Law and French at UCC?

yoyojc · 29-03-2014 1:52pm #1

I'm really interested in this course but would love if a student can offer me his/her opinion, are there many jobs available after the course. I'm worried about the career prospects? Thanks!

Manach · 30-03-2014 11:53am

My understanding is that those who took this option would be aiming for a career in the EU. French is the unofficial language of the ECJ so having a degree of fluency in this would be highly advantageous in de-ciphering the court's judgements. Your best bet would be to contact the dept. directly about career prospects.

CR94 · 14-05-2014 10:54am

Hi, I'm a 2nd year Law and French student.

Basically, all the jobs which are available to regular law graduates are also available to you (eg you could go to Blackhall or Kings Inns to become a solicitor or barrister, as well as jobs in the civil service etc). On top of that, you would have fluent French which would make you more attractive for employers, whether in France or in Brussels or in an multi-national company.

There are a lot of job opportunities: law is a very broad degree anyway and opens up lots of opportunities, and on top of that the ability to speak French opens up even more.

While it would suggest a career in the EU in the future, there are far more potential jobs than that. I've spoken to a few people who work in the EU and the second I mentioned which course I was doing, they were really impressed and gave me contact details etc for when I finish university, even though I'm only a 2nd year and I'm a fairly ordinary student.

It's a fairly tough degree but I would definitely recommend it.

Feel free to PM me if you need more information or have any other questions!

corkgirl111 · 20-05-2014 1:17pm

I graduated from Law and French at UCC a few years ago and if I was to choose a course again, I would be tempted to choose just the straight law course.

I believed that having a language as well as law would give me an edge over straight Law students.

However I really believe that it has not had any influence.

I did a Masters Degree in Law following my undergraduate degree which was full of students from straight Law. I struggled to get a traineeship (they are difficult to get these days) but luckily I got offered one. I do not believe having the French was any advantage to me in securing this.

I found that in Law and French there are two groups of people. There are those who are excellent at French (1.1 standard) and it improves their grade overall. Then there are those who prefer Law than the French and sometimes (in my case) the law subjects suffer slightly due to the French as it is quite time consuming and it can also bring down your overall grade if you are better at Law than French. It is the marks you get in your Law subjects which will be looked at in the future (if you intend to be a solicitor) as well as your overall grade so you do not want these to fall!

That being said, if you intend to work in EU etc it will be of great benefit to you and if you consider yourself to having a natural efficiency at the language it can improve your grade!

Also you get to go on eramus to France which possibly can be the best year of your life! (and future employers like that you have done erasmus!)

If you do decide to do the course, do it because you love french and you really want to learn more about it and french culture (there are modules on various aspects of french culture/philosophy on the course). Do not do it merely because you think it might give you an advantage because it wont, and it might in fact have a negative impact if that is your attitude.

Also, on erasmus, make sure you speak french not english! There is a huge jump in difficulty in final year and too many people speak english while on erasmus and then struggle.

Hope this is of some help.

ruby545 · 25-08-2022 10:38pm

Sorry for bumping a dead thread I’m just wondering how difficult is the french in comparison to leaving cert… I’m hoping to do this course but I’m afraid I won’t be able for the level required I’m a H2 french student and really do actually enjoy learning the language so maybe that will help ? But I’d just like to know how people found the level of french and any tips for learning it at uni level

elsbells123 · 04-10-2023 6:21pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119522980#Comment_119522980

hi im a lc 2024 student and im wondering if you went for this course bc i was thinking of doing it and same as you, im h2/h1 french and have an interest but worried ill fall behind. please reply if you can <3

Law and French at UCC?

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