Register  Login  Active Topics  Maps  

Why don’t you study languages at uni?

 Language Learning Forum : General discussion Post Reply
48 messages over 6 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6  Next >>
prz_
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Poland
last.fm/user/prz_rul
Joined 4857 days ago

890 posts - 1190 votes 
Speaks: Polish*, English, Bulgarian, Croatian
Studies: Slovenian, Macedonian, Persian, Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Dutch, Swedish, German, Italian, Armenian, Kurdish

 
 Message 1 of 48
15 June 2013 at 10:02pm | IP Logged 
I've seen that here we have quite many die-hard language fans, who, however, haven't studied languages at university. What's the reason that you haven't chosen this path of learning languages?
As for myself and my experience I can say that learning languages at uni have some disadvantages. Firstly, usually somewhere around the second or the third year of studies you start to feel that it becomes more a must rather than a will. Burn-out absolutely certain. And secondly, if you're not a genius type (or someone who's extremely systematic and doesn't lose any minute for non-language stuff), you learn to pass the exams, not to use the language in a way you'd like to (reading the books, watching the movies, listening to the music etc. etc.).

Edited by prz_ on 15 June 2013 at 10:03pm

1 person has voted this message useful



tarvos
Super Polyglot
Winner TAC 2012
Senior Member
China
likeapolyglot.wordpr
Joined 4705 days ago

5310 posts - 9399 votes 
Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans
Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish

 
 Message 2 of 48
15 June 2013 at 10:12pm | IP Logged 
Because by the time I did I'd already got a BSc in chemical engineering and had started
my MSc.
4 persons have voted this message useful



Josquin
Heptaglot
Senior Member
Germany
Joined 4842 days ago

2266 posts - 3992 votes 
Speaks: German*, English, French, Latin, Italian, Russian, Swedish
Studies: Japanese, Irish, Portuguese, Persian

 
 Message 3 of 48
15 June 2013 at 10:52pm | IP Logged 
Long story short: Languages are fun, but music is my true passion.
I could probably survive without Japanese (although it would be hard), but I could definitely not live without Mozart.
2 persons have voted this message useful



Swift
Senior Member
Ireland
Joined 4606 days ago

137 posts - 191 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: French, Russian

 
 Message 4 of 48
15 June 2013 at 10:54pm | IP Logged 
I'm going to university next year, and what you said hit the nail right on the head. I
want to learn languages, not just learn how to pass a certain exam, which probably
isn't even of a very high level.

Plus, my experiences with languages in secondary school don't exactly leave me
optimistic about how things will be at a higher level.

While I think I could still get some benefit out of learning languages in uni, I think
that I can get that much, and more, by learning by myself.

Oh, and also, I don't really want to be a translator or a language teacher. So I don't
see the point of a university degree in a language/ several languages.

Of course, language learning is different for everyone. Some might do better in a
university environment, and who's to say there aren't some good degree programs out
there that really get you speaking a language!
2 persons have voted this message useful



Bao
Diglot
Senior Member
Germany
tinyurl.com/pe4kqe5
Joined 5764 days ago

2256 posts - 4046 votes 
Speaks: German*, English
Studies: French, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin

 
 Message 5 of 48
15 June 2013 at 11:04pm | IP Logged 
Sadly, I'm not the kind of person to can market their own language skills well, and I'm not commited enough for linguistics.
1 person has voted this message useful



Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6595 days ago

9753 posts - 15779 votes 
4 sounds
Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish

 
 Message 6 of 48
15 June 2013 at 11:06pm | IP Logged 
I'm studying languages (and linguistics) at uni but I really don't like it. That's my second uni already because the previous one was too prestigious and really cared about attending classes... while I wanted to learn Finnish and Portuguese and couldn't care less about the English political vocabulary.

But applied linguistics (which in Russia doesn't include language teaching!!!) is probably the best possible field for me. Here it's basically a combination of languages, computers and mathematics, ideal for me :) And I can pick any language I want for my term papers etc.

I think I'll only be able to enjoy German fully when I'm done learning it at uni.

Also, the only language I thank my uni education for is Latin.
1 person has voted this message useful



g-bod
Diglot
Senior Member
United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5980 days ago

1485 posts - 2002 votes 
Speaks: English*, Japanese
Studies: French, German

 
 Message 7 of 48
15 June 2013 at 11:11pm | IP Logged 
My bachelors was in a hobby subject (music) and I really regret it now. There is a huge
difference between doing something just for fun and studying a subject academically.
Furthermore I discovered too late that my music degree was pretty useless for any career
apart from teaching music, which is something I didn't want to do.

Compared to a lot of university subjects, it's relatively cheap and easy to enter yourself
for other exams to prove your competence in languages. It only makes sense to me to take a
language degree if you are intent on becoming an academic or teacher of languages.
1 person has voted this message useful



mausi15
Newbie
United Kingdom
Joined 4895 days ago

24 posts - 43 votes
Speaks: English*
Studies: German, Spanish, French

 
 Message 8 of 48
15 June 2013 at 11:16pm | IP Logged 
I'm still in secondary school myself, but perhaps it's because some people don't wish to study a language academically. That is to say, having to study works of literature and compose essays on it, and would rather learn it more practically. That's only one reason amongst many, however.


1 person has voted this message useful



This discussion contains 48 messages over 6 pages: 2 3 4 5 6  Next >>


Post ReplyPost New Topic Printable version Printable version

You cannot post new topics in this forum - You cannot reply to topics in this forum - You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum - You cannot create polls in this forum - You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page was generated in 0.6719 seconds.


DHTML Menu By Milonic JavaScript
Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved
No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization.