(ARTS) Easy First Year Electives?

Sooo,
managed to fail quantitative economics last year and instead of wasting even more time attempting to repeat I decided to substitute it this year. So basically I need to pick up a stage one elective that will be easy enough to pass while continuing on with second year.

Any suggestions?

WeeBushy

The language intro modules are handy enough if you put in a bit of work. There's a thread from last year with loads of 'easy' modules.

Easy is so subjective, however.

Estragon

The Creative Writing module is handy enough, if you're that way inclined. One class a week, and then you need to give it another hour each week to write the assignments.


Interesting too.

MatthewM

Intro to International Politics was pretty handy, language introductions except for arabic, russian and french are pretty handy - Spanish is a walk in the park. Also did Geology intro, which was basically leaving certificate geography with a bit more content

what.to.do

MatthewM wrote: »

language introductions except for arabic, russian and french are pretty handy

Aw, really? I was thinking about doing French and Russian..:(

unknown13

MatthewM wrote: »

Intro to International Politics was pretty handy, language introductions except for arabic, russian and french are pretty handy - Spanish is a walk in the park. Also did Geology intro, which was basically leaving certificate geography with a bit more content

I would do Intro to Irish politics before doing that because Intro to International Politics is pretty tricky.

Siuin

MatthewM wrote: »

Intro to International Politics was pretty handy, language introductions except for arabic, russian and french are pretty handy - Spanish is a walk in the park. Also did Geology intro, which was basically leaving certificate geography with a bit more content

Yeah, seriously!! I did Arabic thinking it'd be interesting, and it was absolutely impossible. When they handed out the papers, the entire class took one look at it, then looked around at everyone else and nearly cried.

what.to.do wrote: »

Aw, really? I was thinking about doing French and Russian..:(

Leave Russian well alone! My bf is a native, and I mentioned to his mom that I'd love to do a beginners course so I could (somewhat!) understand what they were saying. She told me- hell no, forget it- it's probably one of the worst languages to learn. Words change depending on where there are in a sentence and literally one Russian word can sum up a whole sentence describing something in English. I got a crash course from my bf, and while the Cyrillic alphabet is possible to learn, speaking it (with proper accent and vocabulary) is a nightmare.

Thanks for the replies guys, I'm really liking the sounds of that creative writing module. I've also heard about a module called "hitchhikers guide to philosophy" or some such and I'll have to look into that.

I'm afraid languages are probably out of the question and my double major is history/politics so I've already taken those subjects.


Oh and in case anybody is in my situation the subjects I found particularly easy were macroeconomics/microeconomics/intro to international politics. All involving MCQ's and anybody who keeps up to date with the news/reads newspapers quite regularly should breeze them.

Scatterbrain

Rojomcdojo wrote: »

Thanks for the replies guys, I'm really liking the sounds of that creative writing module. I've also heard about a module called "hitchhikers guide to philosophy" or some such and I'll have to look into that.

I'm afraid languages are probably out of the question and my double major is history/politics so I've already taken those subjects.

I don't think that Hitchhikers Guide to Philosophy is running this year, but, if you're interested, the lecturer who used to teach that module is now going to be teaching Key Questions in Moral Phil (PHIL10120). Could be interesting, and 50% goes for weekly Discussion Board posts.

what.to.do

Siuin wrote: »

Leave Russian well alone! My bf is a native, and I mentioned to his mom that I'd love to do a beginners course so I could (somewhat!) understand what they were saying. She told me- hell no, forget it- it's probably one of the worst languages to learn. Words change depending on where there are in a sentence and literally one Russian word can sum up a whole sentence describing something in English. I got a crash course from my bf, and while the Cyrillic alphabet is possible to learn, speaking it (with proper accent and vocabulary) is a nightmare.

Awh, shame, I love the sound of spoken Russian! But thanks SO much for the input, you may be saving me from crying in class.

Any tips for a language so?

Scatterbrain

Scatterbrain wrote: »

I don't think that Hitchhikers Guide to Philosophy is running this year, but, if you're interested, the lecturer who used to teach that module is now going to be teaching Key Questions in Moral Phil (PHIL10120). Could be interesting, and 50% goes for weekly Discussion Board posts.

That sounds great, definitely going to check it out. Cheers!

parker kent

Rojomcdojo wrote: »

I'm afraid languages are probably out of the question and my double major is history/politics so I've already taken those subjects.

Why can't you do in-programme electives? Aren't there any modules left that you haven't taken?

Siuin

what.to.do wrote: »

Awh, shame, I love the sound of spoken Russian! But thanks SO much for the input, you may be saving me from crying in class.

Any tips for a language so?

Welcome! :P Well, I'm taking beginners German... after doing it for the leaving cert lol- should be an easy one! Spanish is supposed to be really simple too, and if you're interested in travelling to south/central America or Spain, it'd be a bonus. I'm so annoyed they took Hebrew off the option list a few years ago Why get rid of that, but keep Swahili?? Wah!

MatthewM

Just a quick tip, last year I struggled through French 1 and 2 and also did German as part of my degree. I would not have passed French and would not have gotten on so well in German had I not gotten a tandem partner (somebody who speaks the language as a native and who wants to learn yours) I had a tandem partner for both French and German and they helped me so much - preparation for oral exams, etc. I joined ESN UCD (Erasmus Student Network) they support international students on campus - check them out at the freshers tent or online - Facebook "ESN UCD 2011-2012" or esn-ucd.com - they had a language exchange meet up with over 200 in attendance last year. Look them up and good luck :-)