ATAR Notes: Forum
Uni Stuff => Universities - Victoria => Monash University => Topic started by: ninwa on October 17, 2010, 09:36:08 pm
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because it's run so poorly you'll want to kill yourself
don't say I didn't warn you
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This extends to all of arts.
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Yah
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u serious.... damn )=
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What's wrong with it
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*prays even harder for transfer*
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They're not just language subjects, they're literature and media subjects. You will be forced to analyse obscure poems, novels and movies in whatever language you're studying (which are obscure for a reason - because they are terrible).
It's called a culture component and is compulsory to every language subject at Monash except Japanese (IIRC). And it is absolutely, completely worthless.
Don't do it. Study abroad at the country for a semester or two instead. You will gain far more language proficiency that way that you will ever get at Monash.
Coming from someone who will have wasted 4 years of her life studying two languages at this shithole - please learn from my mistake.
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What about the short courses they offer that go for like 8 weeks? Are those any good? I know they dont technically .. you know .. add points to your course, but if you want to learn a language!
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What about the short courses they offer that go for like 8 weeks? Are those any good? I know they dont technically .. you know .. add points to your course, but if you want to learn a language!
I don't know what they're like, but if they're only 8 weeks long I'm guessing they won't have time for the "cultural" crap.
Nothing beats spending some time in the actual country though. My friend went to New Caledonia for only 6 weeks and the improvement in his French was incredible.
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Woah i refreshed the page and saw the huge red thing on ninas profile suddenly appear ( i think im blind)
What about the short courses they offer that go for like 8 weeks? Are those any good? I know they dont technically .. you know .. add points to your course, but if you want to learn a language!
They cant be that bad (probably more concentrated and cut out the crap), if you want to learn a language outside of uni there are plenty of other options like a tafe or something or some independant language learning kind of thing
(side note: anyone know what happened to irc)
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hmmmmm not sure if the sig makes it obvious enough ninwa..........
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What about the short courses they offer that go for like 8 weeks? Are those any good? I know they dont technically .. you know .. add points to your course, but if you want to learn a language!
I don't know what they're like, but if they're only 8 weeks long I'm guessing they won't have time for the "cultural" crap.
Nothing beats spending some time in the actual country though. My friend went to New Caledonia for only 6 weeks and the improvement in his French was incredible.
Obviously immersing oneself in a culture and being surrounded by a language at all times is going to assist the learning process more than studying the language at uni for a year. Is it that you have a problem with learning languages at Uni per se, or that you just dislike the way that languages are taught at specific Unis.
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Obviously immersing oneself in a culture and being surrounded by a language at all times is going to assist the learning process more than studying the language at uni for a year. Is it that you have a problem with learning languages at Uni per se, or that you just dislike the way that languages are taught at specific Unis.
Well the topic is in the Monash forum and the thread title has "Monash" in it...
AFAIK other universities don't have this compulsory cultural component.
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They're not just language subjects, they're literature and media subjects. You will be forced to analyse obscure poems, novels and movies in whatever language you're studying (which are obscure for a reason - because they are terrible).
I don't get it. Isn't analysing poems and films are major part of studying a language at uni? The kids who take tert hebrew @school have found the subject way more enjoyable than VCE,
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Coming from someone who will have wasted 4 years of her life studying two languages at this shithole - please learn from my mistake.
Out of curiosity, which languages did you study?
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I don't get it. Isn't analysing poems and films are major part of studying a language at uni? The kids who take tert hebrew @school have found the subject way more enjoyable than VCE,
How so? We are not studying the language itself. Rather, it is somewhat similar to VCE English, just taught in a different language. (i.e. discussing the camera/film techniques, the symbols in the novels etc.)
In German culture, we had to study Mein Kampf. We apparently spent a couple of tutorials discussing the philosophy behind Hitler's ideas (or something like that - I left after half an hour and wagged the class for a couple of weeks).
Not very enjoyable... and hardly a "major part" of studying the German language itself.
Out of curiosity, which languages did you study?
French and German.
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Hmm, well maybe it's because people who sign up to learn the language are also interested in the culture, and learning about the culture is a good way to understand language as a living thing? That was really corny but learning a language without learning some of the culture is a bit cold imo, and seems in a way, irresponsible.
That being said, I actually really respect you ninwa, I just find myself to be one of those people whom enjoy culture+ language as a combined thing.
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That's fair enough. There's a fair bit of "culture" in the language units themselves - many of the articles we read for the French language component, for example, relate to issues of discrimination, racism, the burqa ban and other contemporary issues in France. The language components are not just dry grammar/vocabulary sessions.
I just don't associate VCE English-esque analysis with culture and would not have taken languages if someone had told me what it's like, so I'm providing the information to prospective students now. I do understand that there are a few people who enjoy analysing literature/media etc. too :)
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Why are you just making this now, rather then realising it after first year or so?
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I dunno, stupidity combined with over-optimism?
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I dunno, stupidity combined with over-optimism?
haha, fair enough.
i will take your word for it though, even though i wont be going there - good to tell others i suppose.
is this only for the high level courses though? or even in the first levels?
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for all levels unfortunately
Japanese is the only language I know which doesn't have this requirement
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Don't ever study at Monash.
Fixed. :angel:
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Japanese is the only language I know which doesn't have this requirement
Read: STUDY JAPANESE BECAUSE IT IS AWESOME.
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Can I also add that
Don't ever study physics at Monash
EVER
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maybe I should change this to "things not to study at Monash"
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^^yes
Also, chemical engineering is pretty bad. The current head of school is the most awesome/deadly guy ever, and he will take a personal/deadly interest in your cohort and set challenging/deadly assignments that cause stress/death. Last I heard, a test/deathtrap was scaled up by 50% because too many people failed/died.
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Can I also add that
Don't ever study physics at Monash
EVER
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I love you guys.
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Can I also add that
Don't ever study physics at Monash
EVER
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voilà
so far things not to study at monash:
- languages
- physics
- chem eng
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They're not just language subjects, they're literature and media subjects. You will be forced to analyse obscure poems, novels and movies in whatever language you're studying (which are obscure for a reason - because they are terrible).
Sounds a lot like VCE English...
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Don't ever study at Monash.
Fixed. :angel:
Just dropping in to quote this :smug:
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Also I'd recommend not taking (not that a lot of straight science/BSc Adv kids can avoid it): SCI2010 and SCI2020.
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voilà
so far things not to study at monash:
- languages
- physics
- chem eng
Uh oh... there goes all my preferences
Does anyone have any comments to make about the biomed, commerce or astronomy/astrophysics @ monash?
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I heard that there's this legendary guy for enginnering tho...andrew prentiss?
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I don't understand... i thought engineering@monash was supposed to be the best! (theory wise?) bar first year physics component
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How is Law and Materials engineering @ Monash?
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voilà
so far things not to study at monash:
- languages
- physics
- chem eng
Uh oh... there goes all my preferences
Does anyone have any comments to make about the biomed, commerce or astronomy/astrophysics @ monash?
I give commerce the thumbs up, if that counts for anything d^-^b
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yeah i second fyrefly, commerce @ monash is actually really good.
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i'll thumbs up Microeco, thumbs down management but really it's impossible to make that subject interesting in any uni.
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so Ninwa, your problems with languages @ monash mostly come down to how the cultural component is taught, and that it's compulsory?
what are the language units like? do you cover the grammar etc in good time?
I'm hoping to take languages at monash next year so your warning has really got my attention.
afaik, melbourne has a compulsory culture component when you do a language major, eg.
https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/view/2010/!B-ARTS-MAJ+1017
and from speaking to a few people taking german subjects there, there is an element of literary analysis. Not something i'm looking forward to either, but if it's only two units out of 24, then it's not too bad.
what proportion of your major at monash is taken up with these culture subjects?
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A major is only 8 units, so that's 25% spent on cultural interpretations. Not sure if that makes a difference to you but just saying
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A major is only 8 units, so that's 25% spent on cultural interpretations. Not sure if that makes a difference to you but just saying
if i'm reading the handbook entry right, then only 2 of the 8 units for a major are culture-only, the rest are language/culture. so that's what (counts on fingers) less than 10% of the whole degree?
painful if you also have to do the breadth at umelb.
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I heard that there's this legendary guy for enginnering tho...andrew prentiss?
Prentice is maths and astrophysics. You might catch him teaching engineering maths every now and then.
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You cant have just realised NOW that the Culture component is complete bullshit, what has happened to make you so angry about it?
I do agree though. There needs to be MORE HOURS DEVOTED FOR LEARNING THE LANGUAGE (um, 3 hours a week is not enough, even my German tutor agrees) and less for culture.
I get so angry over how terrible the Culture component is for German (no idea what it's like for French). I did Spanish for two weeks and their culture component was immensely better. There was a powerpoint with specific notes and we learned about Spanish history. German is so TERRIBLE. I stopped going at ALL because all we did was talk about REALLY OBSCURE THINGS relating to PHILOSOPHY. Germany has one of the most interesting histories, and we haven't learnt anything at all relating to it.
Why the hell is Culture worth 50% of your overall mark in second and third year WHEN IT'S CURRENT USELESS STATE. HONESTLY. I AM SO ANGRY.
PETITION TO MAKE LANGUAGES AT MONASH BETTER, ARGHGHGHH. I can't believe this crap two hour seminar called 'Culture' is even allowed to exist.
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A major is only 8 units, so that's 25% spent on cultural interpretations. Not sure if that makes a difference to you but just saying
if i'm reading the handbook entry right, then only 2 of the 8 units for a major are culture-only, the rest are language/culture. so that's what (counts on fingers) less than 10% of the whole degree?
painful if you also have to do the breadth at umelb.
I meant that the french study you do will comprise much less than your entire degree of 24 units (which, you're right, is 20 max when breadth is considered). And then of that french study ~25% is culture. Of your entire degree, yeah <10%
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oh, so 1/4 of your major then. it seems like more of an issue when you've got 20 units to play with than 24 for some reason.
>gemgem
so it's really that bad?
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so Ninwa, your problems with languages @ monash mostly come down to how the cultural component is taught, and that it's compulsory?
what are the language units like? do you cover the grammar etc in good time?
I'm hoping to take languages at monash next year so your warning has really got my attention.
afaik, melbourne has a compulsory culture component when you do a language major, eg.
https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/view/2010/!B-ARTS-MAJ+1017
and from speaking to a few people taking german subjects there, there is an element of literary analysis. Not something i'm looking forward to either, but if it's only two units out of 24, then it's not too bad.
what proportion of your major at monash is taken up with these culture subjects?
Yeah that's right.
Grammar and basic vocabulary is covered quite quickly. I took French from the beginning and after two years you are at the level of a VCE graduate, so it's quite fast... However, it's nowhere near as difficult as it sounds. It's actually quite manageable, and makes the language component more interesting because you're not just revising the same old stuff every week.
There's a difference between culture component and culture units.
Cultural component does not count as a separate unit - so for example, German Studies 8 includes 2 hours of language and 2 hours of culture a week but it's part of the same subject.
Culture units like "German dialects and dialectology" count as a separate subject and do not contain a language (i.e. grammar etc.) component, although some of them are taught in the language.
A major is 8 units. You don't have to take culture units to complete the major.
For example I planned to do French Studies 1-8 = 8 units to satisfy the major requirements. None of those subjects is a "culture unit" but each has a cultural component which you must pass in order to pass the subject itself.
Cultural component is usually worth 25% of your mark in 1st year and 50% thereafter, so I'd say approximately half of your major will be taken up by the cultural stuff. If you choose to do a cultural unit on top of that obviously it would make up even more of your major.
Some people will do French Studies 1-6 + two culture subjects = 8 units, for example. Depends on which level you start at too.
To whoever asked about law at Monash, it's quite good. We have some truly excellent lecturers and tutors - I've only had one really bad experience and that wasn't really the lecturer's fault (nobody did the readings so nobody could answer her questions, she snapped and told everyone to "piss off" + some other choice words an hour into a 3 hour lecture and stormed out of the room and refused to schedule a makeup lecture to go over the stuff we were supposed to do... Everyone did the readings from then on.)
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You cant have just realised NOW that the Culture component is complete bullshit, what has happened to make you so angry about it?
I wasted about 6 hours of my life last night attempting to discuss (in French, too) how a piece of bread is a metaphor for the creation and destruction of the universe, the Alps, flowers and leaves and the process of a piece of bread going stale, the Creation Story, last supper symbolism etc. That was my French culture assignment. It was... infuriating and I may or may not have snapped. :P
I get so angry over how terrible the Culture component is for German (no idea what it's like for French). I did Spanish for two weeks and their culture component was immensely better. There was a powerpoint with specific notes and we learned about Spanish history. German is so TERRIBLE. I stopped going at ALL because all we did was talk about REALLY OBSCURE THINGS relating to PHILOSOPHY. Germany has one of the most interesting histories, and we haven't learnt anything at all relating to it.
French was okay for one semester where we learned about contemporary issues such as secularity etc... one semester of bliss, then back to analysing bread metaphors. Sigh.
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There's a fair bit of "culture" in the language units themselves.
I learn more about Germany's culture from my German language tutor than I have in two semesters of 'Culture'.
To whoever asked if it's really 'that bad' then yes, it really is. I have been to only three seminars for Culture this semester because every time we go I sit there for two hours learning absolutely nothing because the lecturer just waffles on about nothing the entire time. He actually tried using slides once and spent an entire two hours on ONE sentence on ONE of his slides. It is infuriating! It's essentially the poor man's philosophy. All the students who enjoy philosophy/debating about nothing or obscure symbolism get really into the class, everyone else sits there wanting to die.
Ninwa - I'm majoring in German. So am I able to do 8 units of German language (I have to do an extra semester of uni anyway because of my dip. languages and screw up with my first year sequence) instead of ANY culture electives? Because that would be amazing... unless I just take subjects when I go on exchange that ACTUALLY relate to German history/culture :3
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Ninwa - I'm majoring in German. So am I able to do 8 units of German language (I have to do an extra semester of uni anyway because of my dip. languages and screw up with my first year sequence) instead of ANY culture electives? Because that would be amazing... unless I just take subjects when I go on exchange that ACTUALLY relate to German history/culture :3
I'm not sure unfortunately. I'm taking that option for French which is explicitly allowed in the handbook (see "Alternative entry point 1: Extended basic proficiency major sequence" http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/handbooks/aos/ug-french-studies.html). The handbook didn't mention anything like that for German.
Definitely email your coordinator - it would suck to go to all that effort only to have your major not get recognised.
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thanks ninwa & gemgem, you’ve scared me a little, but given me a better idea of what to expect. i’ve got all summer to think about my major (if i get in).
I wasted about 6 hours of my life last night attempting to discuss (in French, too) how a piece of bread is a metaphor for the creation and destruction of the universe...
No wonder you’re pissed off with the culture bit! so how does the bread metaphor work? :laugh:
luckily i *am* one of those people who is happy to sit around debating about nothing/obscure symbolism/pointless rubbish, or, as i prefer to call it “coalescing the vapour of human experience into a viable and meaningful comprehension” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl4VD8uvgec)
we spent a good while dissecting metaphors in yr12, but it was Prévert so at least we got some poetry with it.
re german history lectures, UC Berkeley have some podcast lecture series on german history if you’re interested.
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/course_details.php?seriesid=1906978484
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I think it's different elsewhere. I know at ANU, while you need to one cultural unit to major in a language (or more depending on what level you start at), the actual subjects themselves, which have 5 hours of class per week, have pretty much no cultural component. Like, you kind of learn a bit about culture on the way, like reading the news in the language, or even just talking about ideas that can't really be translated into other languages. So yeah, not much cultural stuff unless you actually take a cultural course.
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Don't do it. Study abroad at the country for a semester or two instead. You will gain far more language proficiency that way that you will ever get at Monash.
Hasn't this always been common sense, regardless of the university? Irrespective of whether you're learning a language at Monash, ANU or Harvard, the crude reality is that you're never, ever going to become proficient in another language just by rocking up to lectures and tutorials. The cultural component at Monash, while unfair and unnecessary, is only a small part of a bigger problem across the board.
Like most, I was initially attracted to the idea of studying a language at university when I first enrolled two years ago, but I was deterred after somebody offered me some valuable advice. Don't waste your time studying languages at any university; they provide an incredibly poor setting for any beginner to properly learn a new language. You can't seriously expect to sharpen your language skills in an environment where every student is struggling to learn the basics. If you ever hope to attain an advanced level of proficiency, you need to be constantly immersed in your desired foreign language. The best way to go about doing this is by going on exchange or living in another country which speaks your desired language, as you mentioned.
Even without the cultural component at Monash, it wouldn't have made a difference whatsoever. You still would've come out of your degree thinking that you've wasted several years of your life fruitlessly trying to learn a foreign language with other confused, bewildered and struggling students. I really do feel sorry for those who've fallen into this pitfall - language courses at universities are nothing but money sinks.
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Don't do it. Study abroad at the country for a semester or two instead. You will gain far more language proficiency that way that you will ever get at Monash.
Hasn't this always been common sense, regardless of the university? Irrespective of whether you're learning a language at Monash, ANU or Harvard, the crude reality is that you're never, ever going to become proficient in another language just by rocking up to lectures and tutorials. The cultural component at Monash, while unfair and unnecessary, is only a small part of a bigger problem across the board.
Like most, I was initially attracted to the idea of studying a language at university when I first enrolled two years ago, but I was deterred after somebody offered me some valuable advice. Don't waste your time studying languages at any university; they provide an incredibly poor setting for any beginner to properly learn a new language. You can't seriously expect your language skills to develop in an environment where every student is struggling to learn the basics. If you ever hope to attain an advanced level of proficiency, you need to be constantly immersed in your desired foreign language. The best way to go about doing this is by going on exchange or living in another country which speaks your desired language, as you mentioned.
Well that's idealistic but not everyone can go on long term exchange ^_^
I do agree that it's impossible to attain any amount of proficiency through just turning up to tutes/lectures, but I still think it's possible to learn significant amounts without living in a country where the language you're learning is spoken, although it will be harder and require more motivation to self learn.
and at least languages at University are around 9000 times better than learning it at High School, although I must admit my exposure has only been through crashing Korean/Chinese lectures, which I believe do not have a cultural component lulz.
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Can I also add that
Don't ever study physics at Monash
EVER
+1. And also, don't ever use that vending machine near the engineering labs and lecture room (E1). It stole my superannuation money.
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Can I also add that
Don't ever study physics at Monash
EVER
+1. And also, don't ever use that vending machine near the engineering labs and lecture room (E1). It stole my superannuation money.
Engineering degree means compulsory physics yeah? if yes... 8==D _/'''''\-O
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Can I also add that
Don't ever study physics at Monash
EVER
+1. And also, don't ever use that vending machine near the engineering labs and lecture room (E1). It stole my superannuation money.
Engineering degree means compulsory physics yeah? if yes... 8==D _/'''''\-O
Only if you're going to do a double degree with science.
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Can I also add that
Don't ever study physics at Monash
EVER
+1. And also, don't ever use that vending machine near the engineering labs and lecture room (E1). It stole my superannuation money.
Engineering degree means compulsory physics yeah? if yes... 8==D _/'''''\-O
Only if you're going to do a double degree with science.
Ooh... i think i gotta do foundation physics anyway. Heard anything about that? or is it run by the same dude...
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Can I also add that
Don't ever study physics at Monash
EVER
+1. And also, don't ever use that vending machine near the engineering labs and lecture room (E1). It stole my superannuation money.
Engineering degree means compulsory physics yeah? if yes... 8==D _/'''''\-O
Only if you're going to do a double degree with science.
Ooh... i think i gotta do foundation physics anyway. Heard anything about that? or is it run by the same dude...
What engineering major do you want to do? If you want to do chemical engineering, I don't think you need to do physics for the Science component of the degree. I had some guy called David Green for Physics last semester. If you look at the unit guide, Foundation Physics is run by some other guy: Dr Andrew Smith (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/handbooks/units/PHS1080.html).
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Can I also add that
Don't ever study physics at Monash
EVER
+1. And also, don't ever use that vending machine near the engineering labs and lecture room (E1). It stole my superannuation money.
Engineering degree means compulsory physics yeah? if yes... 8==D _/'''''\-O
Only if you're going to do a double degree with science.
Ooh... i think i gotta do foundation physics anyway. Heard anything about that? or is it run by the same dude...
What engineering major do you want to do? If you want to do chemical engineering, I don't think you need to do physics for the Science component of the degree. I had some guy called David Green for Physics last semester. If you look at the unit guide, Foundation Physics is run by some other guy: Dr Andrew Smith (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/handbooks/units/PHS1080.html).
Yeah im heading for chem eng. It says compulsory to do it on the handbook. I might couple it with either sci or biomed. physics would be necessary for both probs?
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Are you sure it's compulsory?
From (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/handbooks/courses/0085.html):
First Year:
All students complete:
* CHM1011 Chemistry
* CHM1022 Chemistry
* ENG1010 Process systems analysis
* ENG1060 Computing for engineers
(These are the compulsory units)
Select one pair of mathematics units from:
* MTH1020 Analysis of change and MTH1030 Techniques for modelling
* MTH1030 Techniques for modelling and MTH2010 Multivariable calculus
(Compulsory as well)
In addition students complete units in one of the following sequences as outlined below.
Select one pair of science units from:
* ASP1010 Earth to cosmos - introductory astronomy and ASP1022 Life and the universe
* BIO1011 Biology I and BIO1022 Biology II
* ESC1011 Planet earth and its environment: The cosmic connection and ESC1022 Planet earth: Dynamic systems, environmental change and resources
* FIT1029 Algorithmic problem solving and one of FIT1002 Computer programming, FIT1008 Introduction to computer science or FIT204 Theory of computation
* PHS1011 Physics (or PHS1080 Foundation physics) and PHS1022 Physics
* STA1010 Statistical methods for science and MTH1112 Numbers, logic and graphs
I don't think you have to do physics because they allow you to pick any other pair of science units that's listed above. Physics is just optional.
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Oh, i must have gotten mixed up with this.
Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences and Bachelor of Engineering in the field of chemical engineering
First year
* BMS1011 Biomedical chemistry
* BMS1021 Cells, tissues, and organisms
* BMS1052 Human neurobiology
* BMS1062 Molecular biology
* BMS2011 Structure of the human body
* ENG1010 Momentum, heat and mass transfer
* ENG1090 Foundation mathematics,* or ENG1080 Foundation physics,* or ENG1091 Mathematics for engineering
* ENG1091 Mathematics for engineering,* or ENG2091 Advanced engineering mathematics A
Total 48 points
* Students requiring foundation studies must undertake this unit from this group of options.
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Oh, i must have gotten mixed up with this.
Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences and Bachelor of Engineering in the field of chemical engineering
First year
* BMS1011 Biomedical chemistry
* BMS1021 Cells, tissues, and organisms
* BMS1052 Human neurobiology
* BMS1062 Molecular biology
* BMS2011 Structure of the human body
* ENG1010 Momentum, heat and mass transfer
* ENG1090 Foundation mathematics,* or ENG1080 Foundation physics,* or ENG1091 Mathematics for engineering
* ENG1091 Mathematics for engineering,* or ENG2091 Advanced engineering mathematics A
Total 48 points
* Students requiring foundation studies must undertake this unit from this group of options.
Yeah, if you do Biomedicine with Engineering, I guess you only have to do Foundation Physics. Who knows, it can be much more interesting than PHS1011 which was the unit TT and I did
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Ahhh the memories of PHS1011... unbearable lol
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How you finding astro? thats the only reason im considering sci/eng
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How you finding astro? thats the only reason im considering sci/eng
Astro is really interesting. Like every week, we have a guest lecturer from different departments of the university to discuss the things that we are learning. Some lecturers are boring, some are interesting. This semester we learnt about exoplanets, stars, the drake equation, the probability that there is a civilization like ours on another galaxy, parsecs, determine distances to stars, parallax, the requirements for life such as carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, hyrdrogn, water, intersteller travel and colisation, the rocket equation, stars. Yeah, if you're interested, you should do it. And read the works of Carl Sagan if you haven't.
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Foundation Physics is a very easy subject given you have completed Specialist Maths. I only went to the first few weeks of lectures, stopped going, fluked all my pracs (the demonstrators basically tell you the answer) and it ended up being my 2nd highest subject. You'll just find it's rather boring for the first 6-7 weeks of the semester. After that you start to learn some new things
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How you finding astro? thats the only reason im considering sci/eng
Astro is really interesting. Like every week, we have a guest lecturer from different departments of the university to discuss the things that we are learning. Some lecturers are boring, some are interesting. This semester we learnt about exoplanets, stars, the drake equation, the probability that there is a civilization like ours on another galaxy, parsecs, determine distances to stars, parallax, the requirements for life such as carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, hyrdrogn, water, intersteller travel and colisation, the rocket equation, stars. Yeah, if you're interested, you should do it. And read the works of Carl Sagan if you haven't.
Is this the ASP1xxx?
i think someone said that if you require a foundation unit (ie. physics for me), theres no room for first year astro units without overloading. and i can only pick up ASP2xxx's and onwards after first yr?
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How you finding astro? thats the only reason im considering sci/eng
Astro is really interesting. Like every week, we have a guest lecturer from different departments of the university to discuss the things that we are learning. Some lecturers are boring, some are interesting. This semester we learnt about exoplanets, stars, the drake equation, the probability that there is a civilization like ours on another galaxy, parsecs, determine distances to stars, parallax, the requirements for life such as carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, hyrdrogn, water, intersteller travel and colisation, the rocket equation, stars. Yeah, if you're interested, you should do it. And read the works of Carl Sagan if you haven't.
Did you guys have Charles(dunno his last name) lecture this year?
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How you finding astro? thats the only reason im considering sci/eng
Astro is really interesting. Like every week, we have a guest lecturer from different departments of the university to discuss the things that we are learning. Some lecturers are boring, some are interesting. This semester we learnt about exoplanets, stars, the drake equation, the probability that there is a civilization like ours on another galaxy, parsecs, determine distances to stars, parallax, the requirements for life such as carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, hyrdrogn, water, intersteller travel and colisation, the rocket equation, stars. Yeah, if you're interested, you should do it. And read the works of Carl Sagan if you haven't.
Is this the ASP1xxx?
i think someone said that if you require a foundation unit (ie. physics for me), theres no room for first year astro units without overloading. and i can only pick up ASP2xxx's and onwards after first yr?
hey na you can do all those units .... because when you major in astrophysics . the minor requirement can be physics and mathematics too
here ive worked out a suggested pathway (you can change the chm units to whateva you like)... hope its right taking into account the prerequisites etc.
so sci/eng is 5 years and you need 240 points... 132 points being eng units and 108 points being sci units
1st year
chm1011,chm1022
eng1010, eng1060
mth2010, mth1030
phs1080, phs1022
2nd year
asp2011, asp2062
chm2911, chm2922
che2161,che2162
che2164, che2163
3rd year
chm3911, chm3922
asp3051, asp3012
che3161, che3162
che3163, che3172
4th year
chm3952, chm3180
asp3231, mth2032
che3165, che3164
ene3608, che3166
5th year
che4161, che4170
che4162, che4163
che4180, che4172
mte2541, che3175
thats if ur doing eng/science
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Don't do it. Study abroad at the country for a semester or two instead. You will gain far more language proficiency that way that you will ever get at Monash.
Hasn't this always been common sense, regardless of the university? Irrespective of whether you're learning a language at Monash, ANU or Harvard, the crude reality is that you're never, ever going to become proficient in another language just by rocking up to lectures and tutorials. The cultural component at Monash, while unfair and unnecessary, is only a small part of a bigger problem across the board.
Like most, I was initially attracted to the idea of studying a language at university when I first enrolled two years ago, but I was deterred after somebody offered me some valuable advice. Don't waste your time studying languages at any university; they provide an incredibly poor setting for any beginner to properly learn a new language. You can't seriously expect to sharpen your language skills in an environment where every student is struggling to learn the basics. If you ever hope to attain an advanced level of proficiency, you need to be constantly immersed in your desired foreign language. The best way to go about doing this is by going on exchange or living in another country which speaks your desired language, as you mentioned.
Even without the cultural component at Monash, it wouldn't have made a difference whatsoever. You still would've come out of your degree thinking that you've wasted several years of your life fruitlessly trying to learn a foreign language with other confused, bewildered and struggling students. I really do feel sorry for those who've fallen into this pitfall - language courses at universities are nothing but money sinks.
It depends on what you mean by proficiency. Certainly, at some level, you aren't going to get any better at a language unless you immerse yourself in it by living in a different place. But, from what I've seen, that level is quite high. For instance, I know some people who speak English very well and their only exposure to it was in classes, in films/books/etc. and by trying to find English-speaking friends online. Their English is often good enough to get into English-speaking universities without actually ever having visited an English speaking country before. While I imagine their English improves dramatically when they are actually in an English speaking country, it's not as though those years of language lessons were wasted.
I do agree that the quickest (and perhaps easiest?) way of learning a language is probably by living in the country for a year. It sort of depends what you want out of it though.
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wew, it's pretty lol to see pretty much everything i'm going to do/done on the do not do list (german,phs,compulsory sci2020).
i'd agree that the culture component is not enjoyable (in fact i'd go as far to call it terrible), and i find it frustrating that you require a pass in the culture component to pass the unit, especially since i rarely have any idea what we're actually working on. our culture component lecturer sidetracks heavily, (we spent an hour discussing what is "kanon" to literature) i'm just glad i didn't attend 80% of the lectures for culture, especially since a thursday night wikipedia skim through was enough for fridays exam.
but i found most (not all) lecturers for physics competent to an extent. maths on the other hand, andrew prentice is certainly quite the character and it is totally worth it to rock up to his lectures.
EDIT: i think chinese at monash also does not have a culture component, but i'm not 100% sure about that.
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Just curious - is it possible to do a double degree at Monash, plus a diploma of languages? Or is that considered overloading?
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Yes, the diploma adds one year onto your double degree
(a typical semester might consist of 1 subject from degree A, 2 from degree B and 1 from your diploma)
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Just curious - is it possible to do a double degree at Monash, plus a diploma of languages? Or is that considered overloading?
they don't let you do it from first year though, which sucked so hard.
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Just curious - is it possible to do a double degree at Monash, plus a diploma of languages? Or is that considered overloading?
they don't let you do it from first year though, which sucked so hard.
So if I were to do Arts/law, I could do a diploma of French alongside?
Why is it that you're not allowed to start from first year?
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Just curious - is it possible to do a double degree at Monash, plus a diploma of languages? Or is that considered overloading?
they don't let you do it from first year though, which sucked so hard.
So if I were to do Arts/law, I could do a diploma of French alongside?
Why is it that you're not allowed to start from first year?
in my case the Commerce faculty told me that they would only approve the diploma of languages if I had good grades. Of course in first year I didn't have any grades, so I would have to enrol after first year >_> I believe other faculties do the same thing, which I think is stupid.
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Just curious - is it possible to do a double degree at Monash, plus a diploma of languages? Or is that considered overloading?
they don't let you do it from first year though, which sucked so hard.
So if I were to do Arts/law, I could do a diploma of French alongside?
Why is it that you're not allowed to start from first year?
in my case the Commerce faculty told me that they would only approve the diploma of languages if I had good grades. Of course in first year I didn't have any grades, so I would have to enrol after first year >_> I believe other faculties do the same thing, which I think is stupid.
Weird. I started my diploma in first year.
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Just curious - is it possible to do a double degree at Monash, plus a diploma of languages? Or is that considered overloading?
they don't let you do it from first year though, which sucked so hard.
So if I were to do Arts/law, I could do a diploma of French alongside?
Yes as long as you're not doing French subjects in your arts degree (obviously)
I know people who started from first year too, that's a bit weird.
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Just curious - is it possible to do a double degree at Monash, plus a diploma of languages? Or is that considered overloading?
they don't let you do it from first year though, which sucked so hard.
So if I were to do Arts/law, I could do a diploma of French alongside?
Why is it that you're not allowed to start from first year?
in my case the Commerce faculty told me that they would only approve the diploma of languages if I had good grades. Of course in first year I didn't have any grades, so I would have to enrol after first year >_> I believe other faculties do the same thing, which I think is stupid.
Weird. I started my diploma in first year.
but you're in a single degree, and have spare subjects. Comm double degree students don't have left over subs...
...Unless the guy lied to me. I swear I was soooooooooooooooooo pissed when he told me. But I know someone in Comm/Law who had the same problem as me, I dunno.
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So, Japanese at monash?
I was thinking Arts/law, and in Arts major in film and Japanese, minor in French at either monash or ANU
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Just curious - is it possible to do a double degree at Monash, plus a diploma of languages? Or is that considered overloading?
they don't let you do it from first year though, which sucked so hard.
So if I were to do Arts/law, I could do a diploma of French alongside?
Yes as long as you're not doing French subjects in your arts degree (obviously)
I know people who started from first year too, that's a bit weird.
Thanks, that's good to know about the diploma (:
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Oh, and just another question, hate to be so annoying!
Clearly in for Arts/Law is 98.2, with the help of middle band my score would bump up to 98.15. I have asked this previously but does that give me a good enough chance at getting an offer or does it still remain unlikely? I realise it's difficult to guess seeing as the clearly in could increase/decrease.
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Just curious - is it possible to do a double degree at Monash, plus a diploma of languages? Or is that considered overloading?
they don't let you do it from first year though, which sucked so hard.
So if I were to do Arts/law, I could do a diploma of French alongside?
Why is it that you're not allowed to start from first year?
in my case the Commerce faculty told me that they would only approve the diploma of languages if I had good grades. Of course in first year I didn't have any grades, so I would have to enrol after first year >_> I believe other faculties do the same thing, which I think is stupid.
Weird. I started my diploma in first year.
but you're in a single degree, and have spare subjects. Comm double degree students don't have left over subs...
...Unless the guy lied to me. I swear I was soooooooooooooooooo pissed when he told me. But I know someone in Comm/Law who had the same problem as me, I dunno.
This might have been me as I answered a few questions about this from a comm/law perspective. Thing is it was the law faculty policy that stopped me taking a diploma in the first year. They said I needed a credit average after 1 year of study before I could do a diploma. Not sure what the commerce faculty's policy is.
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If I do biomed/engineering and take up french in an elective, do I actually need to pass :P
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If I do biomed/engineering and take up french in an elective, do I actually need to pass :P
Yes unless you want your GPA to look a bit.... :p
I'm sure you can pass haha.
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If I do biomed/engineering and take up french in an elective, do I actually need to pass :P
If the course actually says to take an elective, then yes because that elective counts as credit points to completing your degree, which you must have a certain amount of.
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yea I guess I would, I need to have HD standard to keep a certain scholarship I think.. SIGH, back to VCE 2.0 again.