Breadth Languages?

[mikee65]

Im considering doing one language as apart of breadth subjects, either Latin or Spanish. Has anyone done either, were they hard? Take up too much time? hard to get a decent grade in?

thanks

[eeps]

I'm doing Latin currently. I wouldn't say it's hard, depending where you're starting from. The basics of Latin are very easy and can be done in minimal time. It's not hard if you put in the effort and work. VCE Latin may be done differently to doing Latin in uni, so I can't really say if it's hard to get a decent grade. Also, I don't know how deep Latin goes into when you're in uni.

Are you starting from scratch?..

[rustic_metal]

I study Japanese. It's very fast paced and there's a lot to remember (beginners subjects are generally all of high school in first year), but if you study very regularly you'll be all right doing a language. I don't really study at all until swotvac, so I'm...less all right hahaha.

[dptjandra]

I'm about to do Intermediate Latin next year - but I did Latin in VCE, so I didn't do Latin A and Latin B.  People have told me they enjoy Latin A and Latin B if you're starting from scratch, but I think it is quite demanding.  I've looked at the grammar they do, and it is basically the amount I learnt in 4 years (granted, covered quite slowly in school) in the space of 24 weeks (with 3 lectures a week if you go for the whole year - you do have several breaks to catch up though).  You do that much in 6 weeks if you do the summer intensive!!  However, I've been told it's marked reasonably fairly, it's a small class so everything's marked by the lecturer, she's very accessible.  If you're good with very structured subjects, I suspect you'll be good at Latin because although there is some rote learning, it becomes very structured after that - for a language, barely subjective at all.  Probably quite manageable if you made sure to spend an hour or two reinforcing few nights.

I've heard lots of good things about Spanish too though - apparently quite easy to pick up.  Grade-wise I think quite reasonable.  Sorry I don't know more about that.

In short, both are meant to be quite enjoyable, not exceptionally easy (there are easier breadths out there, admittedly), grades not bad (from my soon-to-be lecturer in Intermediate Latin, you hand in weekly sheets, but he only takes the best 8 marks for your final mark (for 12 weeks)).  Might not help you pick between them, but both sound like winners to me!

[mikee65]

I'm about to do Intermediate Latin next year - but I did Latin in VCE, so I didn't do Latin A and Latin B.  People have told me they enjoy Latin A and Latin B if you're starting from scratch, but I think it is quite demanding.  I've looked at the grammar they do, and it is basically the amount I learnt in 4 years (granted, covered quite slowly in school) in the space of 24 weeks (with 3 lectures a week if you go for the whole year - you do have several breaks to catch up though).  You do that much in 6 weeks if you do the summer intensive!!  However, I've been told it's marked reasonably fairly, it's a small class so everything's marked by the lecturer, she's very accessible.  If you're good with very structured subjects, I suspect you'll be good at Latin because although there is some rote learning, it becomes very structured after that - for a language, barely subjective at all.  Probably quite manageable if you made sure to spend an hour or two reinforcing few nights.

I've heard lots of good things about Spanish too though - apparently quite easy to pick up.  Grade-wise I think quite reasonable.  Sorry I don't know more about that.

In short, both are meant to be quite enjoyable, not exceptionally easy (there are easier breadths out there, admittedly), grades not bad (from my soon-to-be lecturer in Intermediate Latin, you hand in weekly sheets, but he only takes the best 8 marks for your final mark (for 12 weeks)).  Might not help you pick between them, but both sound like winners to me!

thanks, I am starting from scratch. I can imagine learning a new language requires commitment. Would you feel that the time necessary would flood into crucial time needed for other subs?

[dptjandra]

I would say it depends on your degree quite a bit.  However, I've found that learning for uni is quite a different strategy to learning for high school or VCE.  Especially with heavily content based subjects, it is a lot more about understanding the content as it is introduced then cramming it later before assessment.  Trying to completely memorise everything from start to finish is pretty damn time consuming - as long as you understand, you'll be able to memorise later (especially with biology).  Maths is a bit different - tends to be learn and adapt as you go.  Latin would also be like that - you need to work consistently, but I don't think revision would take as long.  In that sense, since the concentration of study for each subject is a bit different at different times, you'd probably be all right.  Also, you get much less work to do in Uni generally (I found I had a lot more time)...you'll probably want a bit of this for taking a break, but at the same time, there is ample time available to grapple with Latin, I reckon.

[mikee65]

I would say it depends on your degree quite a bit.  However, I've found that learning for uni is quite a different strategy to learning for high school or VCE.  Especially with heavily content based subjects, it is a lot more about understanding the content as it is introduced then cramming it later before assessment.  Trying to completely memorise everything from start to finish is pretty damn time consuming - as long as you understand, you'll be able to memorise later (especially with biology).  Maths is a bit different - tends to be learn and adapt as you go.  Latin would also be like that - you need to work consistently, but I don't think revision would take as long.  In that sense, since the concentration of study for each subject is a bit different at different times, you'd probably be all right.  Also, you get much less work to do in Uni generally (I found I had a lot more time)...you'll probably want a bit of this for taking a break, but at the same time, there is ample time available to grapple with Latin, I reckon.

mm yea im tossing up bw latin and spanish, ill hardly ever use latin after uni probably forget it, spanish could be more practical