The Student Room Group

Japanese and Russian

Hi, I am thinking of applying for Japanese and Russian at Leeds. I'm just wondering if anyone has taken these subjects at uni or has done languages at Leeds so I can figure out if this degree is for me since I can't find out much about this on the internet. Thanks!
@Quick-use studies/studied Japanese at Edinburgh, if that helps :biggrin:
Reply 2
Hi, thanks! I was actually looking into Japanese and Linguistics at Edinburgh the other day, I want to do something related to Japanese/Linguistics and possibly Russian or Chinese
Original post by stereotypeasian
@Quick-use studies/studied Japanese at Edinburgh, if that helps :biggrin:

Thanks for the tag. I studied Japanese at Edinburgh, yeah. :hat2:

Original post by Caz1234567
Hi, thanks! I was actually looking into Japanese and Linguistics at Edinburgh the other day, I want to do something related to Japanese/Linguistics and possibly Russian or Chinese

Hey, someone recently asked me about Japanese and Linguistics at Edinburgh, so I'll copy/paste what I told them.

I didn't take any of the Linguistics modules myself, but the Japanese language courses were great. I've studied French and Spanish since I was young and continued them alongside Japanese (as a complete beginner) from first year of university, and I can honestly say that the Japanese tutors were some of the utterly best language tutors I've ever had (across all my language tuition). I went from knowing absolutely no Japanese to becoming conversational just before going on my year abroad. Before going to Japan, I didn't think Edinburgh's Japanese language tutors could be topped by anyone else, but I was really pleasantly surprised by the tutors I received in Japan. This is one thing I'm eternally grateful for - Edinburgh's stellar Japanese department and its links with some of the best language departments in Japan.

Regarding the course content of Japanese, you'd be studying the language 50% of your time at Edinburgh and the other 50% would be spent on the academic side. Although the academic side is generally of a good standard, it can, admittedly, be a little dull sometimes. I think this is a fault of many traditional universities that prioritise research over teaching. Regardless, I admit that my all of my lecturers for Hispanic Studies and Chinese Studies were more engaging than their Japanese counterparts (who were a mix of either great or could-be-more-enthusiastic).

Regarding Linguistics, most of my friends studied this and they all seemed to adore it. I even had many friends who took Linguistics as their extra subject in 1st year and then switched to a joint degree (Japanese/Spanish/French + Linguistics) because of how much they enjoyed it. Aside from that, I honestly don't know too much because I somehow avoided any and all courses related to Linguistics in favour of courses on literature, politics or other languages.

I don't know anything about the Russian department but have heard only wonderful things about the Chinese department. In first year, I took a module on modern Japanese and Chinese history from 1600s to the present day. All of the lecturers for Chinese studies were exceptional and I actually enjoyed studying Chinese history more so than Japanese (much to my surprise).
Reply 4
Original post by Caz1234567
Hi, thanks! I was actually looking into Japanese and Linguistics at Edinburgh the other day, I want to do something related to Japanese/Linguistics and possibly Russian or Chinese

I'm not currently studying at Edinburgh (although I did apply for there) nor am I taking Russian or Chinese, but I AM currently a first year in Linguistics and Japanese. I'd be more than happy to answer anything I possibly can about the degree whenever I can (though I am only in my third week haha) if you would like to know anything.

Quick Reply

Latest