Learning a language on top of a bachelor

[Geoo]

Hello,

So I have always wanted to learn a language, and started doing learning some at home in my free time. Language wasn't offered at my school, so I never got a chance to do it in highschool.

I would like to do a language (maybe chinese, russian or korean) on top of a bachelor of science. Here is where I get a bit confused. Do I study the language as a diploma on the side? Or as a breadth subject like at Melbourne uni? Do a do a double degree? Do I do it as a minor? Can I do a Major and a minor at the same time?

I have my heart set on monash, and I don't know what their equivalent of a breadth subject is, but I am just wondering how that all works, and how to go about it.
Thanks.

[Bri MT]

At Monash there isn't breadth but you get elective units & you can choose whether you want to spend those electives on something inside or outside your faculty.  It's best to check the course handbook to see how many electives you get and how flexible they are.  Generally,  you're most likely to have high flexibility with a generalist single degree.

I'm completing a major (ecology & conservation biology) and a minor (math stats) - this semester I'll complete the requirements for a minor in both and then next year I'll do more biology units to meet the requirements for a major in ecology and conservation biology. Hope this makes sense/helps

The option you pick will determine how much you focus on that language and spend time learning it so it's worth thinking about how much you want to commit. 

[Remy33]

Monash has a Diploma of Languages which you can do alongside your degree, but it'll add one extra year to the duration of your course. So for example if you did bachelor of science it'll take 3 years, but with a Dip Lang it'll take 4. Russian is not offered if you do Dip Lang, but Chinese and Korean are.

Link to info on Diploma of Languages -- http://www.monash.edu/pubs/2019handbooks/courses/A0501.html

You can decide whether or not to do a language as a major/minor/elective or as a part of a diploma. Only diploma would add an extra year. However, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be able to major or minor in a language if you did bachelor of science, as languages are a part of the arts faculty. You can always do a science/arts double degree and major in a language for arts. Hope that answers your question.

[Bri MT]

Monash has a Diploma of Languages which you can do alongside your degree, but it'll add one extra year to the duration of your course. So for example if you did bachelor of science it'll take 3 years, but with a Dip Lang it'll take 4. Russian is not offered if you do Dip Lang, but Chinese and Korean are.

Link to info on Diploma of Languages -- http://www.monash.edu/pubs/2019handbooks/courses/A0501.html

You can decide whether or not to do a language as a major/minor/elective or as a part of a diploma. Only diploma would add an extra year. However, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be able to major or minor in a language if you did bachelor of science, as languages are a part of the arts faculty. You can always do a science/arts double degree and major in a language for arts. Hope that answers your question.

I'm not sure where you got the extra year being added to your course from, my understanding was different. (Admittedly I haven't looked too deeply into it but) I'm pretty sure that you would only do an extra unit if required due to insufficient space in your course map and not a full year.

[Remy33]

I'm not sure where you got the extra year being added to your course from, my understanding was different. (Admittedly I haven't looked too deeply into it but) I'm pretty sure that you would only do an extra unit if required due to insufficient space in your course map and not a full year.

I'm not too sure if I've interpreted this correctly, but in the handbook it says the standard duration for Dip Lang is 1 year full time, so I assume it's an additional year on top of the bachelor's degree.

Though I have no personal experience with doing this course so I can't guarantee if that's accurate.

[Bri MT]

I'm not too sure if I've interpreted this correctly, but in the handbook it says the standard duration for Dip Lang is 1 year full time, so I assume it's an additional year on top of the bachelor's degree.

Though I have no personal experience with doing this course so I can't guarantee if that's accurate.

Ok,  I can see how you would interpret it in that way. 

There are 4 units in a semester and each unit is 6 points (usually).

The diploma of languages is 48 points. 48/6 = 8. 8 units = 2 semesters full time = 1 year full time. 

Generally people would integrate these 8 units throughout their entire course using the elective spaces they have available - so not adding another year.

[Remy33]

Ok,  I can see how you would interpret it in that way. 

There are 4 units in a semester and each unit is 6 points (usually).

The diploma of languages is 48 points. 48/6 = 8. 8 units = 2 semesters full time = 1 year full time. 

Generally people would integrate these 8 units throughout their entire course using the elective spaces they have available - so not adding another year.

Ah, that makes sense. Sorry if I caused any confusion. Thanks for the clarification

(Also checked the handbook again, it says 1 year full time, studied part-time over a period of 2~3 years along with the undergraduate degree, so you're right, it wouldn't add another year. Misunderstanding on my part.)

[AngelWings]

Hello,

So I have always wanted to learn a language, and started doing learning some at home in my free time. Language wasn't offered at my school, so I never got a chance to do it in highschool.

I would like to do a language (maybe chinese, russian or korean) on top of a bachelor of science. Here is where I get a bit confused. Do I study the language as a diploma on the side? Or as a breadth subject like at Melbourne uni? Do a do a double degree? Do I do it as a minor? Can I do a Major and a minor at the same time?

I have my heart set on monash, and I don't know what their equivalent of a breadth subject is, but I am just wondering how that all works, and how to go about it.
Thanks.

I studied the Bachelor of Science (no frills), studying an extended major in genetics and minored in chemistry and Japanese (and then went on to do the Bachelor of Science (Hons) last year). I did the Japanese minor using 4 of my electives, which is effectively the same as Melbourne Uni’s breadths subjects (although as, I think, Bri mentioned, electives can be from within or outside the science faculty, unlike Melbourne, so the course is a bit more flexible).

There’s quite a number of options. I’ll answer that paragraph of questions in the middle and go through the options simultaneously.
1. Diploma of Languages - this has been discussed above, so I won’t delve into that. Basically it adds an extra qualification, if that’s what you wish.
2. If you’re only wanting to do the language and no other arts units (subjects), then double degree sounds like a bad idea. If you want to do arts units and languages, then BA/Sci double degree might be right up your alley. Depends on you and what you want.
3. Minor in a LOTE is possible if you have 4 units spare. These can be electives or not, depending on your degree. For a number of these, you can take a combo of language and culture for your minor (at Monash, culture units are where you learn about the culture, which, depending on the unit, may be conducted in English or the LOTE you’ve picked). I simply did 4 language units (Japanese Internediate and Proficient) and survived to tell the tale.
4. Did you mean a major in the science faculty and minor in the arts faculty (in a LOTE)? If so, yes. That’s what I’ve done. Did you mean a major in the LOTE and a minor in the science? Not if you’re doing a single BSci degree. If you’re doing a BA/Sci double degree, then I think it was you can do a major in each faculty and a minor in both faculties, but can’t double minor in science due to space. Not 100% sure if I understood what you meant by that question.
5. Other options: you can choose to take as many elective units’ worth of LOTE as you like, so doing 1-3 units of LOTE is fine also, but won’t get you a minor. You can also do more than 4 if you have that many elective units (and both science and arts facilities allow you to), but you won’t be able to satisfy a major in the LOTE if you’re doing the single BSci. Apart from these, I can’t think of any more options using a BSci single degree and LOTE units, unless you choose to do a Graduate Diploma in them (which I don’t think is what you’re after, as this is postgrad studies and it’ll be the Grad Dip of Languages as found from the options at  this link).

If you’d like to see how it would work, either PM me or have a look at this course map for the BSci single degree at Monash. If you were interested in the BA/BSci double degree, you can see the course map here.

[Geoo]

Thank you all so much for your responses, this really helps!

I think what ill end up doing is majoring in Biochem, don't know my other science minor, and them do a minor in Korean or Chinese studies. 
Still a bit bummed the monash doesn't do Russian, but oh well, i'll just try to learn at home.

I will look into the diploma of languages a bit more, since I have seen it on the website in the courses section, so I need to do a bit of investigating.