English and French in TCD

kennedy1996

Is English and French in TCD a good combination? Are the lecturers good? Will I get a job after university with that? Is there a certain type who always go for this course?

Thanks

997

Hi

I can't really answer your questions as I don't study those subjects. Since you haven't gotten any responses I thought I'd tell you what I do know.

I study history, and so have a lot of contact with TSM students, a lot of which do English. English isn't as much work as you'd think. While I was slaving away over essay after essay, the English students had a comparatively easy time, only doing 2 essays a term I think it was. That all I really know about English, I don't really know about the lecturers etc.

As for French, I know they have work which is more akin to 'homework' than 'assignment'. By this I mean they'd have work in the format that'd be familiar in school, such as translating this passage for class tomorrow, practicing verbs and conversation etc. in class. Obviously it's a lot harder than school since you're striving to become fluent.

That's all I know about those two things. I think they'd be a good and manageable combination. If you show particular adeptness for French, you could probably get a job as a translator (which is quite lucrative going by what I've heard).

Ash_M

English is (in my experience) a great subject to study in Trinity, and as universities go, it ranks very well for the subject. The lecturers are largely excellent, but there is obviously huge variety and some are more inspiring than others - that said, my least favourite is a lot of people's hero, so that would suggest they all have their own merits. There are some world-class professors in the mix and the tutorial/seminar leaders are also usually quite on the ball. There's a lot of reading involved naturally (some weeks you'll read several novels, others will be lighter on the workload) but as mentioned, our hand-in work isn't too intensive for most of the year, you just need to be on point and ready to contribute in tutorial/seminar. That said, once essay season rolls around we all go absolutely mental for several weeks or months, depending on the year. I don't take French as my other subject (I'm a Maths TSM) but know quite a few who do, and I wouldn't say there's a particular "type", any more than there's a stereotype of the typical arts student, which has massive variation in it anyway and few people actually fit that idea exactly. Employment prospects are what they are, it depends on what you want to go into and there's no predicting the job market, but as I say, Trinity is a good place to have studied English, and the English and French combination would probably reliably get you a teaching position? French will also give you an opportunity to study abroad, which is fantastic experience.

languagenerd

997 wrote: »

As for French, I know they have work which is more akin to 'homework' than 'assignment'. By this I mean they'd have work in the format that'd be familiar in school, such as translating this passage for class tomorrow, practicing verbs and conversation etc. in class. Obviously it's a lot harder than school since you're striving to become fluent.

French isn't just "homework" I'm afraid. The French students in 1st year do have one weekly assignment (varying from short essays in French to translations) and grammar exercises, but they also have to read a lot of texts (both articles and novels/plays) and hand up lengthy term essays on literature at the end of each term.

After 1st year, French is about 65% literature/culture, 35% language, so don't expect it to be like French in school. It's like a harder version of LC French mixed with LC English, mixed with culture and philosophy. The dept are strict, but you do end up with a very high level of French at the end (because of the amount you read in French, the fact that some of your literature essays must be written in French and the difficult written assignments in the later years).

OP, you want to study English too, so I imagine you like the idea of studying literature and the like. It's just worth noting that especially from 2nd year on, you'll be spending most of your time on that sort of thing rather than just learning the language. I knew there'd be literature when I started but I wasn't prepared for quite how much there was.

(I graduated last year, minored in French, majored in Spanish).