Computer Science, Linguistics and French

tolosenc

Right, I've done my reading around here and have read all the negative comments about the French department. BUT, I still feel I want to go for it. My one main gripe is the idea of studying th'oul literature. Never appealed to me at all. I was just wondering how much focus, if any, is put on French literature in CSLF. I have till 5.15 pm on July 1st to make up my mind, so any comments about the course in general would also be much appreciated.

johnl

Hey man,
I've just finished 3rd year CSLF.
There is no literature whatsoever. None.
I would recommend you do the course, but it is a bit of a strange one. I'm very glad I did it though. The French department are a pain, but they're not that important in the grand scheme of things.
Any questions at all, just ask away.

John

tolosenc

Thanks, really put my mind at rest. I had a French au pair when I was 4/5 for 18 months, so my French is near fluent, just lit would have been a major pain in the ass. Where did you go for 3rd year?

johnl

Ah, that's good. To be honest, the French course is annoying more than anything else, so if you have something that will get you through it easily, you might enjoy what little fun there is to be had from it!
I went to Grenoble, got back on the 1st of June. It was amazing. Just wish I could do it again next year!
You know that class sizes are very small in CSLL recently?
I was one of four. One dropped out after second year, and two repeated second year. I was joined by one person who was repeating second year, in third year. So there'll be two in my final year.
I think it's one of the best and most interesting courses in college, and also one of the more difficult ones.
Have you much computing experience?

tolosenc

I do, yeah. But with the LC and the like I haven't been up to much this year! Got my ECDL back in TY, but was in web-design and JavaScript courses when I was ten-ish. It's something I have huge interest in, so that should cancel out my lack of practice.

johnl

Okay, you may have to put a fair bit of work into that side of things. I presume you have no background in linguistics, but they start with the basics.
I look forward to seeing you around college next year!
CSLL's all one big happy family
If you have any more questions, I've subscribed to this thread, so I'll get notified.
Hope this helps you in your decision!
(DOOO CSLLLLLL!)

tolosenc

OK, I'll be doing CSLF next year (results providing!), what sort of hours will that entail?

johnl

You're probably talking somewhere between 22 and 24 hours per week. It varies a bit from year to year, and from term to term.

This "handbook" for the course gives a lot of useful info. I wish I'd known about it before I started!
https://www.cs.tcd.ie/courses/csll/handbook/hmain0607.pdf

You're not into Irish by any chance, are you?

tolosenc

Ah, that's not too bad at all.

The Irish thing: Yes, very much so. I'm a fluent speaker.

EDIT: Why?

johnl

Why do you want to do it with French rather than Irish, just out of interest?
If I was picking my course again, I might have done it with Irish instead.
The only problem is, you don't get to go to France if you do it with Irish!
I've recently got very interested in Irish again, after a lull of a few years.
I guess my new job has something to do with it

tolosenc

As much as it pains me to say it, Irish has no real value to me in later life, whereas a degree in French opens up a wealth of opportunities. That and a year 'en Provence vs. a year in Scotland. No real contest tbh.

Will I be seein ya in the Cumann come October so?

johnl

The year in Scotland doesn't often (read: ever) happen any more.
You could well see me at the Cumann, not that I've ever been there before!
I've even considered going to the Club, shock!

Ron DMC

I agree with johnl. CSLI is far better. Who needs a year in France anyway?

Not that I'm biased or anything.

nodmeister

Hey john I didn't repeat I was "off-books" very different I tell ya! Yeah I think I'd probably have done CSLI too if I'd realised what a pain the French dept were going to be (that's why I'm not all graduated) but the year in Grenoble was amazing so it's a tough decision to make!

ZWEI_VIER_ZWEI

johnl posting on boards shocker!

tolosenc

I got 525, and met Maths and French matric. Monday will tell for sure, but I reckon I'm in.

Ron DMC

You absolutely are. It's not exactly a points requirement thing when it comes to CSLL. As long as you have the requirements you're in. Not enough people ever apply to fight it out for places. Theoretically the course could probably hold up to thirty people, yet in recent years, it's always been less than ten.

Crash

Has it ever gone AQA during CAO rounds?

johnl

Basically, if you get the Maths and French requirement, you're in.
Congratulations, dude!
Dunno if it ever actually went AQA, but it effectively is.

Ron DMC

Trinity wouldn't want to embarass themselves by writing AQA, so they just write down the points of whoever gets in.

Crash

PCAM goes AQA a lot of years.

tolosenc

Well, I'm in. 100 points to spare and all. Cheers for all of your feedback/advice and I'll be seeing "vous" on campus come October.

Megatron_X

Sorry for bumping an old thread, but this is the only info on CSLI I can find besides on their website.

Why doesn't the trip to Scotland happen anymore? I might've missed it saying it mightn't happen but it talks about it a good bit in the handbook

nodmeister

Hi MegatronX,

I'm not 100% why it didn't continue - I imagine the handbook is out of date - but it has pretty much stopped now for Irish. I think it had something to do with the agreement between the 2 universities, perhaps Johnl or Ron_DMC could give some more background on it. You could also contact the course director Carl, email address listed on the website - http://www.scss.tcd.ie/undergraduate/bacsll/bacsll_web/CSLLcourse/index.php.

Hope it helps!