“Persevere with things and reap the rewards.”
James Edwards
Course: BA Modern Language Studies (fourth year)
“One of the reasons I wanted to come here was because I wanted to study as many languages as possible! Nottingham offered me that opportunity with a degree in Modern Language Studies, which included the chance to study a language from beginners’ level and a compulsory year abroad. I also liked the idea of being able to choose non-language-based modules in areas that interested me, such as translation, film or history.
Facilities at The University of Nottingham are high-class and perfectly designed for language learning. I find the Language Centre at the University particularly useful and the state-of-the-art equipment there is brilliant for private language study.
One of my favourite modules was Introduction to
Translation – an excellent introduction to studying
translation from and into the French language. We were
able to work with a variety of texts ranging from legal to
financial; journalistic to literary; and even subtitling of
films, which I found particularly interesting.
Equally enjoyable was Fremdsprachen lehren und lernen,
which concentrated on learning and teaching modern
foreign languages. We studied a variety of teaching
methods, concentrating on which methods suited different
types of learners, when each method was used, and how
they have been perceived over time.
In the third year of the course, I spent time in three
different countries: I worked as an English language
assistant in Austria for four months; I studied in Spain for
five months; and I did a three-month work placement as a
hotel receptionist in France. Each of the three placements
offered memorable cultural experiences which will stay with
me forever, as well as the opportunity to improve
competency in my three languages.
After I graduate, I’m going to do a Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) at Nottingham in order to become a teacher. There’s no doubt my degree has helped me to develop transferable skills such as communication, through lively oral classes; self-confidence; and organisation."