European studies students: time spent on languages?

Akari

Hello everyone!
I've got my offer for European studies, and I've read most of the European studies threads, but I still have a few questions on the course- some answers would be greatly appreciated.

How many hours of classes do you have each week? In the prospectus, it says (approx.) 22 hours, but I have seen many people on Coursehub saying that they only have 11-15 hours of classes. I suppose it depends on the student... I'm one of those people who needs to be busy- I would rather have lots of classes a week!
How would you say the time is divided up between the different sections of this course- what I'm most interested in is how many hours is spent on each language each week? Is there enough time spent on the languages to allow you to get your teeth into them properly? I mean, would you reach approximately the same standard in your languages as would someone who was doing 'pure' languages in TSM, for example?

I am thinking of taking French and Russian. I did French for Leaving Cert, and Russian would be my beginner language. It's a little early for this, but how common would it be for people to chose their 'beginner language' as their major?

Thank you all in advance for any input, and please feel free to comment on any other aspects of the course- it's all helpful!

Ravelleman

Akari wrote: »

Hello everyone!
I've got my offer for European studies, and I've read most of the European studies threads, but I still have a few questions on the course- some answers would be greatly appreciated.

Well done for getting into the course. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I graduated from it a number of years ago and have significant connections with the department now.

Akari wrote: »

How many hours of classes do you have each week? In the prospectus, it says (approx.) 22 hours, but I have seen many people on Coursehub saying that they only have 11-15 hours of classes. I suppose it depends on the student... I'm one of those people who needs to be busy- I would rather have lots of classes a week!

It says approximately 22 hours per week because it depends on what language options you pick. Someone doing French and German, neither of which can be taken as a beginner, will have less hours than someone who takes up a new one. You'll find that hours are divided evenly between language and non-language elements. The course in 'History of Ideas' used to begin a couple of months after the first term begins, which also reduces hours in the first instance.

Your timetable will be out soon enough but to give you a rough idea you should expect to have on average 3 hours of 'Early Mod' (2 lectures and 1 tutorial), 1.5-2.5 hours of 'Social Sciences' (1 or 2 lectures and a tutorial every two weeks), 3 hours of 'History of Ideas' (2 lectures and a tutorial), 4-5 hours of French (2 hours of texts, 1 of oral, 1-2 of grammar lectures) and the rest in the beginner language (typically you would have more than in French).

Akari wrote: »

How would you say the time is divided up between the different sections of this course- what I'm most interested in is how many hours is spent on each language each week? Is there enough time spent on the languages to allow you to get your teeth into them properly? I mean, would you reach approximately the same standard in your languages as would someone who was doing 'pure' languages in TSM, for example?

You'll have a lot of time to work on languages. You won't do much/any literature but you will read other types of texts so you'll end up with a different set of skills. There are a number of factors that make direct comparison with TSM difficult. In general though, in language classes that mix beginners and non-beginners, the beginners often tend to be disproportionately represented at the top of the class. The lecturers I've spoken to about it put it down to more structured learning strategies, more motivation due to difficult exams and some individual characteristics.

This will also be controversial but European Studies is the School's flagship course and historically attracted very high quality applicants. There is a general perception that more can be asked of European Studies students. Make whatever of that you will but it's based on a lot of comments over the years. TSM attracts great people as well though so that is by no means meant to be a declaration of absolute superiority. Some of it also comes down to the way credits are weighted between the two courses - ES people can play to their strengths perhaps more so than TSM people. Again, I should state that TSM has some really great people in it, many of whom will do better than ES students. That's across the board, not just in languages.

Akari wrote: »

I am thinking of taking French and Russian. I did French for Leaving Cert, and Russian would be my beginner language. It's a little early for this, but how common would it be for people to chose their 'beginner language' as their major?

A lot of people, including myself chose their beginner language as a major. It doesn't really make much of a difference, to be honest. You probably have a reasonable level of French at the moment but most people would find themselves drawing to a similar level in the new language after their freshman years.

Akari

^ Wow, thank you very much for all that, Ravelleman. It's very helpful.