French and Spanish at Strathclyde is a very practical degree. We have worked on modules that give us the chance to learn a wide range of vocabulary such as: slavery, politics, films, and recent history, and we also focus on specific aspects of grammar at a time. In addition to this, we also have culture classes where we learn not just about France and Spain but French and Spanish speaking countries like Belgium and Mexico for example and the kinds of things that they have to offer the world such as literature, music, art, TV and film and their history!

Another thing that I really like about studying a language at Strathclyde is that, no matter your degree, if you study a language then your undergrad lasts 5 years as opposed to other Scottish universities where it remains 4 years. This means that it didn’t take away from any of my class time prior to my year abroad, but if you study 2 languages at Strath then you can have 2 years abroad (in your 3rd and 4th year).

As a language student, I’d also say that there is a good amount of international students here as well which is handy if you want to practice with native speakers. We also have hundreds of societies and I know at least 2 of them are language-based. I am yet to graduate, but a lot of the people that I know, who have graduated before me, seem to have found employment quite quickly after they finished their studies.

But that’s not to say that it’s all sunshine and roses here, I’ve found some lecturers to not be very engaging and at times, not very helpful. Plus, the amount of lecturer strikes that we’ve had in recent years means that I’ve not had the full education that I was promised as a prospective student for my first year in 2018-19. Plus the fact that I find the lack of variety in my potential dissertation supervisors to be rather disheartening. Out of the 4 people that I could have as my supervisor: one specialises in Colonial France, another in translation (but has a particular interest in holocaust and museum exhibition translations), another in French history since 1789, and the last one in Belgian and Feminist literature. This means that I will effectively have to choose a dissertation topic about history or literature which annoys me a fair amount as I would have absolutely loved to have had a focus on film.

But to sum it up; I would definitely recommend this degree to a prospective student. I have found my time at Strathclyde to be enjoyable for the most part and the course material has met my expectations thus far with the exception of the dissertation supervisors, although it is my understanding that they change every year, I think the most enjoyable part of the degree has been my oral classes (speaking and listening) as I consider myself to be a very outgoing person so I would never turn down a chat and this gives me a great opportunity to hone those skills.