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Original poster

Modern Languages at uni - avoiding literature!

124 replies

Stringbean70 · 21/01/2023 14:48

My DS is in Y12 and doing Spanish and French A-levels (alongside media). He's starting to look at uni options (envisages he will be predicted ABB) and is keen to study modern languages - French, Spanish and probably ab initio Portuguese. He seems to think that by taking Portuguese (a third language) he will be able to cut down on literature modules and his teachers have advised him to give Oxbridge and York a swerve as they are literature heavy (not that he has the grades for Oxbridge anyway!). As we're London based, he also wants to avoid London unis. Anyway, these are the universities on his list and I should be very grateful of any info as to the language departments and the MFL degrees there:

Exeter
Nottingham
Birmingham
Sheffield
Surrey
Southampton
Swansea

As I say, he is keen to avoid literature - more interested in film and other cultural modules!

OP posts:
42isthemeaning · 22/01/2023 21:50

I'm an MFL grad who went to Edinburgh (and then onto Newcastle for a postgrad) to do a joint honours degree. There was a lot of literature at Edinburgh. I loved the cinema element most of all in my language courses; however, I would say that studying film is very similar to studying literature in terms of the skills required.

Juja · 22/01/2023 22:11

My DD will be starting a MFL degree in Oct (deferred entry), she though is the opposite to your DS and loves literature. So we have been through this discussion last year.

Bristol I know allows you to do three languages so may suit him and quite a number of languages. Also a huge range of modules and a super department with a great cinema. Her offer was ABB and her friend who was contextual was offered BBC. She isn't though going there but it was her insurance. My DS's girlfriend read Spanish & Italian at Bristol and really enjoyed it.

Lancaster is another good place for languages and you can do three languages - not sure they do Portuguese though. ABB offers too. A friends daughter really enjoyed languages there.

TizerorFizz · 22/01/2023 23:29

Did film require you to read a book and analyse text? Or just listen and watch? One thing that literature teaches is analysis of the written word. That is still useful and required in high paying jobs. Rarely is analyzing a film going to give the same skills that employers want.

TizzWoz · 23/01/2023 02:52

No one's saying their DC doesn't want to read any books in another language. I get the impression they don't want to do the kind of in depth study of books that they had to do for GCSE Eng Lit - which ruined many of a young person's interest in literature!

loopyloutoo · 23/01/2023 03:58

Stringbean70 · 21/01/2023 14:48

My DS is in Y12 and doing Spanish and French A-levels (alongside media). He's starting to look at uni options (envisages he will be predicted ABB) and is keen to study modern languages - French, Spanish and probably ab initio Portuguese. He seems to think that by taking Portuguese (a third language) he will be able to cut down on literature modules and his teachers have advised him to give Oxbridge and York a swerve as they are literature heavy (not that he has the grades for Oxbridge anyway!). As we're London based, he also wants to avoid London unis. Anyway, these are the universities on his list and I should be very grateful of any info as to the language departments and the MFL degrees there:

Exeter
Nottingham
Birmingham
Sheffield
Surrey
Southampton
Swansea

As I say, he is keen to avoid literature - more interested in film and other cultural modules!

I did this course at Notts, albeit graduating a good while ago.
You can do a FR/SP/PT split but avoiding literature is next to impossible. You could probably get by by focusing on history, translation etc but you will most certainly have to do it.
For me, it was an ok experience - I would most certainly change my mind and do a business subject plus a language had I had the opportunity again.

Namenic · 23/01/2023 04:26

SIL went to Exeter. I think she was able to study French and Spanish and did ab initio Portuguese and did a module in Catalan and also film. She chose it as she didn’t like literature (I don’t know if she had to do some literature modules but just less than elsewhere - I read a previous poster saying that when they went to exeter they did a lot of literature). She went about 15yrs ago though - so you probably need to look at the recent prospectus.

FlipFlopBattle · 23/01/2023 05:37

This isn't the main question you were asking, but I would caution against choosing a three-language degree, especially if the main reason is actually to get out of doing something else (literature).

This is some time ago but I chose to do three languages, and at the time only two universities in the country offered this. I soon saw why; we were expected to be at A level standard in the new language after 8 weeks, meaning hardly any time left to focus on the two main languages. I fairly swiftly switched to a different university with a more standard joint honours in two languages. Even studying two languages to the level where you are thinking in that language and fully immersed in it involves a certain degree of switching gears several times a day.

If he's not interested in any role within the translation industry (and I think reports of its demise are exaggerated, but translators do in the main earn less and less, there is now a big tecchie/repetitive element to it, and yes it is solitary, although this suits some people, as they can work from wherever they want in the world), then I would also question the long-term rationale for doing three languages, rather than one or two jointly with business, politics, tourism, or whatever field he may ultimately interested in working in? As an employer, even one within the translation industry (my background), this would strike me as a more well-rounded skill set.

Twizbe · 23/01/2023 06:30

DH did French and German at Warwick. He wasn't big into literature and I think did the bare min of literature modules.

Now though he does like having a collection of foreign language literature for his zoom background lol.

He works in financial services. When he started he worked for exclusively German speaking clients.

Sadly he doesn't use his languages that much anymore.

Pinkdafodils · 23/01/2023 08:17

*He works in financial services. When he started he worked for exclusively German speaking clients.

Sadly he doesn't use his languages that much anymore.*

Most German's English is excellent.

Twizbe · 23/01/2023 08:30

Pinkdafodils · 23/01/2023 08:17

*He works in financial services. When he started he worked for exclusively German speaking clients.

Sadly he doesn't use his languages that much anymore.*

Most German's English is excellent.

True, but not all. He was hired because of his german skills, I'm guessing the multi national organisation who employed him saw value in the fact he spoke german 🤷🏼‍♀️

TizerorFizz · 23/01/2023 08:47

@TizzWoz
The op says he does want to avoid literature! It’s very shortsighted.

@FlipFlopBattle I agree with your advice especially as DS seems to think this will avoid literature (and depth of study inevitably).

3 MFLs are a relatively new degree. I’m fairly certain Bristol didn’t offer this when DD went. Some universities are gradually dropping MFL and reducing options. There are not enough good linguists to go round and people avoid MFLs due to native speakers making high grades difficult to attain. DD noticed some students didn’t bother with some classes in language. They didn’t need to go!

loopyloutoo · 23/01/2023 10:02

TizerorFizz · 23/01/2023 08:47

@TizzWoz
The op says he does want to avoid literature! It’s very shortsighted.

@FlipFlopBattle I agree with your advice especially as DS seems to think this will avoid literature (and depth of study inevitably).

3 MFLs are a relatively new degree. I’m fairly certain Bristol didn’t offer this when DD went. Some universities are gradually dropping MFL and reducing options. There are not enough good linguists to go round and people avoid MFLs due to native speakers making high grades difficult to attain. DD noticed some students didn’t bother with some classes in language. They didn’t need to go!

This is what I wanted to add earlier - my MFL degree was flooded with half Spanish/French/Portuguese kids who were there to tick the box and get a very decent grade from a good uni.
Perhaps I don't blame them, but it was very hard for the average Joe like the rest of us to compare.
Out of anyone I know from uni, I can't think of anyone who used their language as part of their career now. Yes, the level of education got us into companies that required a degree, but that's it. I have used my languages in my career since but i didn't need them.

AnnaBegins · 23/01/2023 10:15

Admittedly many years out of date, but I did MML at Cambridge, and managed to almost totally avoid literature, except for a module of short stories in my second language, and an optional poetry module which I could easily have avoided. 1st year French students still have, I believe, the option to take French linguistics instead of literature for their optional module. In year 2 I borrowed many modules from the Linguistics tripos, and in year 4 there was a fab historical French module, and another more linguistic based one, so no literature at all. I could also have taken Portuguese or Ukrainian as a 3rd beginner language to avoid more literature. I think the Spanish dept had a cinema module!

usedtobeboss3 · 23/01/2023 10:23

As far as I can tell, most courses these days seem to be very flexible (even Cambridge, Durham, etc) and certainly not unavoidably literature-heavy. Pretty much everywhere that DS looked at offered a range of modules in all years - including literature, but also film, culture, history, politics etc...
The main thing that narrowed down his search was the language combination he wanted, but I don't imagine that would be an issue with French and Spanish.

MadeInChorley · 23/01/2023 10:34

Take a look at MFL in the Scottish Universities. The longer degree courses there lend themselves to a greater depth of study and more choices with a cross over to other departments like linguistics. Glasgow Uni especially had a very strong reputation in Eastern European languages. I did a joint honours degree with a MFL in the late 1990s

TizerorFizz · 23/01/2023 10:45

Are they not 5 years though in Scotland? Such a long time! DD was converting to law and wanted to get on with it. Like most linguists, a career was needed without MFL!

Pinkdafodils · 23/01/2023 14:00

I wonder how fluent one can actually become in three languages over a 3 or 4 year degree?

And without fluency, how much useful is such a degree?

OakleyStreetisnotinChelsea · 23/01/2023 14:36

With a 3 language degree you can't do all 3 from scratch. I think with ours you could only do 1 from scratch, the others you needed an A level. I only did 2: 1 from A level and 1 from scratch. Dh did 3 of which 1 was from scratch.

You are expected to work very hard though and to do a lot of learning outside of class time. Then of course your year abroad you are expected to immerse yourself. Most people I studied with dropped 1 of the 3 languages at the end of year 2 so just did 2 languages on year abroad and in to final year.

RampantIvy · 23/01/2023 14:41

You are expected to work very hard though and to do a lot of learning outside of class time.

Yes, this is true. DD did a STEM degree which was very content heavy, she said her MFL friends had at least as much work if not more. Due to covid their year abroad was deferred and since Brexit studying abroad has become much more complicated. The student studying Chinese had her semester in China cancelled and is now doing it online.

User305 · 23/01/2023 15:07

TizerorFizz · 23/01/2023 10:45

Are they not 5 years though in Scotland? Such a long time! DD was converting to law and wanted to get on with it. Like most linguists, a career was needed without MFL!

Edinburgh is 4 years.

TizerorFizz · 23/01/2023 15:19

That’s one university and the most difficult to get into. What about all the others?

User305 · 23/01/2023 15:41

I was just trying to be helpful - sorry that's not working for you. And it's not the most difficult to get into.

TizerorFizz · 23/01/2023 19:03

Edinburgh require higher grades than St Andrews for French and Spanish. Nit Sue if you can do Portuguese with this combination either but I only had a quick look. So where would grades be higher than Edinburgh ?

Hillarious · 26/01/2023 14:31

I went to Bangor in the 80s. Specifically chose the course because of minimal literature. Instead we studied German history and linguistics in German, with some literature only in the final year, once we'd spent time in Germany and knew the historical context of the literature we were reading. I completely understand where your son is coming from, as I was totally put off literature by A levels. However, I now read a lot of books!

Annasoror · 24/06/2023 20:58

He could do that combination at Exeter and do very little literature indeed. The tariffs are higher for 3-language degrees, as they are demanding, but they are a popular programme. Exeter has lots of modules on intercultural communication/ film/ visual culture etc if he wants to avoid literature.