Is studying a langauge at uni worth it?

[Golgi Apparatus]

Is it worth it to learn a language at uni (particularly Melbourne) from scratch? I’ve heard that it is good, and I think I would enjoy it. However, I can’t see much point as I would only be able to do one or maybe two units in it and I don’t see how I could learn a useful amount in that time.

For people who have done a language, how much can you actually learn in one semester? Do you learn enough for it to be useful, and would you say it is worth it?

Also, are there any languages that you would recommend or not recommend doing at Melbourne?

[ashmi]

Snip

Learning a language at uni can be a worthwhile experience, however, it really depends on the language and a few other factors!

My experience with Chinese 1+2 @Unimelb

I did Chinese 1 (and half of Chinese 2) at Unimelb and I definitely learned a lot more than I actually thought I was going to learn. I feel like by the end of Chinese 1 I could have a super basic conversation however halfway through Chinese 2, I was able to have more detailed conversations, text people in Chinese and also write a few pages here and there. For me, the subject was probably the hardest out of all my subjects in the semester, but that's because I struggle to remember the characters themselves. (I have a memory of a goldfish). I would say for this subject, in particular, it was really useful and definitely worth it! (I now usually text in Chinese to my Chinese friends so I think the subject worked out).

There is one issue I should mention and that is a lot of people in my Chinese 1 class lied on the language placement test and actually knew quite a bit of Chinese which was a bit unfair. I don't think this would be as common in other language classes but that's my personal experience. Would not recommend Chinese 1 or 2 unless you have prior experience. Other subjects like German, Spanish etc should be fine.

A lot of my friends did languages as breadth at Unimelb and some recommend specific languages and others have ones you probably should stay away from.

Ones that I have heard good reviews about Spanish 1-2, French 1-2 (apparently its a high workload but worth it), German 1-2, Japanese 1-2.
Ones that are alright: Korean 1-2, Chinese 5+
Ones to stay away from: Chinese 1-2, French 5+ (Subject becomes political rather than the actual language)

I would be cautious about picking languages because sometimes, especially at higher levels the hours you spend on the subject becomes more and it might 'eat up' time for other important core subjects. However with some organisation, it definitely will be doable!
Hope that helps and feel free to ask any other questions.

[LaurenRoth18]

If your language offers an intensive, I'd highly recommend doing level 1 as an intensive rather than during the normal semester. You'd get about 3 weeks where you're exposed to nothing but this language, 5 hours a day, 4 days a week, and that helps you grasp it a lot quicker than doing it spread out throughout 12 weeks. (Did French 1 winter intensive myself and it was one of the best subjects I did at uni).

There is one issue I should mention and that is a lot of people in my Chinese 1 class lied on the language placement test and actually knew quite a bit of Chinese which was a bit unfair. I don't think this would be as common in other language classes but that's my personal experience. Would not recommend Chinese 1 or 2 unless you have prior experience. Other subjects like German, Spanish etc should be fine.

Unfortunately very common across all languages, not just Chinese. In my French 1 class there was an international student from Canada who grew up in Quebec, and I know a few people who did Arabic 1 despite being native speakers. Good thing is, most tutors can usually tell and will do their best to balance it out so that those students won't have an advantage.

Languages where that wouldn't be an issue would be Latin and Ancient Greek lol.

[Golgi Apparatus]

Thank you Ashmi and Lauren