Hi all,

For those of you that have taken language courses I would really appreciate your help on this. I am thinking about taking two languages this year as part of my 30 unit course load. These two languages are both "beginners intensive". Would you recommend taking two radically different language courses for someone not focusing on languages (Poli Sci & CMST major)? Also, while I am able to speak,read, and write in English I don't formally know all the grammatical rules, would this be a big problem?


I am fluent in another Slavic language though, so Russian wouldn't be as difficult but taking two seems like quite a challenge. I appreciate any and all comments.

I am thinking about taking Russian and Mandarin (Chinese).

One thing to think about is that two languages will really limit what other electives you can take (if any) - they'll account for 12 units together.

I took French last year, and, like you, I don't know all the formal parts of grammar. The prof I had (Dr. Banks) was really good at explaining what each part does though, so it wasn't an issue for me.

Haha, I could tell you that most people probably don't know the formal grammatical rules for English -- they stop teaching that stuff way before middle school if I can recall correctly. One of my friends who came to Canada a few years after he was born, English wasn't his first language, and yet he knew more rules than me, a native speaker.

I also had French, and it wasn't a problem. They go through everything meticulously, and if it's a beginner's class, they are sure to do so. Having some experience where Russian is concerned will be a huge help to you. I was also taking Linguistics, which is related to languages, but I think that helped for like a week of class when we were focusing on relative clauses. ;] Don't worry about not taking related stuff.

I would think it's possible to do both languages, you just have to keep up with the work. Language courses are not ones where you can just do the assignments, and forget it like yesterday's trash. But like previously mentioned, 12 units is a lot, so keep that in mind. :] That was sorta long winded, but alas, I had time on my hands hehe.

Thank you both! I have decided against it this year only because I can get all my required courses out the way (except 4th year courses). This is good because there is almost no course that I would take this year that isn't recommended (whether by itself or as part of a group).

The elective shortage is something that I have kept in mind. It is not a problem though, I love what I am in.

That said, languages are fun to learn but I guess I will just have to stick with working on my skills at home via Rosetta Stone.

Thanks again!

This year I have to do the same thing.. there's too many other electives I want to take (plus the courses I have to take) so I'm not taking French

My only suggestion is to avoid languages in the same groupings -- when I was taking Spanish I kept mixing it and my French up. Very annoying. But I didn't mix up any Ojibwe with another language!

Sorry to break it to you, but Russian doesn't appear to be offered this year, so your out of luck with Slavic languages :p.

As to this new Mandarin class, I've heard that they do some intense screening to make sure no international students from China get in there for an easy grade. If you know pretty much any languages even slightly related to Mandarin, they'll tell you you're too good, lol. Just something I found interesting. :p

I took beginners German last school year. If you'd like to know about it, I wrote a review on it in the course reviews.

EDIT: I checked again... looks like part 1 of beginners Russian is offered, but not part two.... weird. Also, be aware.. it's ridiculously hard to get into language courses since they tend to have few spaces.

Originally Posted by lorend

My only suggestion is to avoid languages in the same groupings -- when I was taking Spanish I kept mixing it and my French up. Very annoying. But I didn't mix up any Ojibwe with another language!

Haha, that's the very reason I decided against taking Spanish. I remember when my friends were taking Spanish in highschool, and I could read most of it coming from a French background. Pretty crazy.

Originally Posted by Ownaginatios

Sorry to break it to you, but Russian doesn't appear to be offered this year, so your out of luck with Slavic languages :p.

As to this new Mandarin class, I've heard that they do some intense screening to make sure no international students from China get in there for an easy grade. If you know pretty much any languages even slightly related to Mandarin, they'll tell you you're too good, lol. Just something I found interesting. :p

I took beginners German last school year. If you'd like to know about it, I wrote a review on it in the course reviews.

EDIT: I checked again... looks like part 1 of beginners Russian is offered, but not part two.... weird. Also, be aware.. it's ridiculously hard to get into language courses since they tend to have few spaces.

Entrance shouldn't be a problem... I will be up all day on the 17th due to my cousins coming from Europe. Ahh, nothing like picking courses at 3 AM at Pearson Int'l .

Mandarin requires strict policies like that, but there is one for dialect speakers so they can still do well there. If I knew Mandarin I would still try to get in, lol.

I'm a first year student and I would like to take French 1AO6 as elective course. If i'm not wrong, it's for the two terms. But if i take a course for only one term, do I have to choose another elective course for the 2nd term?

Originally Posted by tan_90

I'm a first year student and I would like to take French 1AO6 as elective course. If i'm not wrong, it's for the two terms. But if i take a course for only one term, do I have to choose another elective course for the 2nd term?

Well, yes. If you're deciding on your last 6 units, to make up your total of 30 units, you can either take two classes that are worth 3 units each or one class worth 6.

When you take these classes, in the case of the 3 unit classes, is upto you: you can take them both in one term depending on which term they're in.

Just remember that you have to have 15 units per term. So that means you could have five classes each term (All 3 unit courses), or as little as five classes for the whole year (All 6 unit courses). Hahah I hope that makes sense.

If you didn't take French 1A06, you'd either have to take another course worth 6 units, or two worth 3 units. You can tell how many units a course is worth by the number at the end of the code (1A06 = 6 units, 1A03 = 3 units). All that matters is that you have the right number of units of electives for your program.

Thanks!!! I understand it better now...So if lets say i want to take French 1AO6 which is for term 1 and 2 and then Communication st 1AO3 which is only for 1st term, I have to take another course in the 2nd term right? ( Bec communication is for only one term).

Originally Posted by tan_90

Thanks!!! I understand it better now...So if lets say i want to take French 1AO6 which is for term 1 and 2 and then Communication st 1AO3 which is only for 1st term, I have to take another course in the 2nd term right? ( Bec communication is for only one term).

Yeah, say French 1A06 is the only course you take that's worth the 6 units.

Then you have to take 4 three-unit courses in first term, as well as second term. Make sure you figure out your required courses first and then move onto electives.