French and English UCD (first year)

colin119

Hi,
i'm new on boards... just wondering what French is like at UCD, i'm doing the Leaving in June..i'm usually a C student in French, but haven't been working flat out or anything!i'm interested in the language and culture and the grammar and stuff...i'm just worried about communication and understanding the French, the spoken etc.. does anyone else have/had these worries? i can't afford to go to France till at least next summer either:S
see i need something to go with English and its French or Geography, but i think its a bit boring, especially the physical!
thanks for any help )

Fluorescence

Well you have to do minimum of 3 subjects in 1st year.

I did French English and Music in first year, dropping french going into second year. In each subject I did 4 classes (2 in semester 1 and 2 in semester 2 - total 12 for the year).

French: I was an A/B student all through school, came out with a B1 in HL french. French was tough. Seriously tough. There was 2 language classes (1 before christmas and 1 after) which were mostly focused on grammar. The other 2 classes were literature based and much easier. In semester 1 we read short stories and poems, and wrote about them in english. In semester 2 we read short novels, again writing essays in english.

English: I got an A2 in HL English in the leaving, but I found English in college to be incredibly hard. It moves really fast, and if you don't really keep on top of your work it's easy to fall hard and fast. You cover a LOT of material each week. Again, there's 4 classes: the 2 core classes (1 before christmas, 1 after) are group work orientated. You have to do projects and present them to the class, as well as keep a learning journal. The semester 1 class is entirely Chaucer and Shakespeare (aka medieval english) and is a real pain in the hole to wade through. The one in semester 2 is easier, being based on literature from the 1700s onwards (a.k.a. readable english). The other 2 classes are Kids lit (a doddle - the essay alone is worth 70% of the class! Easy) and another one taht's eluding me right now.... More like what you'd expect - you read a different novel/set of poetry each week and analyse it. Make no mistake though, it is still a lot of material to cover.


Hope this helps.

colin119

Hey thanks yeah everything helps at the moment, im so unsure!!
so you don't write any essays in french at allin first year??!
also was there an oral exam at the end of the year? like you had language labs and stuff?
sorry for all the questions lol!!!I just don't want to make bad moves tbh...
also what were other peoples levels of french in the class, were they all really high or what? thanks again this is really helpful!!

Fluorescence

Yeah, you write essays on the french literature but the essays are through english (this is all the way through the degree AFAIK). You have to do an oral at the end of the language class in the summer but not for christmas.


French levels were mixed, but there wouldn't have been anyone who did OL french or who got below a C in HL. French is hard. The lectures are through french (the tutorials are and aren't, depending on what kind of tutor you get landed with).

El Siglo

colin119 wrote: »

Hi,
i'm new on boards... just wondering what French is like at UCD, i'm doing the Leaving in June..i'm usually a C student in French, but haven't been working flat out or anything!i'm interested in the language and culture and the grammar and stuff...i'm just worried about communication and understanding the French, the spoken etc.. does anyone else have/had these worries? i can't afford to go to France till at least next summer either:S
see i need something to go with English and its French or Geography, but i think its a bit boring, especially the physical!
thanks for any help )

Geography, especially Physical Geography is far from boring. Furthermore, given the way Geography is taught in UCD you wouldn't have to do much Physical anyway, there's only one Physical module in 1st year. After that you can more or less avoid Physical altogether.

kev9100

colin119 wrote: »

Hey thanks yeah everything helps at the moment, im so unsure!!
so you don't write any essays in french at allin first year??!
also was there an oral exam at the end of the year? like you had language labs and stuff?
sorry for all the questions lol!!!I just don't want to make bad moves tbh...
also what were other peoples levels of french in the class, were they all really high or what? thanks again this is really helpful!!

French is also my major and although the french course is very good, it is also one of the toughest courses. The grammer is definitely a big step up and if you don't keep with it builds up very quickly. However, unless you get stuck with one particular tutor who is a bit miserable by all accounts, the literature side of the course is a lot of fun and very interesting. All in all, its a good subject to do.:)

colin119

Thanks everyone for your opinions
i think i'd be interested in the literature anyway so once i work at it i suppose!!
did anyone have problems understanding lectures then? thats what i'm really afraid of tbh its the only thing setting me back because i'm interested in the grammar and culture and literature once i work at it!!

HavingCrack

El Siglo wrote: »

Geography, especially Physical Geography is far from boring. Furthermore, given the way Geography is taught in UCD you wouldn't have to do much Physical anyway, there's only one Physical module in 1st year. After that you can more or less avoid Physical altogether.

Still find it bizarre that you can get through UCD and do absolutely no physical geography at all.

Reegis

I did English, History and French in 1st year, dropped History and was miserable doing French for the remaining BA. Here's what I can tell you: If you are a C standard student at the moment, you will have to work at the language alot before you even consider doing it. It's grand in 1st year, but come the conversation and grammar classes and oral exams in 2nd and 3rd, it gets very very tough, and unless you're extremely into it, not enjoyable at all. This coming from a former A-standard Leaving Cert French student. It's not something you pick for an easy option or easy grades. On the other side, the French literature modules are excellent if you've an interest in that area, and the department was always nice and approachable, especially Mary Gallagher. Think long and hard before you dedicate three years to French, it's certainly doable in first year, but believe me it doesn't stay easy.

colin119 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your opinions
i think i'd be interested in the literature anyway so once i work at it i suppose!!
did anyone have problems understanding lectures then? thats what i'm really afraid of tbh its the only thing setting me back because i'm interested in the grammar and culture and literature once i work at it!!

I wouldn't really worry about this aspect. They mix the lectures/tutorials up with English quite alot. Main thing is to get your own grasp on the language to a capable level before second year, mainly in oral terms. Nothing worse than being in a conversation class with fluent French speakers having no idea what's being said. One more thing: I'd highly recomend you do the Erasmus, the gap in 3rd yeard between those who went away and those that didn't was massive. Best of luck. I hope I haven't put you off. If you are enthusiastic and work well, it's an extremely rewarding course, and you should have no problem with the grammar/oral aspects. And as I said, the French Lit. modules are really great. Otherwise don't even go there. You can get away with phoning it in in English, and get decent enough grades and enjoy your time, but not with French.

El Siglo

HavingCrack wrote: »

Still find it bizarre that you can get through UCD and do absolutely no physical geography at all.

You can, but it's generally fairly poor. There's no practical element at all, which is a shame because the bread and butter of physical geography is getting your hands dirty. Nobody even does sediment sizes with sieving trays, site levelling or any kind of fieldwork. To say the least, physical geography is UCD is fucking atrociously bad, primarily because it requires lab facilities and small class numbers, two things they don't have. However, given that it's all theoretical, you just learn off a few topics or do an essay and you're guaranteed a 2.1.