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Course review
Review by: Bert Y
University: Oxford University
Course: French and Linguistics
Year of study: 4th
Level of Study: Undergraduate
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The course in general
How many contact hours do you have in the average week?
6
Ideally, what 3/4 subjects would you recommend doing in order to be in the best position for your course?
French is obviously compulsory. English would be very useful due to the amount of essays we write analysing texts and poetry. It would also be useful to do another language (especially beneficial for Linguistics).
Why did you decide to study your degree programme?
I wanted to study French at a University that balanced Language and Literature equally, and where there was a very broad choice of topics and authors to choose between.
I was very interested in continuing French, and I had read about Linguistics and found it a very interesting subject, so I wanted to study them both together.
Explain the things you wish you'd known about your degree before you applied:
How vital it is to read the majority of the texts over the holidays, otherwise term-time can be particularly hectic.
Describing your average day
Explain how your day is made up. For example, do you have labs/seminars/tutorials/lectures?
There are lectures in the morning, which essentially tell you what to read and cover an outline of the topics for each author/novel you are reading. We write essays to be read and discussed in tutorials, which are usually one or two students to one teacher. There are also classes and seminars for translation, grammar, and essays in French.
How much extra work/reading are you required to do out of lectures?
I do one or two translations per week, two or three essays in English (approx 2000 words), an essay in French, and grammar exercises. There is a lot of reading to be done out of lectures depending on the essay set as they are based on literature so we have to read the set text and critical works on said text.
The best and worst parts of the course
What do you like best about your degree programme?
The freedom to study exactly which authors/time periods I want, and the equal balance between language and literature.
What do you like least about your degree programme?
The fact that we do very little spoken French until the year abroad.
Academics and course content
What do you think of your university's academics and facilities?
The libraries are absolutely fantastic with a huge range and several copies of most of the books. The linguistics laboratory also has all the equipment required for the course.
Explain how you expected your course to be and how it compares to how it actually is. Give an outline of the content of the course.
The course is split equally between literature and language.There are translation classes for English -> French and French -> English, which we do in groups of 5 or 6.The tutorials tend to be in groups of 2. It depends on the tutor, but usually you write the essay and bring it along to the tutorial, read it out and discuss what was good/bad, and extend to other related topics. The tutor normally asks probing questions and prompts you, but it is very important to have read around the set text and to have developed your own ideas. There are weekly grammar classes in groups of 5-6, where we learn sophisticated grammar topics and have exercises to do (very like school). There are also classes for the Essay in French topic, again in groups of 5-6. Linguistics is mostly tutorial-based, although work in the Phonetics laboratory is more like a class.
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University review
Review by: Bert Y
University: Oxford University
Course: French and Linguistics
Year of study: 4th
Level of Study: Undergraduate
Visit the Oxford University forum and see what people are discussing right now!
Click here to go back
Describing your university
Sum up your university in one paragraph:
The academic side of university is very hard and takes up a lot of your time, but we are also very busy with sport and social things when we aren't working. This makes the terms very intense as you are constantly busy doing something for the whole 8 weeks. It is very easy to get involved in sports and societies, so as long as you keep on top of the work, it's a fantastic place to be.
What is the academic life like at your university?
Very intense and people will quite often have a lot of work, but in general we manage to balance the academic side with the fun side.
Describe your Freshers' Week - was it as you expected, better or worse? Why?
Expensive! Amazing fun, probably as expected. Interesting that not many of the friends I made in Freshers' week are my best friends now - don't assume that the people you meet first have to necessarily be your best friends throughout university.
What is the best and worst thing about your university?
Best: Collegiate system allowing you to make very close friends who study different subjects and are in different years to yourself.
Worst: Very short and intense terms.
Sport and extra curricular
What are the sport and other activities on offer like at your university?
The level of university sport is very high, but the collegiate system means that you can still play sport without committing to a rigorous training routine and you don't have to be particularly athletic to enjoy sport. There are often even 2nd teams for college, and there are main sports teams in each college for almost every sport.
The social scene
What is the social scene (and/or nightlife) like at your university? Is it particularly alcohol orientated?
The clubs are quite small compared to a lot of cities, which means a night out is quite different to other places - in general you will know a huge number of the people in a club, so it's a very social nightlife. It is alcohol-orientated but there is no pressure to drink if you don't want to. And there are lots of clubs playing very different music, so there is a lot to choose between.
What do you think of the city your university is based in or near (as a city)?
Fantastic, but quite small. Has everything you could need.
Accommodation
Do you live in a halls of residence or a student house (or college)? What would you suggest is best in your opinion?
College. Very easy and close by to all your friends, canteen, library, bar etc.
If you are in a hall or college, is it catered or self catered? Which is better for the first year in your opinion and why?
Catered. I think catered is better, especially for the first year as meal times are more a social occasion than anything else. It's great to sit down and chat with friends, as long as the food isn't too bad.
Approximately, what is the average cost of accommodation per week in your first year for catered and non-catered halls/colleges?
About £150 a week for food and accommodation (Catered halls).
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