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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

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Original poster

MFL expertise

89 replies

Katiecan · 28/03/2023 22:28

Does anyone with MFL expertise know if Sheffield Uni went ahead with their controversial change to MFL teaching - as detailed in news report here?

https://www.thestar.co.uk/education/furious-students-accuse-university-of-sheffield-of-gross-misconduct-over-course-change-3226484

if so, that makes us wary of choosing Sheffield for MFL. Are we right to be?

Where else is good for languages - NOT literature heavy (so no Oxbridge, Durham or Bristol) please. Lancaster and Exeter on our radar and DC’s teacher rates Southampton. But what about Midlands/North? Trying to draw up a list of unis to visit but time/money pressures will probably mean we onl get to 3 or 4 this summer

thank you for reading

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LarkDescending · 28/03/2023 22:41

I don’t know about Sheffield, but DD is seriously looking at York for French and Linguistics. Their Linguistics is integrated into the MFL courses (so not joint honours) and they seem to have high student satisfaction.

Original poster

Katiecan · 28/03/2023 22:52

Integrated into the degree rather than bolt-on sounds great! Do many unis offer that or will she have to compromise on other choices? Linguistics too ‘science-y’ for my DS though (or so he reckons). All best to your DD!

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ConstantlyCooking · 28/03/2023 23:09

UEA Ihad courses focused on translating and interpreting plus linguistics rather than lit. Also you used to be able to focus on a country's history rather than literature as part of your degree.

TizerorFizz · 29/03/2023 00:41

@Katiecan Few jobs in translation now. It’s all IT and boring. I wouldn’t consider this.

One of Sheffield’s problems is, they are not a great MFL university. Only 4 languages offered post A level. They’ve dumbed down what they do and have lots of MFL bolt ons where you don’t even get a semester abroad! How that can compare with other MFL degrees at the universities you don’t want is beyond me. It’s been like this for years and academic DC probably swerve it. By the way, great literature is vital. You could not do an English degree without it. So many DC do not see the value of the challenge. It is very limiting to ignore literature.

With MFL you do need to consider jobs though. Most grads aren’t directly using the MFL every day. so transferable skills are key. Doing a bit of Italian but never setting foot in Italy or reading Dante is very limiting. Ticking a box really.

TizerorFizz · 29/03/2023 00:42

The reason they have bolt on courses is to keep the department open. Insufficirnt numbers otherwise.

Original poster

Katiecan · 29/03/2023 01:48

Sheffield - “Only 4 languages offered post A level”

Sure, @TizerorFizz but other unis renowned for languages only offer 4 post A-level choices too:

Lancaster (Chinese, French, German, Spanish)
Exeter (French, German, Italian, Spanish)
Southampton - only 4 also

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Original poster

Katiecan · 29/03/2023 01:51

In fact, Tizer, I can’t find any uni that offers more than 5 post A level choices. 4 is pretty good. My original post about Sheffield was a different one - did the changes go through or was the petition successful?

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JWR · 29/03/2023 06:19

Edinburgh is excellent for MFL

Travelban · 29/03/2023 08:21

I can't help with Sheffield but dd has UCL, Lancaster, Newcastle , Manchester and Liverpool. There seems to be plus and minuses to all of them, although Liverpool and to some extent Manchester have lower student satisfaction for the course. I thunk Liverpool's is 50% which is worrying. She loved it when she went though.

UCL seems favourite at the moment, although it won't be the same student experience. Really hard to choose.

TizerorFizz · 29/03/2023 09:25

Student satisfaction is usually replies from very few students. Fairly worthless overall. Talking to current students is better.

Twizbe · 29/03/2023 09:44

My DH did French and German at Warwick. He's not big on literature but that was a part of his course. He much preferred the language language modules. He seemed to enjoy it.

loobylou44 · 29/03/2023 09:48

What languages are they interested in? DD is hopefully going to Bath for MFL in September.
She looked at Sheffield but turned it down after the offer holders day as they were trying to push people into doing as many languages as possible. It was almost as if they were trying to get bums on seats to keep the department open!
Other unis she looked at that did the combination she wanted were Leeds, Newcastle, Cambridge, Nottingham, Birmingham and Exeter.

TizerorFizz · 29/03/2023 10:20

@loobylou44 They are! Many universities are.

Bath is slightly different for MFL because options tend to support their other courses. Many MFL departments offer courses to other undergrads. That’s normal but there’s now a race to offer three MFLs seems all about language speaking and no depth of study. The skills employers want, as Cambridge says, is often not the actual speaking of languages Cambridge allows a taster in a third but it’s a pretty minor part of the degree. Doing two in depth is better. They also say for a small number of their grads, work is directly vocational. Therefore the other skills acquired are really important.

Original poster

Katiecan · 29/03/2023 15:57

@travelban what a lovely choice for your dd to have? Did she get the standard offer for them all (ABB)? I ask as someone posted on another thread that Newcastle made an offer of AAB even though they advertise ABB…

@loobylou44 French and Spanish post A-level plus one ab initio (can’t decide between German, Italian or Portuguese atm)

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menopausalbutdealingwithit · 29/03/2023 15:58

My DD did Modern Languages (Fr/Sp) and European Studies at the University of Bath and loved it. Graduated last year. The work was manageable, Bath is beautiful, safe, affordable, easy transport and facilities, as well as good student accommodation and options off campus.

Travelban · 29/03/2023 16:18

Katiecan · 29/03/2023 15:57

@loobylou44 French and Spanish post A-level plus one ab initio (can’t decide between German, Italian or Portuguese atm)

Yes she got the standard offer of.ABB for all of them and BBB for Liverpool. I didn't realise Newcastle had done that to others.. I wonder why! Thank you, nice to have the offers but so hard to choose....she thinks she would probably be happy at all of them !!

Lovetotravel123 · 29/03/2023 16:22

Try Cardiff. Fun city to study in too.

Original poster

Katiecan · 29/03/2023 16:23

@menopausalbutdealingwithit love the username - same here! Haven’t looked at Bath and now will do. @TizerorFizz sorry to be dumb - what do you mean by Bath being different? Is that a good thing?

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Original poster

Katiecan · 29/03/2023 16:24

@travelban ooooh that BBB for Liverpool looks tempting! Is that only if you firm them though?

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Travelban · 29/03/2023 17:14

No it's their standard offer for Iberian studies

TheNextChapter · 29/03/2023 17:25

Cardiff. I did European Studies including 2 languages. Very pick and mix so I could avoid lit as much as poss. Did modules in law, lots of politics and German and Spanish history.

Cardiff is brilliant.

TheNextChapter · 29/03/2023 17:26

Must say that was 20 years ago though. Not sure if course still available.

LightDrizzle · 29/03/2023 17:36

Nottingham was great for DD1 who did two languages.

LightDrizzle · 29/03/2023 17:36

…. really interesting course options.

stickygotstuck · 29/03/2023 17:40

Northumbria Uni, in Newcastle.

Excellent for MFL with Politics. But like PP, that was 20 years ago, so my info may well be out of date. Especially because I heard they closed the Russian Politics department a while back. Just in time...

Worth investigating though?

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