languages (1 Viewer)

[extraordinary07]

hey guys im considering doing a language in my arts degree for my first year in uni. i just wanted to gauge how much effort is needed to achieve something like a distinction? im looking to transfer to another degree or uni, and if i do a language i just need to know how much effort you'd need to put in.

 

[uhawww]

Depends what language, and depends on how into it you are.

I'd say in general, an hour or two a day is optimal if you really want to learn the language, but just for the marks, as long as you keep up with weekly vocab/grammar you should be fine. Even just ten minutes a night reading over the weekly vocab until it sticks in (aside from a proper weekly 'study session' of the subject).

 

[extraordinary07]

yeah i was looking to do a language like german, and i'd be willing todo that much work for it and more as well. can you reccomend any study techniques you always use that help? thanks.

 

[~shinigami~]

Thanks for starting the thread man.

I was gonna ask something similar but for chinese.

 

[uhawww]

yeah i was looking to do a language like german, and i'd be willing todo that much work for it and more as well. can you reccomend any study techniques you always use that help? thanks.

Study techniques again come down the individual and the type of language. I haven't actually studied a European language yet, but in general the best way to go about language study is;

- Keep up with the vocab, revise nightly
- Sound files, sound files, sound files, sound files
- Write a lot

The last point is the strategy I personally use all the time when I'm bored and I find it really effective. It's a great way to keep refreshing vocab as well as your grammar points. As you progress weekly you'll start to be able to write more and more... just starting off with like "My name is Mike. I study x and y languages at the University of New South Wales". Eventually you'll be able to add more and more, like "I am a x year student. My favourite foods are x and y. My fav sports are x and y" etc. Then you'll find yourself being able to link all these sentences up as you start to learn more in depth grammar.
Just doing this while sitting on the train or what ever really helps.

Also just grind the hell out of the vocab, and an early tip if you haven't studied a language before... using additional vocab/structures in your speaking tasks will generally impress your tutor/lecturer as well as give you an edge. I'm not saying learn an additional million words, but just a few little things here and there really make a difference.

This is just my personal approach, your tutors and lecturers will have far more tips and tricks that you can incorporate.

Of course, using the language all you can between your friends/class mates is constantly refreshing, fun, and good practice.

Thanks for starting the thread man.

I was gonna ask something similar but for chinese.

Have you studied an Asian language or know any Chinese already?

You'll need to put a lot more work in to Chinese than some other languages, considering the study load of characters and vocab, as well as learning the pronunciation which is a challenge of it's own. I'd HIGHLY suggest at LEAST 30mins a night, on top of a weekly study session. I'd try put in an hour most nights though.
Just listen to a lot of Chinese music/watch a lot of dramas too... REALLY helps with Chinese.
And don't forget, if you don't know the tone... you don't know the word.

 

[~shinigami~]

Have you studied an Asian language or know any Chinese already?

You'll need to put a lot more work in to Chinese than some other languages, considering the study load of characters and vocab, as well as learning the pronunciation which is a challenge of it's own. I'd HIGHLY suggest at LEAST 30mins a night, on top of a weekly study session. I'd try put in an hour most nights though.
Just listen to a lot of Chinese music/watch a lot of dramas too... REALLY helps with Chinese.
And don't forget, if you don't know the tone... you don't know the word.

I've gone to Saturday school when I was younger but back then I didn't really appreciate the language so I practically learned nothing.

If and when I start learning it at uni, I'd basically be a beginner. I find the tones quite difficult.

Regarding the Chinese music and dramas, I've already got that covered. Maybe a bit too much.

 

[*So WOnderful*]

:wave::wave:
Hey guys, does anyone know much about UNSW's institute of languages because I really wanna learn Mandarin Chinese and French/Japanese. Do you have to do it as part of your uni course work? Or can anyone rock up and enrol? And is Mando really hard to learn, considering I'd be a beginner in it?

Thanks.

 

[~shinigami~]

:wave::wave:
Hey guys, does anyone know much about UNSW's institute of languages because I really wanna learn Mandarine Chinese and French/Japanese. Do you have to do it as part of your uni course work? Or can anyone rock up and enrol? And is Mando really hard to learn, considering I'd be a beginner in it?

Thanks.

Take my answer with a grain of salt because I'm not 100% sure.

I think you're able to learn a language if your degree program has enough free electives from other faculties and I believe if you do an arts degree, you can do two languages.

Oh and you could also do a Diploma of Languages concurrently with your degree and major in one language.

 

[uhawww]

Take my answer with a grain of salt because I'm not 100% sure.

I think you're able to learn a language if your degree program has enough free electives from other faculties and I believe if you do an arts degree, you can do two languages.

Oh and you could also do a Diploma of Languages concurrently with your degree and major in one language.

This is mostly correct.


I'm not sure where people keep getting the idea you can only do two languages though, as long as you have enough credit points you can do as many as you wish (at least at UNSW). Finding more than two languages that don't have a timetable clash though is a challenge in itself. It's the only thing holding me back from studying three (as part of my degree) at the moment.

 

[Triangulum]

as long as you have enough credit points you can do as many as you wish (at least at UNSW).

Ditto at Usyd. A BA consisting entirely of languages sounds hellish, but it's allowed.

 

[*So WOnderful*]

Okay, thanks guys!!

This might be the wrong forum but *meh* - is there any way to do a language as part of a science program at UNSW ie B Sci/B Adv Sci - or is this just a silly idea?

You can tell I really want to learn other languages. I tried looking through other threads on learning languages but they mostly contain .

 

[Metric]

You should contact UNSW if you want a direct answer. I don't know if you will have enough electives that can be taken from another faculty to enroll in many language courses.

What you can do is do a Diploma in Languages alongside your degree.

 

[uhawww]

Okay, thanks guys!!

This might be the wrong forum but *meh* - is there any way to do a language as part of a science program at UNSW ie B Sci/B Adv Sci - or is this just a silly idea?

You can tell I really want to learn other languages. I tried looking through other threads on learning languages but they mostly contain .

I can't speak for sure, but I've met a few people in my language classes that are Science students... but I'm really not sure if they have enough electives to take it all the way to third year or not - there are also geneds you can use up doing language courses.

As the above poster mentioned your best bet would be to contact your faculty (in your case it will be science@unsw.edu.au). If you email them now you'll most likely get a response tomorrow or the day after.


edit: Actually if you don't have a student email address I'm not sure how fast they will be with an email response. You could try calling.

 

[~shinigami~]

I can't speak for sure, but I've met a few people in my language classes that are Science students... but I'm really not sure if they have enough electives to take it all the way to third year or not - there are also geneds you can use up doing language courses.

As the above poster mentioned your best bet would be to contact your faculty (in your case it will be science@unsw.edu.au). If you email them now you'll most likely get a response tomorrow or the day after.


edit: Actually if you don't have a student email address I'm not sure how fast they will be with an email response. You could try calling.

This is a bit offtopic but uhawww, is that a pic of Hebe in your sig?

 

[uhawww]

Yeah

 

[historykidd]

Since we are on the topic of languages, does anyone here have an experience of linguistics or has undertaken linguistics units at uni? If so, whats it like? What do you generally study? How hard is it?

 

[~shinigami~]

Yeah

*Thumbs Up*