I'm going into second year studying French & Politics at Nottingham, so can give my experiance based on first year but wont be able to say much about the year abroad im afraid (though im looking forward to it!).
My experiance in the French department so far has been a good one. Its fair ... Read review
Advantages: Seems well organized and pretty supportive. Disadvantages: Lack of contact hours and spoken French.
...going into second year studying French & Politics at Nottingham, so can give my experiance based on first year but wont be able to say much about the year abroad im afraid (though im looking forward to it!).
My experiance in the French department so far has been a good one. Its fair to say I've found the year fairly hard - after A-levels the amount of independant learning necessary is a bit of a shock.
As a joint honours ... ...straight french people, so you're expected to be just as good at french even though you're doing 3 less modules to practice it in.
In terms of the language there is one grammer lecture each week, a language workshop every week and an oral class every week. The grammar lecture is taught in English, as is the workshop for the most part. The only serious amount of practice you'll get speaking French is the oral class once a week. This ... more
I'm going into second year studying French & Politics at Nottingham, so can give my experiance based on first year but wont be able to say much about the year abroad im afraid (though im looking forward to it!).
My experiance in the French department so far has been a good one. Its fair to say I've found the year fairly hard - after A-levels the amount of independant learning necessary is a bit of a shock.
As a joint honours student you still take the same language module as the straight french people, so you're expected to be just as good at french even though you're doing 3 less modules to practice it in.
In terms of the language there is one grammer lecture each week, a language workshop every week and an oral class every week. The grammar lecture is taught in English, as is the workshop for the most part. The only serious amount of practice you'll get speaking French is the oral class once a week. This is the biggest negative I can think of. However i seriously doubt this varies much from other Universities, you're simply supposed to do a lot of your own work (they do provide you with access to a language learning centre etc).
The other French modules offered are pretty good, theres a fairly wide range though it seems impossible to avoid doing literature in the second year, but thats just down to personal taste.
The department itself seems fairly well organized. Its based in the Trent building which is really nice and overlooks the lake. Its quite picturesque with the central courtyard - it wouldnt look out of place in Oxford or Cambridge. The building also has a popular cafe which does the best baguettes you'll ever likely have :)
If you're going to do French at Nottingham i'd advise you choose modules which are taught in French or involve writing in French to give yourself as much practice as possible. You could end up studying just the language lecture and then French history/politics etc all in English = not being given enough exposition to the language.
Above all though its been a pleasant experiance and i'm looking forward to second year (although its been impossible to avoid literature theres a good bunch of other modules as well!)
Advantages: Flexible study Disadvantages: You need a lot of self-discipline.
(I have now revised this to include information on course fees.)
The range of Open University French courses goes from beginner to advanced and can lead to a formal qualification, such as a certificate or diploma. It is not possible to gain a Bachelor's Degree in French as the number of courses is insufficient, but you could combine French with Spanish, German, or a number of other courses in the field of arts/humanites. For a thirty-point course you will need to set aside about seven or eight hours a week for studying, and twice that for a sixty-point course. Most courses start in February, terminating with an examination the following October. The beginners' course commences in November and finishes in October the following year. You can study from the Republic of Ireland and continental Europe, but fees will be considerably higher ...
denella 28.09.2006 (29.09.2006)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of French
Advantages: Learn French quickly and easily Disadvantages: Expensive at £60
I will be going on holiday to France next year, but knowing next to no French, I went into a bookshop to pick up a tape. I came across the introduction to the Michel Thomas course at a reduced price, and purchased it. It's the best education purchase I've ever made! The tape uses a classroom style environment with two actors acting as your classmates, but without the constant fear of looking foolish. After all, a CD isn't going to laugh at you.
Without trying to remember what you work on, you build up a vocabulary of about 3000 words in about 10 hours of lesson time. When you consider that some newspapers use only 600 words on average per issue, that's not such a small vocabulary.
The result is that you suddenly find yourself speaking French with no homework, no writing, not even to much thought or effort. Anyone can learn French ...
Advantages: Learn to think French Disadvantages: None. It is not expensive. Some people spend more on crisps.an borrow it from a Library
I am NOT a graduate in languages. However, after learning French with Michel Thomas, I now suspect that all of us are talented (but frustrated) linguists. We just need our touch paper lit by someone as brilliant as Michel.
Before coming across Mr Thomas in a bookshop, I had three wasted years of school french to my credit.
Astonishingly, after using the tapes in his trademark "No Homework, Not even Mental Homework" method, I now discover that I have an aptitude for language learning.
Indeed, it seems we all have the innate ability to learn language. But it took Michel to convince me of the fact.
Simply, you learn the essential core of the language -Verbs and all the fine rules of grammar that you trip up on otherwise. Michel does not rehash your school french, nor does he give you useless phrases to learn parrot fashion ...
