Modern Languages. Which is better, Oxford or Cambridge?

[3littlefrogs]

If you wanted to read French, German, Italian, would it be better to look at Oxford or Cambridge?

Thanks

My DD chose Cambridge as she found the course to be more modern. The Oxford courses are v.heavily literature based, so you learn the history, politics etc of the country through the historical literature of that country. DD thought that was not for her and chose the Cambridge course.

Word of warning - a VERY large percentage of those studying those languages are already fluent when they arrive, eg they have 1 parent from that country, or own a property there so spend all summer etc. When you are rated against your peers this can be demoralising for those who have just done well at A level. A year out in that country before starting the course would be what DD did if she had her time again.

Ah, Milliways, I thought of you when I saw this thread... !

I agree with Milliways. Oxford's courses are very stuck in the mud traditional and it seems to be very hard to change/update things there, whereas Cambridge has a very wide range of courses, with plenty of choice. In the subject that I know best (I don't want to 'out' myself, but it's one of the ones you mentioned), I would say that the teaching is better in Cambridge too (not that it would be bad in Oxford, of course... everything is relative!).

Don't overlook the charms of non-Oxbridge institutions too. They often have far greater flexibility (e.g. possibility of combining languages with other subjects, which isn't possible in Cambridge, and may be possible but only to a limited extent in Oxford; range of topics taught; range of languages on offer; range of 'elective' subjects available, etc.) and many have excellent teaching and research.

Hello - thought you would arrive here too! :)

Totally agree - a friend had an amazing time and got a 1st last year from an RG Uni, and managed to do 3 languages - which is not an option at Oxbridge really. He walked straight into an amazing job and is really enjoying it. DD's other choices were Southampton. Warwick, Durham and Bath - but she was also taken with a lot of other very good courses out there.

Thank you. All good points to consider.

Ds2 didn't like idea of Cambridge, which was a bit disappointing for me, but he is at a very good university now, doing a course that he couldn't have done anywhere else (except for 1 university at the other end of the country) and is very happy.

So - I agree, probably look at all the options.

Thanks again.

My DD graduated from Cambridge this year - she did manage to do 3 languages there - you can pick up a third one in second year eg Dutch or Portuguese - and has recently got her first job which is wonderful. She did French German and one year of Portuguese. She found Cambridge pretty flexible eg she didn't want to do very much literature and although she did some, by final year she did mainly language and linguistics which she enjoyed. In earlier years she did a lot of history/cultural identity and philosophy- by her choice. You can also do more literature or film.

Good luck.

Milliways- is it really true that lots of people apply for a language with one parent being from that country? I'm afraid that one of my parents being French will put me at a disadvantage for applying for French (with another language).
I'm certainly not fluent by any means- was when I was very little, but lost a lot of fluency, and I do really want to do it- not just trying to get an easy degree (I'm afraid people will see it that way).

For what it's worth, I'm applying to Oxford because I heard the course was very very literature based. I always thought I'd apply for English Lit but I was starting to read more stuff by foreign writers and I thought, doing a Lit degree would be perfect...wouldn't make me very employable though...so let's combine with languages. Love France the country- love (getting muddled up with) German grammar, words, etc, it's a nice balance. It just seems perfect. But obviously I don't know what the course is really like, I've just heard about it.

I'm only going on what DD told me of her experience at Cambridge - where she was very much in the minority at having no direct link to the country whose language she was studying.

Go to the language open days. DD went to one at Oxford and they covered the course detail of both institutions. Your reasons sound like they would make a good Personal Statement so go for it and don't let what others think put you off. :)

Well, thanks. It's actually v. reassuring, kind of calmed down a worry :)

I have some close knowledge of Oxbridge MML and I'd say it's a small minority who are already bilingual or have a particular relationship with the country they're studying. However, thoe who do tend to be conspicuous because language classes make everyone feel quite exposed in the first year. Gap years/summer courses are a good way to work on language, but don't be put off, quirrel. I should also say that Cambridge is every bit as good for literature, it's just that you have more non-literary choices. If you are interested in contemporary thought and writing I'd say Cambridge is better. Open days are really worth attending. Good luck!

I did a modern languages degree, as did my sister, and both of us did further degrees in unrelated subjects. Much as we both love languages (I have learned five and she is on her sixth, aged 43...), we both felt that modern languages degrees on their own were intellectually restrictive.

Really Bonsoir? I found the opposite - there was so much to learn from and choose from in terms of papers including 'History of language' papers, the culture and thought of specific periods, poetry, philosophy, drama, critical theory etc. On top of that there was a vast array of linguistics papers as well including specialisms such as Phonetics, Historical Linguistics and so on. Even the 'language and grammar' classes weren't that dull as the essays were linked to the other papers or modern cultural topics from the relevant countries... I found all my courses very intellectually challenging, especially the one hour a week you get to spend in Supervisions with world specialists in their subjects, they were thrillingly challenging!

On my course we only had a couple of native speakers/bilingual students and they were by no means dead certs for Firsts (although they did have an advantage in the Oral exam admittedly, that was a tiny fraction of the marks in the first years and optional in the final year), largely because the courses were so much more than talking and writing (ie the same way that not every person who speaks English is going to get A's at school and then Double Firsts at college studying English).

Good luck QuirrelQuarrel - let us know how you get on.

DS turned down an offer from Oxford for Languages because of the high literature content. He chose to do Modern European Langs at Nottingham, French Spanish and Portuguese and has just started his 4th year, still loving it.

The emphasis is on cultural, historical and political content rather than literature although there are some lit options.

After extensive research he found the best choices for his particular interests were Bath Southampton and Nottingham