Outside subject(s) in 1st and 2nd year post here with questions

OP

Original post by owl1992

I will be doing Linguistics and English Language (a single honours degree) starting this September.
For the outside subjects, I am thinking of taking two other languages (German & Japanese) in my 1st year.

Its unlikely that they will let you take two languages that you've never studied before at the same time, particularly something as difficult as Japanese.

1. I would like to know how possible is it for me to change my degree to include German as a joint honours degree, if there is no timetable clash?
Is German a popular option?

If there's no timetable clash then yes you can (I'm assuming that linguistics and English language has become a single course now all the way through to final year?) and that would be perfectly normal, assuming you took the required courses in 2nd year (I think there is an additional mandatory course on culture) or changed your degree in first year.

2. If I have little knowledge of German and have never studied Japanese,
is it likely that I will be rejected to study these two languages at the same time?

I've already said this - its unlikely.

3. For German 1A, it says that "A pass in at least one modern foreign or classical language on the Higher Grade (SCE) or
evidence of linguistic proficiency." I just want to know... IELTS doesn't count right? :s-smilie:

I'm not sure whether IELTS will count. If English isn't your first language and you've got good grades in IELTS and from school then they may be willing to accept it given it is a foreign language for you, however, I'm not sure.

4. If I am to take German and Japanese only as 'outside subjects' in 1st year, will I be allowed to take German 1A & Japanese 1 as those students
who have chosen them in their UCAS applications?
Or will I be confined in taking only Introductory Japanese 1 & Introductory German Language?

You can take Japanese 1 and German 1A (if they let you) as long as there's no timetable clashes and there are places available. Priority will obviously go to the people who applied for it via UCAS.

5. If because of the limited places of German 1A & Japanese 1, I have to take the introductories courses in 1st year but
have decided to include either German or Japanese as part of my degree, will I still be able to take German 2 / Japanese 2A in my 2nd year
(which on DRPS states that 'Student MUST have passed Japanese 1 / German 1A or 1B') ?

The intoductory courses are not sufficient to enter 2nd year. You need to have studied exactly what it states on DRPS. With German, by the end of the first year the beginners course (1A) will have joined with 1B and you're expected to be at the same standard for 2nd year regardless of whether you had an A level/Higher in it or you were a beginner. Everyone takes the same exam at the end of first year for 1A and 1B. The introductory courses are nowhere near as high a standard as you're not expected to progress to the level two courses.

6. Similarly, if I am allowed to do that in 1st year, is it possible to change my degree subjects completely from Linguistics and English Language
to German and Japanese? I saw on DRPS that the possible degree combinations for German related to my degree is either German & English
Language or German & Linguistics, and seemingly German & Japanese is not an option...?

If German and Japanese isn't an option then you can't do it. This will be due to the year abroad element I expect, or that the subjects clash in the timetable in 4th year. As Japanese is so intensive the university will want students to go to Japan for the full academic year so studying it with another language would be difficult.

7. After that, in freshers' week if I am required to show evidence of linguistic proficiency in order to take German 1A,
is it possible that I can take an entry test?
About what levels are German 1A (at the end of the course) & Higher Grade (SCE) in German equivalent to, A1/A2/B1/B2/C1/C2?
I may take the summer intensive courses A1-1 & A1-2 at the goethe institute in my home country, will that be enough to prepare me
for studying German 1A?

There aren't any entrance tests as far as I know for 1A, its based on your past level of study. I believe some languages have a proficiency test to decide whether to steam people into 1A or 1B but if you have no knowledge, then you'll be 1A. If you have some knowledge (GCSE level or higher - so say, A2 or B1) then they might put you in the 1B class.

At the end of the first year of the course, I think you'd probably be about a B2 sort of level. Or at least, this is the level that I'd put myself at after having studied the Spanish 1A course so I assume German is the same. B1 is probably Higher/A level. I only know roughly though as we don't use the European levelling in the UK - I'd never heard of them until I trained to teach languages after finishing my degree. In the UK, we don't use them so I can only make a rough guess from how I have ranked myself in my different languages.

Reply 501

oxymoronic

OP

19

Original post by myling

I'm a bit lost :smile:

... could I apply for English lit and then take sciences as my outside subjects? e.g. geology?

Yes you can as long as there's not a time table clash.

Reply 502

elebuughoti

Original post by oxymoronic

Yes you can as long as there's not a time table clash.

Oh my goodness this makes me way too excited. I'm hoping that when I meet my conditions and am ready to put my outside subjects together that I might be able to do neuroscience as an outside.

...unless that's one of the specialty programmes of course. Oh, no, I cannot get this excited when I still have a lot of work to do!

Reply 503

Quick-use

20

I've applied for Spanish and Italian. However, I was wanting to change my degree to Japanese. Is this easily possible? Moreover, I know that MA Japanese includes two courses, Japanese and East Asian Civilisation, so would I then, for my third subject, be able to take Chinese Mandarin?

Reply 504

star9005

7

Original post by oxymoronic

Yes you can as long as there's not a time table clash.

As somebody, who studied at Edinburgh, could you perhaps tell me how should someone choose their outside subjects? Do they count towards the final degree, and do these undertaken subjects/courses appear somewhere? (I know they will appear in the transcript obviously, but is that all?)
Thank you :smile:

Reply 505

daeonica

1

Original post by star9005

As somebody, who studied at Edinburgh, could you perhaps tell me how should someone choose their outside subjects? Do they count towards the final degree, and do these undertaken subjects/courses appear somewhere? (I know they will appear in the transcript obviously, but is that all?)
Thank you :smile:

The only subjects/grades which count to your final degree are the things you do in 3rd & 4th year.

Choose it based on what you're interested in.

If you're doing enough classes in a certain subject area and decide you like it more than your main degree, it's possible to change to that subject instead.

Reply 506

CeeTay

2

I've got an offer to study biology (biochemistry) and i think i want to change to chemistry, and when i was at the post offer open day they said that this was pretty feasible. however, because i'm not 100% sure what should i do, is it best to wait and then discuss with DoS in the first week?

Reply 507

sandys1000

12

Original post by CeeTay

I've got an offer to study biology (biochemistry) and i think i want to change to chemistry, and when i was at the post offer open day they said that this was pretty feasible. however, because i'm not 100% sure what should i do, is it best to wait and then discuss with DoS in the first week?

Yes probably, I know someone who made exactly that change and that's what he did. You can change your courses at any point in the first two weeks without any difficulty.

Reply 508

amose679

Hi, I'm looking to study abroad at Edinburgh next spring (the spring of my 3rd year). I'm studying informatics at my home school, and I need to keep taking informatics courses while abroad. I'm thinking about taking INFR 09025: Computer Security, and INFR08010: Informatics 2D - Reasoning and Agents (or something else that is AI-y like language semantics, or introduction to vision and robots). Does anybody have any information about these classes? I really don't want to spend my whole semester abroad locked in the computer lab. Thanks!

Reply 509

CheerWay

Hi, does Architecture falls under the 'special' category as well? I really wanted to do another language.

Reply 510

imamum

We have noticed that the two introductory classes for psychology and Spanish 1B are at the same time. What to students do who want to study these two subjects and will it be counted against them for the introductory class they don't go to in favour of the other?

Reply 511

Static.

Original post by imamum

We have noticed that the two introductory classes for psychology and Spanish 1B are at the same time. What to students do who want to study these two subjects and will it be counted against them for the introductory class they don't go to in favour of the other?

I actually have a friend who did those subjects together in first year so it probably isn't an issue unless they've changed the timetable completely. Introductory lectures are usually not that important, if none of the other lectures clash then it's not going to be a problem in the long run. Any information you'd miss out on is likely going to be on WebCT anyway.

Reply 512

BKS

19

Original post by imamum

We have noticed that the two introductory classes for psychology and Spanish 1B are at the same time. What to students do who want to study these two subjects and will it be counted against them for the introductory class they don't go to in favour of the other?

I'd guess those courses are big enough that they won't notice who's there and not. But in my experience introductory lectures are at the time one of the normal lectures will be every week. Having a class every week is up to you to manage and why you should check lecture times if possible when picking.

Reply 513

imamum

Original post by Static.

I actually have a friend who did those subjects together in first year so it probably isn't an issue unless they've changed the timetable completely. Introductory lectures are usually not that important, if none of the other lectures clash then it's not going to be a problem in the long run. Any information you'd miss out on is likely going to be on WebCT anyway.

That's good to know - thanks a lot!

Reply 514

imamum

Original post by BKS

I'd guess those courses are big enough that they won't notice who's there and not. But in my experience introductory lectures are at the time one of the normal lectures will be every week. Having a class every week is up to you to manage and why you should check lecture times if possible when picking.

Right - we'll check the timetable again then. Thanks :smile:

Reply 515

Mel'o

Received an offer for economics and finance .. Was wondering if I can change it to accounting and finance? If so, this must be done in the first week of fressher weeks?

Reply 516

edepow

Hey everyone,

I'm thinking of taking a language as one of my outside courses for both semesters, would you guys recommend doing so? I know it probably wouldn't be the easiest thing, but I love learning languages. Was thinking specifically of Arabic, would love to hear some opinions on this.

Cheers!

EDIT: Also, whats the protocol for missing lectures due to class clashes? I'll be taking Sustainable Development 2a, which has classes at 10:00 on Mondays, but also would like to take Persian 1a, which also has class at 10:00 on Mondays (however there are 3 other classes that week, whereas SD 2a only has 2 lectures each week).

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 517

lastplace

Original post by edepow

Hey everyone,

I'm thinking of taking a language as one of my outside courses for both semesters, would you guys recommend doing so? I know it probably wouldn't be the easiest thing, but I love learning languages. Was thinking specifically of Arabic, would love to hear some opinions on this.

Cheers!

EDIT: Also, whats the protocol for missing lectures due to class clashes? I'll be taking Sustainable Development 2a, which has classes at 10:00 on Mondays, but also would like to take Persian 1a, which also has class at 10:00 on Mondays (however there are 3 other classes that week, whereas SD 2a only has 2 lectures each week).

Two of my flatmates took languages as their outside subjects in first and second year. One did Spanish in first year and Italian in second year and the other took two years of Spanish. It's very doable, but I think it depends at which level you're studying and whether your timetable will allow it. If it's something you're interested in, then it's definitely worth discussing it with your DOS. You could also check on Timetab or DRPS to find out if it's possible with your degree courses.

As far as I know, you can miss as many lectures as you need/want to. A girl on my outside course in first year would miss one lecture a week because she had another, more important class at the same time and just borrow notes so she didn't fall behind. I really don't think it will matter; as long as you go to all the compulsory ones (i.e. tutorials etc) but if you're worried, then you can ask when you choose your courses.

Reply 518

edepow

Original post by lastplace

Two of my flatmates took languages as their outside subjects in first and second year. One did Spanish in first year and Italian in second year and the other took two years of Spanish. It's very doable, but I think it depends at which level you're studying and whether your timetable will allow it. If it's something you're interested in, then it's definitely worth discussing it with your DOS. You could also check on Timetab or DRPS to find out if it's possible with your degree courses.

As far as I know, you can miss as many lectures as you need/want to. A girl on my outside course in first year would miss one lecture a week because she had another, more important class at the same time and just borrow notes so she didn't fall behind. I really don't think it will matter; as long as you go to all the compulsory ones (i.e. tutorials etc) but if you're worried, then you can ask when you choose your courses.

Awesome, thanks! This is very helpful. I'm assuming we officially choose courses during freshers week then?

EDIT: Also, I've read elsewhere in this thread that languages will likely require a lot of work, more so than the actual classes that are mandatory for the degree. Is this really true haha? I by no means want to excel at my outside subjects but I don't want to have to struggle at it just to pass.

EDIT 2: Sorry, lots of questions! When using time tab some of the courses that I'll be taking can't be found, is this normal and when should I expect them to be there?

Since it seems like no one can answer my questions, is there an email address that I can contact that could maybe help me out with some enquiries with regards to picking outside courses?

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 519

oxymoronic

OP

19

Original post by edepow

Awesome, thanks! This is very helpful. I'm assuming we officially choose courses during freshers week then?

Yeah, you choose when you meet with your director of studies in freshers week.

EDIT: Also, I've read elsewhere in this thread that languages will likely require a lot of work, more so than the actual classes that are mandatory for the degree. Is this really true haha? I by no means want to excel at my outside subjects but I don't want to have to struggle at it just to pass.

In my experience this was true and its probably my accounts that you've read.
Languages are harder simply because you normally have a class every day and they're really fast moving because even if you start as a beginner you're expected to be at the same stage as the people who took the language at school by the end of the first year of study. In other subjects you can slack off for a bit then cram when it comes to writing your assessed essays or for the exam, whereas languages are more continuous work because if you miss a week then you can't just catch up as easy by spending a few hours in the library as it isn't just about learning something then being able to parrot it back in an exam.
I didn't have to struggle with my other subjects, it was more that I spent more time on languages then my other degree subjects simply due to the nature of language learning. I still did well in my actual degree subjects (actually better than I did in Spanish) it was more of a case that if I did say, 30 hours of work a week, then 20 of those hours were for Spanish and the other 10 were split between my other subjects.

In terms of missing classes, they won't let you regularly miss a core subject to go to your outside course, or at least, they wouldn't in my experience. And I also wouldn't advise regularly missing a languages class either given how intense they are. In the beginners languages it normally works that one class is an oral class, one is a grammar class, one is a written language class, one is literature etc meaning if you miss one session then you miss the input for that aspect of the language for that week.

EDIT 2: Sorry, lots of questions! When using time tab some of the courses that I'll be taking can't be found, is this normal and when should I expect them to be there?

It depends when/if they've been added. If you look during freshers week then you'll get an up to date list.

Since it seems like no one can answer my questions, is there an email address that I can contact that could maybe help me out with some enquiries with regards to picking outside courses?

You could email each school but no one will be overly willing to help you right now given all of the UK exam results are released in the next two weeks so the university will be dealing with confirmation. Outside subjects can be dealt with in freshers week - a lot of people turn up and don't even realise that they have to chose outside courses so the fact you know this puts you at a major advantage. When you have your school introduction meeting in freshers week they'll tell you everything you need to know.

(edited 11 years ago)

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