MFL expertise

[Katiecan]

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

@Katiecan is your DD set on continuing with the languages she is studying at A- level? I only ask because some of the juiciest sounding courses for students seeking less literature and linguistics weighting are packaged around languages with strong historical, cultural and linguistic links. I’m thinking of this of this belter offered by Newcastle https://www.ncl.ac.uk/sml/study-with-us/spanish-portuguese-and-latin-american-studies/
DD took A-levels in Spanish and French and got A* in both but dropped French for Spanish and Portuguese at Nottingham. She had no regrets. Obviously if she adores a language she must keep it up, but if she isn’t that wedded she could exchange her least prized one.

If your daughter loves her French, Birmingham seem to offer a lot of flexibility in terms of the language modules and it appears they are highly rated for French.

I had an offer for Joint Honours English and Russian there and loved the Russian department there but that is so long ago that it could have changed completely. I liked the campus feel of the university too, even though is contained some hideous 70s buildings. Again it is a big central city with a low cost of living and great transport links.

That's what my dd1 had an offer for

@Travelban - it sounds fascinating doesn’t it? I’d kill to do it myself 😂

Has she visited the university? It has a very good reputation but I have no first hand experience beyond that one impressive visit.

Your daughter has done really well to get all those offers, she should be very proud. I hope her exams go well.

Thank you, she has visited them all....each one has pluses and minuses but ultimately its going to be a random pick, I think... thank you and fingers crossed indeed!!!

Exeter offers French, German, Spanish, Russian and Italian post ‘A’ level plus all those languages and Chinese and Portuguese from beginners. It’s pretty big.

Exeter also does 3language degrees.

@blackpearwhitelilies Exeter looks v good - so many choices of language and the option to do three is great. Do you happen to know which other unis have well-respected language departments. We also have Lancaster and Southampton on our list but wondering about Nottingham, Birmingham, Newcastle, Cardiff. It's all quite daunting tbh!

@Travelban @LightDrizzle that course looks cracking but yes, want to continue with both French and Spanish

Birmingham and Newcastle are v good - v committed, good staff.

@Katiecan
What does “well respected” mean? To employers? To other academics? I’ve probably already said Bristol. Usually higher ranked than Exeter.

Bristol and Exeter are pretty comparable really. I’d include Bristol on my list too Katiecan. And St Andrews.

Have added @blackpearwhitelilies and PM'd you.

Newcastle is not ranked highly for MFL. Way below others mentioned here. I see op does not want much literature on course. Looking at Exeter, the options seem limited within the MFL dept if you do not want literature.

Exeter and Bristol have good reputations with employers. They have a certain reputation about the type of student they attract - notoriously full of RAHs and bitter Oxbridge rejects, more so than the likes of Durham and Manchester as an example.

I don’t think any uni is more full of bitter oxford rejects than Durham. That is it’s raisin d’etre, surely, to the extent of trying to colloquially brand itself “Doxbridge” 🤣🤣
Which for a financially precarious, research-light uni with with an almost-invisible international reputation is risible.

I did type raison but autocorrect struck again

Exeter has loads of non literature modules. V good on linguistics. There are excellent courses on intercultural communication. Nice interdepartmental course on environmental issues globally. They have run a great course called Transcultural Devon where the students interview igrants to Devon about their experiences of settling in another country and create a video from this. They don’t have to do much lit at all unless they want to.

Bitter Oxbridge rejects?

What a spiteful way to talk about young people.

I agree marquess. I know some of these depts well and have found the students at Bristol, Durham and Exeter to be delightful and all three places to be much more diverse than is suggested here. These stereotypes are quite damaging.

I’d definitely look at Bath. A lot of the people I meet professionally with language careers are Bath graduates (often postgrad).

For dabbling in a third language, also look at Scottish universities. You can often do 3 languages in first year (and even second year) and then narrow it down. Edinburgh used to be very literature heavy but that may have changed as my knowledge is dated.

@Katiecan it was my DD who was offered AAB from Newcastle for Modern Languages for 2023 entry (deferred)- compared with ABB from Bristol. Maybe being deferred affected her offer, more likely the Covid bulge. Newcastle is a popular uni and MFL also well regarded there.

@LightDrizzle - Uni choices are very personal. Nottingham sounds great too. My DD having initially been not so keen Bristol was impressed by the MFL department at the offer holders day- a series of large detached houses linked by walkways and a connecting terrace at the back. Less than 5 mins walk to the main campus Well maintained and a lovely in department cinema that you can book for the evening to watch films with your friends. Great range of modules. DS's girlfriend read Spanish & Italian at Bristol, loved it, now qualifying as a teacher and is about to start a MSc in the Linguistics fo second Language Acquisition at Oxford before finding a teaching job. So many options.

In the end DD firmed Oxford and but she is a literature buff so the literature emphasis suits her. Horses for courses...

Great to see so many MFL enthusiasts here!! I guess we are a self selecting bunch 😉

I'd consider going for a two language one since so many universities do this and she will have great choices. She can always add the language as extra either through university or a cultural centre in the city of study.

There's also Manchester Metropolitan. Not sure about the three languages route but they have a year abroad integrated in the course too.

The thing with student satisfaction scores at the moment is that it still reflects dissatisfaction about lockdown, online learning, etc. Plus it's often the few with a complaint who complete these online surveys. I'd take them with a pinch of salt and speak to students during the visits instead.

I have a colleague whose DD is just finishing an MFL degree at Warwick which she ahs really enjoyed and another one whose DD is still at Warwick. She also applied to Nottingham, Birmingham and not sure where else. Very able girls. Both doing really well and are happy. Some of those applications are because we are in south central Midlands so those are close good universities. I am sure one also applied to Leicester and had it as insurance.

@Juja Newcastle languishes behind many in league tables for MFL. I never understand who, exactly, respects the MFL department?

I too am sick of students being labelled. No one is bitter about Oxbridge. Maybe a bit upset for a while. Then they get on with life. York has plenty of Oxbridge rejects too! However it’s an ultra silly way to choose a university. Looking over your shoulder at others is very immature.

League tables aren’t everything. There are some excellent academics at Newcastle MFL. Nigel Harkness and Shirley Jordan are hugely respected for instance.