Majoring in language studies? (1 Viewer)

nickyn27

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I'm going to study Bachelor of Commerce (International) at UNSW, and I'm not sure what to major in for international studies component. It's between European Studies and French Studies. If I had to choose between the two, I'd prefer it be French Studies but I hear that languages can be difficult and really pull your WAM down. I also have no prior knowledge to French at all. I'm fairly comfortable with studying European Studies (I did pretty well in Modern History HSC) but don't think it would be as useful and worthwhile as learning French.

Can anyone who has majored in a language give me an insight into studying a language in uni?
 
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Kittikhun

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Hey, mate. I'm a French major at UNSW.

OK, if you are going to major in French and you're starting out with no previous knowledge of the language, you'll have to do nine French courses. The courses you'll have to do are the following:
Intro French A (A1)
Intro French B (A1)
Intermediate French A (A2)
Intermediate French B (A2)
Advanced French A (B1)
Advanced French B (B1)
x 2 French Contextual Studies
Arts Capstone (French capstone isn't offered anymore due to budget cuts to the Humanites at UNSW so everyone now doing language must take the generic Arts capstone)

During your first year, you'll only be able to do Intro French A and Intro French B. In your second year, if you don't go on exchange (I don't know how International degrees work with this so I'm guessing you go on third year), you can do contextual studies with the Intermediate French courses. Contextual studies are taught in English and are centred around something French like French linguistics or French cinema. In your third year, if you go on exchange to France for a sem, I think they'll let you say that you completed Advanced French A on your transcript, but I'm not sure about this, so don't take this as the concrete truth. Then in your final sem, if you have no more Arts subjects to do, you take the Arts capstone with Advanced French B, and voilà French major.

However, looking at your degree, I think you'll be minoring in language instead of majoring in it (you're not doing an Arts degree), so instead you'll just do the six language courses. Now, I think this because there have been people in my French classes doing International degrees who I have never seen in the Contextual and Professional French courses I did. I may be wrong, so check it up.

I haven't done the Intro French course, but I have talked to people who have. It's five hours per intro language course. I think it goes 2 hour lecture, 2 hour tute, and one hour tute. 80% of instruction is given in French, and you'll have to infer the meaning. For example, the lecturer will go, 'J'habite à BONDI.' forcing you to infer to mean as 'I live at Bondi.' The textbook you'll use in intro French, 'Version Orignale', is ALL IN FRENCH but basic French. Once you progress to Inter, the hours get less. I think it's a 2 hour lecture and 2 hour tute. The hours for Advanced French are the same as Inter.

Assessment for intro French is I think ridiculous from what I have read of it:

https://hal.arts.unsw.edu.au/media/HALFile/ARTS1481.pdf

15-20 minute recording of you guys speaking French after only 26 weeks of study is a tad ridiculous, but not impossible.

There is an official UNSW French Society FB page, if you have further questions to ask. People there will be better qualified than me to answer your questions.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/unswfrenchsoc/

By the way, French is kind of a useless language now. Everyone is learning English, and it is now the lingua franca of the world. The days when French used to be the language of diplomacy are long gone. It's English now--today, French is only the 11th most spoken language in the world. Personally, I think it's better to learn Spanish (the 2nd most spoken language in the world) or German (the most spoken language in Europe), but that's what I think.

Cheers.
 

Hatake88

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Would chinese be a better choice? Especially since you are doing commerce...
 

Chronost

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Both of them are pretty useless(in terms of practicality in searching for jobs),especially to a commerce degree,choose whichever you feel you'd like more rather then "usefulness".
 

InsoulvencyReaper

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Do whatever interests you more. Learning a language is useful if you intend on taking your skills overseas. Be mindful that languages are difficult and not everyone will pick it up quickly or easily. You could do European studies - it interests you and you might do well... I don't know if you'd want to pay to do a subject that won't help you find a job but it could be interesting to have knowledge of the world in your mind.
 

nickyn27

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Thanks for the responses (particularly Kittikhun!). Just to clarify, I am actually interested in studying French, not just because it would be more "useful" than studying history. I don't really intend in having an international business career. It would be more like.. using my French just for travelling, etc.

I think I'm gonna make French studies a minor rather than majoring in it.
 

Kittikhun

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Cool.

Personally, I think that if you're learning French just for the sake of traveling, I would study French at the UNSW Institute of Languages instead, and minor in something else.

http://www.languages.unsw.edu.au/courses/other-languages/french

It's much cheaper, and more attention is dedicated towards you (in a French tutorial class, the average number of students is 20-25. At the institute, it's 12!). But that's me though.
 

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