<p>I don't actually need to take a foreign language to fulfill my college's language requirement, because I got an 800 on a language test. However, I've always wanted to learn a third language, and I want to do study abroad at some point. Is it worth it to take French in college, or should I just self-study it?</p>
<p>I took French 1D/1DX at UCSD. it was a 5 unit class and it was not easy by any means. In fact, I’d be hesitant to recommend taking a language at UCSD. They seem to be GPA killers.</p>
<p>Astrina (I think) noted one time that she took the grammar portion of the class pass/no pass and the conversational part of the class for a letter grade. If I could go back, I’d take this route too. It was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be, even after years of jr. high and high school french.</p>
<ol>
<li>Torrent Rosetta Stone (or find free online resources - wikiBooks is good)</li>
<li>Teach yourself French</li>
<li>Talk to French hotties up at iHouse</li>
<li>???</li>
<li>PROFIT</li>
</ol>
<p>So not having to take a language series if you scored an 800 on the sat subject test and a 5 on the Ap test also applies to Muir? I didn’t quite understand the results the way they were listed in tritonlink. And also, is Italian also very hard if you already know Spanish?</p>
<p>@ucsandiego915: I really enjoyed learning French in high school. Should I take French 1D/1DX for credit if that’s what the language placement exam recommended me to take?</p>
<p>You can use Rosetta Stone for free at the Language Lab at UCSD.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Nope; Italian shares many Spanish cognates and uses the same sentence structure. Spanish was my first language and was able to adopt a conversational level of Italian self studying with Rosetta Stone.</p>
<p>Hmm, thank you. So will I have a problem doing a semester abroad in France if I self-study French with Rosetta Stone (way ahead of you on the torrent thing ;)), but have no formal educational background in French?</p>
<p>hey ucsd915,</p>
<p>how did you do in 1d/1dx? which professor did you have?</p>
<p>@adl0816: only if your college requires foreign language credit or if you REALLY REALLY loveeeeeeeeee French. If it’s not a requirement you’ll likely resent the amount of work it requires.</p>
<p>@92faim: I got B+'s in both. The total ruin of my GPA freshman year, haha. They weren’t profs teaching it, they were like grad school TAs. One of them was like an older language instructor, I don’t know if she was even in grad school. And I honestly don’t remember either of their names haha.</p>
<p>Well I’m in Muir College and I think taking foreign language is a requirement since I need “two sequences selected from two of the following areas: Fine Arts, Humanities, or Foreign Languages.”</p>
<p>Doesn’t two sequences mean like, HILD 7A-7B or like, French 1C/1CX-1D/1DX? Can someone clarify? I’m not familiar with Muir’s requirements.</p>
<p>ucsd915,</p>
<p>how come conversation is easier? isn’t that where you speak/comprehend? for me, my written french is much better. it’s hard for me to understand common french convos (i get about 20-30% of the convo) or communicate ideas more advanced than “i went there with them last night.” i have to stop and think about the grammar, noun placement, etcetera so i don’t fathom how conversation could be easier than the grammar part, which is probably just some multiple-choice and free-response questions on the midterm(s) right?</p>
<p>@ucsandiego915: If I heard correctly from orientation, what they mean by two sequences is that I have to take a full year of the same course. So I think if I begin at 1D/1DX, I have to take the next two classes of that in order to get a full year’s credit.</p>
<p>@adl0816: that’s confusing, because 1D/1DX is the end of the road as far as French language classes go. It’s the highest course you can take. I guess you could move on to 2A/2B but that is French literature and is a completely different area. You should talk to a counselor for more info on that. Online advising is perfect for quick questions like that.</p>
<p>@92faim: it’s hard to explain why conversation is easier, but it is. I was terrible at conversational French as well but the instructors really help you learn to speak better. They’re not expecting perfection by any means, but when you’re in a small class setting with like 10 people you just get better at talking. And the grammar is difficult because there are two really hard midterms that seemingly didn’t cover what we learned, you have to learn endless conjugation charts, and they “nickel and dime” you on every aspect of every test (midterms AND finals). The entire grammar test was multiple choice, based off reading comprehension passages. Harder than it sounds. Most students I spoke with thought the grammar portion was much harder.</p>
<p>1D/1DX isn’t officially the “last” language class you can take – there’s a reason it still has the lower-division designation. i think a better way of putting it would be 1D/1DX is the last class that teaches you the basics of the language. everything beyond it is learned through application/reading/etc. you’ll still learn more of the language (obviously) and still do the occasional grammar drills, but the focus is on using the language.</p>
<p>@astrina: So if I were to take one full year of French starting with 1D/1DX, I would go 1D/1DX -> 2A -> 2B?</p>
<p>Can someone show me how to torrent rosetta stone(and other things)? Which website should I use and how do I know if its trustworthy? Do I have to make an account 'cause i’d rather not</p>
<p>edit:nvm</p>
<p>ucsd915,
thanks for the explanation. what are exams in conversation like? is it really subjective like “talk about current events for 5 minutes”?</p>
<p>btw what about taking LTFR 2A pass/no pass?</p>
<p>i’m looking for the easy way out here haha</p>