<p>I seem to be a magnet for these things. Last semester, English 110 was canceled about a week before the semester began. I had to crash another English course in order to fill the gap.</p>
<p>This following fall has already caused me problems. First, the section of French 1 I had signed up for was canceled. Now? The Celtic Studies class I was in has been canceled.</p>
<p>I'm not sure exactly why this keeps happening, but my bet for this semester lays with the funding issues. <em>shakes fist</em></p>
<p>Anyway, I need to fill that gap again.</p>
<p>I know for sure I am taking French 1 and Latin 100. I will also be doing an independent thesis project with one of my English professors. I have a couple of classes I could fill the last number of units I need (I'll be at 11-13 units before adding in another). </p>
<p>My options:</p>
<p>Take German 1 on a MW schedule (though TTh and M-F are also available). My hesitation: Three languages and a thesis project seems pretty damn overwhelming. Has anyone had experience studying multiple languages concurrently?</p>
<p>Take English 110 TuTh 930-11. My hesitation: it's taught by the same professor supervising my thesis project and... well... it's in the AM! I know that's a lame reason. This one's probably the most likely.</p>
<p>Find some other class. Not sure which. There are other things I could and maybe even should take, but none of them seem terribly appealing -- take a medieval history course, a medieval Scandinavian course, something like that. </p>
<p>On the plus side, all my GEs and major requirements and stuff are done, so I get to pick whatever I feel like taking! On the negative side, I'm going to be applying for an English PhD after graduation, so I'm trying to balance "schedule showing I know my stuff" with "need good grades."</p>
<p>Any advice?</p>
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<p>I really wonder how much this has to do with budget cuts...</p>
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[quote]
Take German 1 on a MW schedule (though TTh and M-F are also available). My hesitation: Three languages and a thesis project seems pretty damn overwhelming. Has anyone had experience studying multiple languages concurrently?</p>
<p>Take English 110 TuTh 930-11. My hesitation: it's taught by the same professor supervising my thesis project and... well... it's in the AM! I know that's a lame reason. This one's probably the most likely.</p>
<p>Find some other class. Not sure which. There are other things I could and maybe even should take, but none of them seem terribly appealing -- take a medieval history course, a medieval Scandinavian course, something like that.
[/quote]
I would go for option 2 or 3. Three language classes sounds like a killer. Surely you can find something interesting not exactly related to your field. I took a demography class...quite interesting...oh, and it was a small class (about 15-20) with some grad students...how's that for a huge public university?...;)</p>
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<p>It might not, but the classes in question (except French 1) are fairly low demand. The Celtic Studies course was Old & Middle Irish, and the canceled English class was Medieval Literature (though I also know that one was canceled for an administrative mix-up, not budget). They tend not to be terribly popular (in fact, the Old & Middle Irish class only had 2 people enrolled out of 12 people possible) so they can seem a bit like a waste of resources.</p>
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[quote=UCBChemEGrad]
I would go for option 2 or 3. Three language classes sounds like a killer. Surely you can find something interesting not exactly related to your field. I took a demography class...quite interesting...oh, and it was a small class (about 15-20) with some grad students...how's that for a huge public university?...
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<p>Yeah, 3 languages at the same time does not sound like my idea of a fun semester. I was going to take Old & Middle Irish because taking old languages is surprisingly less homework intensive than conversational modern languages. Having French 1 and German 1 might be too much where French 1 and O&MI would have been difficult but doable.</p>
<p>I am sure I could find something interesting outside of my field, but there's the question of whether I should. It helps me study when I am taking related things, so as interested as I might be in a course from a science department, for example, it's a lot harder to relate zoology to verb conjugation.</p>
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<p>ughh. that's a very good point. boo budget cuts!</p>
<p>I'm an intended IB/Latin double major. Latin 1 better not get cancelled on me for fall.</p>
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<p>Not gonna happen. The Classics Department has a sizable private endowment, believe it or not, thanks to some generous donations earmarked specifically for that department. Even if they only have 3 students enrolled, they’ll still be holding it.</p>
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<p>As a former English major who dabbled (a LOT) in foreign languages, all I can say is, while it's possible, DON'T DO IT! Instead of the German 1 class, consider a nice lit class that reveals the secrets to some author or books that you have not had the opportunity to crack. </p>
<p>I did take French 2 simultaneously with German 1 because, at the time, I was planning on taking a year off to study in France and travel western Europe. For me, languages were (and to an extent, still are) a passion. Yet, I found that taking both simultaneously, as different as they are, I began to mix them up during exams. I remember it getting really bad as I learned to -- I think it was called declining verbs in German. I was then reminded of that little Mark Twain essay, "The Awful German Language", and realized he was right.</p>
<p>In the end. it worked out fine, and to this day, I still remember how to say "I have a lemon tree in my little garden" in German, and can order a train ticket to Munich, and a meal in Berlin.</p>
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<p>Taking French 3 and Latin 1 in the Fall.
Wish me luck.
Need Latin for my major and French to get into a paleontology grad program</p>
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<p>Thanks for your experience, UCLA77 – mixing things up on exams is exactly what I’m worried about, particularly since I’m taking the beginnings of both languages. I took 2 years of French in high school (which means the last time I studied French was about 6 years ago, hahah) so it’s not ENTIRELY new to me, but… yeah.</p>
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<p>Good luck! I like the way that Berkeley teaches Latin and I really enjoyed it. Would’ve enjoyed this semester more if I hadn’t taken Latin 1 the previous spring (thus leaving me 1 year in between 1 and 2). Please, for the love of all that’s holy, take them sequentially or at least make sure to study solidly before beginning the next sequence again. :P</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>I’ve taken 3 semesters of Italian, 2 semesters of Latin, and 1 semester of Old English and that’s it for my foreign languages. Italian turned out to be even more useless than I thought, unfortunately, so while I could push that into fluency, I feel more comfortable pushing to gain French before grad school as 90% of the grad programs I’ve looked at want French or German and Latin.</p>
<p>I’m going to keep an eye out for other courses that I can take. After my experience with American lit this semester, I’m hesitant to branch too far out of my specialty, but… well… if I intend to go to grad school for an English PhD, I guess I’m sort of going to have to get used to it, aren’t I? :P</p>
<p>Thanks for your input. If anyone else has any experiences to share, feel free! Phase II isn’t until late July…</p>