French (as part of Arts Omnibus)

meanpeoplesuck

Has anybody here taken French as part of the Arts Omnibus?

I got a B2 in higher level for the leaving cert, and I like the idea of being somewhat fluent in a foreign language when I leave university, but if it's an extremely difficult subject then it's not worth picking because I'm not naturally skilled at learning foreign languages.

I'm willing to work at it, but if a natural ability is essential to pass then I'd be doomed!

t_ucd

Well I think the minimum entry grade is C3 so technically you should be able for the course...however I got a big shock in first year - the grammar is fine but there is also a fairly substantial literature element where you have to read poems, novels etc in French and write essays on them (in English).

I'm in final year now - I spent last year in France and there is a HUGE gap between those of us who went away and the people who didn't. The literature is as hard as ever but for the people who didn't go to France, the language classes seem to be just as bad. By final year, lecturers assume you have a really good, if not fluent, level of French - no more learning grammar, just writing exercises and translations that need to be pretty near perfect if you want good marks.

Personally, I think that it's only worthwhile to study a language in university if you actually have the chance to go and study in the country itself for at least a year. There are people whose French was terrible before they went away but now they're fine reading French books etc. On the other hand, a lot of the people who didn't go away are leaving with almost the same level of French that they had 3 years ago.

Wow...didn't realise I'd written so much! Basically if you like studying French and think you'll work hard at it, then there's no reason not to take it - but do seriously think about the year away - you could either take the International Arts course where you're guaranteed a place or there are some places for ordinary arts students, but they're given out based on results I think.

Hope that helps.

meanpeoplesuck

It does help, thanks!! I'm still full of questions though

Excluding the year abroad, how much focus is put on speaking the language? During the LC it was alot of reading/writing with the oral work (conversations and that kinda thing) tacked on at the end of the year almost as an after thought.

When you say that you're doing poetry and literature, are we talking about Shakespeare complex mind warping stuff...in French? I think I could handle sitting down to read with a dictionary beside me and making my way through, but if it still didn't make any sense after being translated to English I might throw in the towel

t_ucd

No problem, ask away! No, there really isn't a lot of emphasis on speaking French in the first two years - you have one oral class a week (where it's actually totally possible to sit there and not say anything for an hour!) and in the first two years classes are conducted in English. In final year the lecturers and tutors do tend to switch between English and French an awful lot. You have an oral exam at the end of each semester, which for the first two years is basically the same as the LC oral - not really anything to worry about.

About the literature...to be honest, for the first two years it's not impossibly hard. In first year you study poems that would be the equivalent of LC English poems, and a couple of novels, one of which is L'Etranger by Camus, which is a very simple novel to read, even in French. There might be an ebook of it online if you want an idea of what it's like. Actually, most of the novels we study are available in English, so what most of us do is read the English version first to understand the story and then read it in French. I think there's a couple of courses in second year about medieval French but I didn't take them - you do get a certain amount of choice. The final courses are pretty tough but definitely still passable; I took a really hard class where the lowest mark was a D.

I suppose what I found hardest about the literature part was writing essays - studying literature in French is a lot like studying the English LC course. I was happy to leave English behind as a subject which is why I wasn't thrilled to find out I had four more years of essays ahead of me. (Though to be fair, you only get one per course I think...but still!)

tasha1

I wasn't considering taking a language as part of the arts degree but now i'm rethinking it.. Hmmm...

samsamson

Yeah it really doesn't sound too bad at all, I'm really thinking I might give it a shot.

Do you ever have to do things like debates or presentations in French?

Are the exams somewhat similar to the LC? (e.g Read this article and answer questions, write a story about this, listen to this and answer questions, sit in a room and talk with this person in French for a while)

What have your lecturers and tutors been like in your few years studying the subject in UCD? Nobody so bad that you quit the course anyway

t_ucd

Glad you're considering it...but at the same time hope I'm not making it sound too easy, it is still hard work!

The only presentations I've had was one oral exam at the end of second year and I'll have another at the end of this year - 10 minutes presentation in front of two lecturers/tutors and 10 minutes of questions. It's not too bad, you can pick whatever you like as a subject. You'll never have to speak in front of more than say 15 people (in your oral class) and even then it's really informal.

The first year language exam would kind of be a continuation of the LC, though obviously you're expected to know way more (e.g. subjunctive, all tenses). I don't really remember what else you get in first year, there might be an article but there's also definitely a proper written part. The listening exam is way tougher though as it's a news clip or something from real French people, the LC listening is a joke compared to it. The oral is pretty much like the LC though you have a set list of topics to choose from (like the more difficult ones that come up in your LC oral, e.g. drugs, the smoking ban).

The lecturers and tutors have all been lovely - I've had a few that aren't fantastic at what they do but even they are nice and try to help if you ask (which doesn't seem to be the case in all language departments). In first year you're also assigned a lecturer that you can go to if you're having problems or anything.

meanpeoplesuck

Excellent, thanks for all your help! I appreciate it. Time to give this some serious consideration now

FUNKYTOWWWN

could you suggest some books for me to read (as i'm in 6th year right now and i'm going to do french at college in september and would appreicate some advice as to what could help me over the summer months)