DD wants to do languages but we worry

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My daughter wants to go to university and she is taking French, Maths and Psych A-levels. She just got a B in French in recent year 12 exams (following a grade 9 at GCSE) and she says she wants to study languages at Uni (the school will predict an A in French). However she got AA in Maths and Psychology exams (and will be predicted A stars in those two). I am worried that she is focusing in on her weakest subject (French) and it is not vocational either. Also We have been told that modern languages degrees are full of native speakers and that the year abroad is now so difficult and expensive if you don’t have an EU passport. I would like DD to take a year out to rethink languages and explore Maths/Psych/STEM but would like advice please

News just in, as it happens. I hope we see more of this.

It’s not feasible for your DD. On a 3 language pathway, you can only take one from beginners level. She’d need to be doing 2 languages at a-level for this to be an option.

What nonsense.

There is a balance between her doing something she enjoys and something she is good at - and a B is not a bad grade - if she enjoys it she will be motivated to work at it and will probably improve on that.

As a parent there is no point in pushing a young person to do something that they are not passionate about. Even if she does what you want her to do, if she doesn't enjoy it/ it doesn't work out, she will resent you. You have to let her make her own choice.

It is also extremely valuable to have another language and opens up a lot of career opportunities.

A family member studied languages at university and this has opened many doors for them including living and working abroad. They were a straight A student and could have gone onto study law, medicine/stem (they certainly had the grades) but followed their heart and studied languages at a top uni. They were lucky to get onto a highly sought after grad scheme after uni and they haven't looked back since.

That “vocational” degrees are no better (or worse) than STEM or MFL degrees as they don’t guarantee you a vocational role.

There are places where you can start 2 of your 3 from scratch - from memory Aberystwyth and Sheffield, possibly Bangor. And others where you can pick up a 3rd related language in your second year. I know at Newcastle, Cambridge, and Oxford you can do that, I’m sure there will be more.

It's a long time since I went to Uni but I went doing a combined degree, a short way into it I dropped one of the subject as just wasn't enjoying it all.
It had no impact on my end result starting like that (got a 2:1) but it gave me the option to see what both subjects were like.
Could a combined maths/languages or psych/languages be an option?

Are you sure about the visa type for a British Council assistantship @blackpear ? One of DS's friends who has just completed a French degree did a British Council assistantship in France and told DS she had a "travailleur temporaire" visa. (I specifically got DS to ask about this because DD is due to do a year in France as part of her degree and I wanted to know what visa she would need for an assistantship.)

Well, it’s certainly the case for Spain. I am certain of that. I’ll double-check about France. Should be able to get an answer in a couple of days.

I studied four languages at uni and I love the native speaker argument. We live in a country filled with English native speakers but I don’t see them all getting degrees in it.

There will always be a better linguist/ mathematician/ scientist/ engineer around. And language degrees are much more than than grammar and vocabulary.

career wise, my CEO once needed somebody who could speak a specific language to go to a high level
government meeting with him. I was put on a plane and ended up with a different career for a few years from that one meeting. Working globally with ministers I would use languages throughout the day to operate in their working language.

I lived in the States but in a neighbourhood using Spanish at the laundry, grocery and with neighbours.

im not sure degrees are about the job at the end- study your passion, enjoy that step to adulthood and the rest will come together.

My masters and doctorate are not in languages but it opened up the world to me.

we really really don’t have spare thousands to fund flights, visas etc and will have DS in Uni as well by then! So a languages degree is just not credible

There is a danger of hyperbole regarding extra costs. As PPs have said, the long stay VLS-TS visa is under £100 and allows 964 hours work a year. So part-time working or au-pair is fine. Sites like this one for studying in France provide necessary information.
https://www.campusfrance.org/en/student-long-stay-visa

Rental may often be cheaper than in UK. Presumably she would save for the flights or Eurostar from any holiday work.
In addition to MFL degrees, there are many other degrees that allow the option of extra language classes and then study abroad.

I suppose it comes to thousands if you include the parental support contribution expected for the year. That would be the case for any degree, but the year abroad does mean a minimum four rather than three years in total.

Or have other parents expected their students to live off earnings in that year?

Lots of year abroad students will go to exchange universities. So won’t work for money at all. The unis will give money to some students.

Far too many people think mfl is vocational. It really is not. Also you can take a third MFL at Oxbridge but not as part of the degree. Their degrees are two
mfls because of the depth studied. Two is always better than three and good universities don’t like people doing 3 MFLs if they only have 1 Mfl A level. These are academic degrees, not language schools.

It’s also important, as others have said, for MFL students to realise the variety of careers they can have. They can do law if they want via conversion. However merely speaking a mfl without depth of study won’t make such a Conversion easy. The best opportunities are there for MFL grads with a greater depth of academic study.

but the year abroad does mean a minimum four rather than three years in total
Yes but arguably that 4th year will do as much for employment prospects (through gain of maturity, resilience, adaptability etc) as a 4th year of an integrated STEM Masters or an even more costly stand alone Masters. IME the study component abroad will be less onerous than at the home university so part-time employment is feasible to mitigate living costs from a 4th year.

Have asked my friend working for the study abroad team at uni, booster and he’s confirmed that they can do British Council in Spain and France on a student visa and that the student visa lets them work 20 hours a week, but no more.

MFL students accept a 3rd year abroad is necessary. So a 4 year degree.

Home universities require different things of the year abroad . Some do require marked work set by them. Others don’t. What it can do is allow a student to branch out regarding what they study at the uni abroad . This adds to cv and makes them a very rounded student. Travel is also possible. DD didn’t know anyone who went to a uni abroad and worked, but times have changed. They did modules in the university abroad and of course these have to be worked on. Sometimes exams must be taken, sometimes not.

There’s also the issue of getting a job if there is local unemployment. Not always easy. Lots of things to consider.

MFL students accept a 3rd year abroad is necessary. So a 4 year degree.

Interestingly, when I was at university (a long time ago admittedly), Oxbridge MFL degrees did not include a year abroad. Not sure how it is now

It’s one of the few degrees that does mandate a year abroad, at Oxford anyway. In any case OP’s daughter’s grades, whilst good, aren’t Oxbridge level.

@OMGitsnotgood Anywhere worth going has 3rd year abroad. Oxbridge definitely, but nearly everywhere else too. Although some unis have limited choice. Others a wide one. It’s exciting for MFL students to do this. It’s a great scheme Brexit has made this year far more challenging than it should be.

In the past, no undergrad degree was 4 years, now lots are, especially science ones. Times change. The year abroad adds so many skills that are useful for work. Many MFL students say it’s the best part of the degree!

She’s predicted two A stars and an A. Those are Oxbridge level for languages, should she want to give it a go.

@PresentingPercy I wasn't doubting they do now, as i have no current. knowledge. i know for sure that when i did. my degree (early 80s), I worked worked with a group of Oxbridge MFL grads on a project (can't remember if Oxford or Cambridge), and a year abroad definitely wasn't an option for them. We had long discussions about it. At that time, almost all language degrees had a year abroad, mainly compulsory, some optional.

Maths is no more vocational than languages. This STEM narrative is false. Vocational is Nursing or Medicine. Let her choose.

Agree Maths isn’t vocational but it is highly employable. MIT did a survey a couple of years ago and their UG mathematician respondents had the highest average starting salaries, $120K, besting even the computer scientists.

However I agree one can do a lot with MFL and the most important thing is for the DD to be in charge of her own life.

Is a B a "bad result" now? when the girl is ultimately predicted an A anyway.