely enough literature content to satisfy any book lovers interested).

When looking to study languages I didn't have many people to reach out to, so I thought this thread could help some people who are unsure about what they want to do or have any questions.

Ask away!
Katie

A lot of people have told me it's not worth doing a languages degree (I'm hoping for French and Linguistics) because there 'are't any career options'/'it's not employable' etc... thoughts? What sector are you looking at going into once you graduate? Thanks!

OP

Original post by Sophieeelou

Hiya, sorry I’ve a ton of questions

How competitive is it to get an offer to study languages?
Do you typically need a good maths grade?
What careers can you go into?
Is it difficult to remember which language is which?x

Hi there,

Depending on the uni, studying languages can be competitive. At Bath, my course, in particular, wasn't too bad (almost all people with predicted grades are given offers) and there were also places in clearing. However, if you are looking to do a combination of languages and another subject, this can be more competitive (Internation Management and French at Uni of Bath only 82% of applicants receive offers).

As far as I can see in terms of GCSE maths grades a good grade is not required although GCSE English Language grade C/4, but this will vary uni to uni.

Careers can vary, depending on your interests. The most obvious ones are translation/interpretation and teaching. However, people often go into marketing, business, and finance etc. if that is something that would be up your street. The year placement is really useful for getting a feel of what type of career you want to go into and is very helpful in furthering your language skills.

Finally, yes, it can be. Although not to worry, you will get used to it. I tend to practice each language on different days, alternating doing homework/grammar/Memrise each day - for example on a Monday I only have 1 Spanish lesson, therefore I try to do my Spanish homework and practice on that day, whereas Wednesday's I have an Italian grammar lesson and do that. Although this can be confusing, having two languages (especially ones so similar) can be really complimentary in learning each of them. Tenses are often used similarly (i.e. subjunctive) and grammar structures are much easier to understand the 2nd time around.

Let me know if you have any more questions!
Katie, 2nd Year Modern Languages student

OP

Original post by polyclass

Hey Katie,

I'm a linguistics first year in Florida.
I taught myself Spanish, though not in a formal manner and I've not done anything serious with Italian ( passed duolingo course thats it )

From one language enthusiast to another, I wanted to ask what is your preferred method of study/ activity for foreign language?
Also do you all study Spain dialect over there?

Hi there,

As a beginner, I find official Memrise courses extremely helpful. This helps me get to grips with essential vocab, whilst getting used to sentence structures, as well as colloquial sayings. The other main thing I think is important is grammar. If you don't understand grammar (not just tenses, but prepositions, pronouns, sentence structure etc.) then your language learning can only go so far. I really like the Practice Makes Perfect books as they go over all the essentials, as well as being complementary to my vocab.

For Spanish, which I have learnt to a much higher level, I find translation exercises are great, as well as going over grammar basics which I have forgotten and occasionally Memrise in case I've missed out on any essential vocab. Tutoring can be a great revision exercise for you, whilst earning some money! Conversation-wise, there is nothing quite like speaking to a native and practicing.

Finally, I only learn Castilian Spanish. As dialects can be very different from 'traditional' Spanish it would be difficult to learn them in the same lessons.

Let me know if you have any more questions!
Katie

OP

Original post by hannanas

A lot of people have told me it's not worth doing a languages degree (I'm hoping for French and Linguistics) because there 'are't any career options'/'it's not employable' etc... thoughts? What sector are you looking at going into once you graduate? Thanks!

Hi there,

This is a difficult question because if you want to go into a degree that specialises in languages (i.e. translation, interpretation, teaching etc.) then doing a languages degree would obviously be perfect for you. However, if you want to go into business, finance or a more generalised field, you might consider doing a dual degree. For example, at Bath, you can study French/Spanish/German with International Management or French/Spanish/German/ab initio Italian with politics. This can help broaden your career prospects a little, providing you with lots of transferable skills, and employable skills other solely-language based graduates will not have.

However, doing a languages based degree does not mean you are unemployable - you have the ability to speak multiple languages after graduating!! Your course may not directly correlate to your ideal career, but this does not mean you'll never be able to pursue it! If you think of history, geography etc. graduates, a large amount of them don't go into anything history/geography related after graduating, but they have been taught transferable skills (many of which you will have) that employers need.

I'd suggest looking on Which University Guide to look at graduate prospects, starting salaries etc. specific to the course and university. This data is really important for understanding how difficult getting a job may be when you leave uni. Also, the uni can play a big part. As Bath has great links with employers, and most students take placement years, Bath students can really stand out and across most courses have high employment rates.

Hope this has been useful,
Katie

Thank you so much!x

Original post by University of Bath

Finally, I only learn Castilian Spanish. As dialects can be very different from 'traditional' Spanish it would be difficult to learn them in the same lessons.

this part is interesting to me, I would like to know more

When you say Castilian Spanish, do you mean the spanish with th sound for the sound , vosotros, and sometimes sh instead of s?
Sorry if that's a bit rough of a description, idk how people on the website feel about typing in spanish, and i don't know how to better describe it 😅

And is it solely for difficulty, or do most spanish speakers in britain speak castilian, like theyre from that region of spain

it's just something i didnt even consider, learning only one dialect and now im wondering if that would've helped make learning spanish faster 🤔

here in florida, we have spanish speakers from literally everywhere so using one dialect or hearing just one dialect is really hard to imagine

also, if you're strict about staying castilian, how well can you understand other accents?
( northern mexico, guatemala, panama, colombia, venezuela, chile, argentina, guinea, puerto rico, cuba, dominican, andalucian, bolivian, peruvian... etc ) this is honestly really interesting to me, sorry if this sounds a bit pushy, i tried rewriting it but my tone doesn't carry over into text at ALL.

for me, i have trouble sometimes when uruguayans and argentineans do the sh- thing, it throws me off XD
some mexican slang can be really convoluted too ' enchilado '

Reply 13

Hajar.douglas

2

Hi

I was wondering if it is overwhelming studying multiple languages at once. I’m going for French and Mandarin with translation studies but now I’m thinking that I should do French and something else ( like biology or English) I just feel like two languages is a lot? Like it would be too much maybe? And there’s also the thing of putting all your eggs in one basket by choosing only languages.

Thanksssss :smile:

OP

Original post by Hajar.douglas

Hi

I was wondering if it is overwhelming studying multiple languages at once. I’m going for French and Mandarin with translation studies but now I’m thinking that I should do French and something else ( like biology or English) I just feel like two languages is a lot? Like it would be too much maybe? And there’s also the thing of putting all your eggs in one basket by choosing only languages.

Thanksssss :smile:

Hi there,

I've found learning two languages at the same time definitely has its advantages and disadvantages, but if you are passionate about becoming fluent in both languages then pursuing them at uni are definitely the best way of doing it. However, doing a combination degree of say language + politics is a great option too as it can open up career paths more easily than straight language courses. If you're interested in comparing placement years (which can give an idea of career paths too) you can look at the pages for our French and ab initio Italian vs French and Politics courses. I'm not sure about other unis, but at Bath we offer free language courses for students in multiple languages including French and Mandarin from varying levels that you can take alongside your degree.

Hope this helps :smile:

Katie, 2nd year Modern Languages student

OP

Original post by polyclass

this part is interesting to me, I would like to know more

When you say Castilian Spanish, do you mean the spanish with th sound for the sound , vosotros, and sometimes sh instead of s?
Sorry if that's a bit rough of a description, idk how people on the website feel about typing in spanish, and i don't know how to better describe it 😅

And is it solely for difficulty, or do most spanish speakers in britain speak castilian, like theyre from that region of spain

it's just something i didnt even consider, learning only one dialect and now im wondering if that would've helped make learning spanish faster 🤔

here in florida, we have spanish speakers from literally everywhere so using one dialect or hearing just one dialect is really hard to imagine

also, if you're strict about staying castilian, how well can you understand other accents?
( northern mexico, guatemala, panama, colombia, venezuela, chile, argentina, guinea, puerto rico, cuba, dominican, andalucian, bolivian, peruvian... etc ) this is honestly really interesting to me, sorry if this sounds a bit pushy, i tried rewriting it but my tone doesn't carry over into text at ALL.

for me, i have trouble sometimes when uruguayans and argentineans do the sh- thing, it throws me off XD
some mexican slang can be really convoluted too ' enchilado '

Hi,

Yes, that is the Spanish we learn. When I said we don't learn other dialects I was talking about the dialects in Spain, such as Catalan and Basque. We're lucky to have lecturers from Spain and Latin America so we get a good range of exposure of Castillian, although Chilean Spanish is sometimes difficult to understand (in my experience).

We learn Castillian because it is spoken by the majority of Spain (even if its not their first language) as well as most of most of Latin America, so learning Catalan etc. would not be as useful as Castillian.

Hope this has helped somewhat :smile:

Katie, 2nd year Modern Languages student

Reply 16

Hajar.douglas

2

Original post by University of Bath

Hi there,

I've found learning two languages at the same time definitely has its advantages and disadvantages, but if you are passionate about becoming fluent in both languages then pursuing them at uni are definitely the best way of doing it. However, doing a combination degree of say language + politics is a great option too as it can open up career paths more easily than straight language courses. If you're interested in comparing placement years (which can give an idea of career paths too) you can look at the pages for our French and ab initio Italian vs French and Politics courses. I'm not sure about other unis, but at Bath we offer free language courses for students in multiple languages including French and Mandarin from varying levels that you can take alongside your degree.

Hope this helps :smile:

Katie, 2nd year Modern Languages student

Thank youuuu. I really appreciate it ☺️

Reply 17

JOSSCHELTON

1

Hi Katie
football mad and interested in Spanish and Business at Bath, are there lots of opportunities to play sport? Thanks!

(edited 4 years ago)

OP

Hi there!

There are an infinite amount of football teams at Bath - bordering on ridiculous :smile:

. 4 of my flatmates last year played, and one would play probably about 4 times a week. There are teams for each accommodation block, course teams, futsal teams, and the official football teams. The SU plays most big football games on their TVs, and every Wednesday there's a sports night at the SU that teams pre for and go to together, each sport dressing up according to their own theme.
Bath is extremely sports focused, with plenty of facilities you can book to play football (or tennis, squash, etc.) The gym is also amazing, and the prices are really good considering how well equipt it is.

Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to know!
Katie, 2nd year Modern Languages student

Original post by JOSSCHELTON

Hi Katie
football mad and interested in Spanish and Business at Bath, are there lots of opportunities to play sport? Thanks!