Spanish and Italian (TSM)

chanelholland

By choosing Spanish & Italian (TSM) ,the minimum time required to spend in Spain is 2 months. It's the same for Italian. This may be a silly question but would it be required to spend 2 months in both countries or just the country of the language you wish to major in?
I'd really appreciate if anyone could answer my question, thanks!

languagenerd

Hey,

I'm 3rd year TSM Spanish and French, so I can tell you:
It's both. You don't have to do it all in one go, though - you can do two weeks here, two weeks there... once it all finally adds up to 8 weeks in both.
It has to be finished by the time you sit your final exams in that subject -so, as I'm minoring in French, I have to have the 8 weeks in France/Belgium/Switzerland/Canada done by May of this year, but I have another year to finish my 8 weeks in Spain/South America.
You have to provide proof (such as boarding cards, receipts etc.), but some departments are stricter than others.

chanelholland

Thanks so much for the reply! What's studying Spanish like? I'm hoping to study Spanish at Trinity next year and any information would be a great help

languagenerd

Well I chose it as my major, so obv I like it!

I was a non-beginner in first year, so that made it a little easier (though now I don't even remember who was a beginner and who wasn't).
First year, you do 5 language classes a week (2 grammar/translation, 1 reading, 1 oral, 1 aural - more if you're a beginner), plus 1 Literature (the plays/novels were my favourites, and they're all available in translation if you need em) and 1 Modern Spain (culture, regions & languages, politics, gender, recent history, sport). I think the subjects they do in Spanish are pretty good, they have a lot of modern stuff on there (incl films in 2nd year) and they cover all genres of literature from Spain and Latin America.

The staff in the dept are really helpful and fairly laid back too, we get on well with all of the lecturers. The classes are quite small (biggest lecture - ~50 people, smallest tutorial - ~10 people) so you can ask any questions you want etc.

Oh, and Trinity has some good language facilities - the CLCS (Centre for Language and Communication Studies) have computer rooms just for language students, TVs connected to foreign stations, DVDs for loan, and they also do General Linguistics courses that you can swap a Spanish module for in 2nd year if you want.

Obviously it has to have some negative points (what doesn't?) - annoying things like having two essays due the same day, or being timetabled into rooms that are far too small, or having a bit too much to read in 3rd year - but any course will have that.

Not sure what else I can say, overall my experience has been positive anyway!

chanelholland

Thanks a million, that helps a lot! I'm really liking the idea of it! I'm doing Spanish for the Leaving Cert and loving it so I can't wait to study it again next year!

laoiserick

Hi Languagenerd ... I've heard a few stories about the French department in Trinity? Apparently it's not great? Is this true?

languagenerd

laoiserick wrote: »

Hi Languagenerd ... I've heard a few stories about the French department in Trinity? Apparently it's not great? Is this true?

Hey,

Hmmm. The French department are less laid-back than Spanish anyway (don't know about the other languages) and they definitely mark hard (it's less daunting when you realise that they're essentially marking you out of 70 though!). They're kind of old-fashioned, I guess. They focus on particular traditional language exercises in the later years, like résumés (2nd year) and dissertations (3rd year) that no other languages have, and there are often questions about art or philosophy in the essay titles (drives me mental, but there's usually a more modern question too).

That said, they teach to a very high standard and they cover all bases in the first two years - you do literature, incl modern stuff and films, culture, history and you have the choice between several modules from 2nd year on (linguistics, politics, literature etc.). They're also very organised, and all the info you need is available online from the start of the year, which is really helpful.

I think they're seen as being a bit strict or pedantic, but at the same time, there are still 70 students in my TSM class in 3rd year, so they can't be that bad!

If you really love French, I wouldn't let that put you off, tbh.

laoiserick

languagenerd wrote: »

Hey,

Hmmm. The French department are less laid-back than Spanish anyway (don't know about the other languages) and they definitely mark hard (it's less daunting when you realise that they're essentially marking you out of 70 though!). They're kind of old-fashioned, I guess. They focus on particular traditional language exercises in the later years, like résumés (2nd year) and dissertations (3rd year) that no other languages have, and there are often questions about art or philosophy in the essay titles (drives me mental, but there's usually a more modern question too).

That said, they teach to a very high standard and they cover all bases in the first two years - you do literature, incl modern stuff and films, culture, history and you have the choice between several modules from 2nd year on (linguistics, politics, literature etc.). They're also very organised, and all the info you need is available online from the start of the year, which is really helpful.

I think they're seen as being a bit strict or pedantic, but at the same time, there are still 70 students in my TSM class in 3rd year, so they can't be that bad!

If you really love French, I wouldn't let that put you off, tbh.

Thanks million for that insight! That doesn't sound too bad at all... now all I need are the points!

languagenerd

No problem, good luck