Today at Why Not Languages we are lucky to be hearing from Sam Hallam, who is a first year student at the University of Nottingham studying both Spanish and Russian (wow!!!). If you are thinking about going on to study Spanish, Russian or any other language at uni, check out Sam's experience of his studies so far...
How have you found the experience so far?
I am a first year Languages and Business student at the University of Nottingham. More precisely, my course is called Modern Languages with Business (BA), whereby it is split into 33% Language A (Spanish Advanced Post A-Level), 33% Language B (Russian Beginners) and 33% Business. Back when I was in Sixth Form, still searching for a suitable and enjoyable university course, we were encouraged to use a website called Unifrog to tailor our searches to what we wanted to study and where. As my course requirements were more specific than just languages, I found that there were only around 10-15 reputable and favourable universities that actually offered courses in languages with an extra subject (Also known as Joint Honours). However, if you are planning on taking a course purely in languages, you have numerous options at numerous UK universities. In light of the effects that Brexit and the Coronavirus will have on the UK’s global presence, a degree in languages is more valuable than ever, that most certainly will lead to exciting future adventures, connections, and a prosperous career…
My experience of studying languages at university has so far been incredibly positive and rewarding. Starting with my advanced language, Spanish, I will admit it has been in some ways, a steady and gradual introduction to a higher level of studying, yet in others, it really has been a sudden and mighty step up from what one would be used to in an A-Level format. The structure of how lectures are carried out in Spanish will obviously differ between universities, though at UoN it is split into 4 parts. Firstly, you have a core language module that will have a continuous and linear learning format. This includes listening, reading, and writing tasks combined, as well as a mixed bag of activities such as translations, film or text analysis, or some type of independent research or project work. Further to this, you have oral sessions with a native speaker in small groups. This promotes independent thinking and increases your confidence, knowing that in the future, you will need such levels of fluency to be able to interact in Spanish on a daily basis. Lastly, you have your Spanish history or culture module. This module is more closely tied to the history department and will require further writing and analysis skills, though it will always be interesting as it is still about your field of expertise. In semester 1, my Spanish history module was surprisingly about the Portuguese colonisation of Brazil, yet semester 2 will be about the Spanish colonisation of the rest of the Americas. The history modules are really valuable as you learn so much more about the dynamics and mindset of the target country throughout time, as well as being able to demonstrate skills in writing and source analysis.
In contrast, the beginner language that I study is Russian. As it is a beginner language, the Slavonic department has tackled the teaching of this language in a different way to make it understandable and accessible to a fresh audience. In semester 1 of Russian, we have been building on the absolute basics and foundations of the language. Each week after 4 grammar workshops, a lecture, a seminar, and an oral class, we were put to the task of building up a short presentation called ‘About Myself’. This structure of learning has been incredibly useful and logically set out so that we are provided a base to learning Russian with additional scope to go on and progress further independently. Furthermore, my Russian history module has been about the rise and fall of the Soviet Union. I have enjoyed this module the most as, in my opinion, the events that took place in the treacherous Soviet period were so unique but shocking, that it makes you view world history in a totally different perspective.
Why did you choose to study Spanish and Russian?
Starting with Spanish, I eventually never had any doubt that I wanted to study this amazing and diverse language at a higher university level. Before starting Secondary School, I had only ever experienced about an hour a week of French in Primary School, of which I could really never find the motivation or excitement for. Similarly, in Secondary School, from Year 7 to Year 9, Spanish was always one of the subjects that I saw as a burden more than an opportunity. When it came to putting us into sets and providing us with the opportunity to study a further language, which was German at the time, I was told by my teacher that I just wasn’t a ‘language student’, and instead I was made to continue with Religious Studies for the remainder of my school life. At this point, there really seemed like no hope to any sort of interest or further study of languages in my life at all, even though I had been lucky enough to travel extensively at the time, which you would think would surely be a motivator for being drawn into cultures and languages! Regardless, I was still fighting through a compulsory Spanish GCSE with a prediction of just a grade 4 at the time.
However, nothing short of a revolution started to occur in my interest in languages when, at the time, early on into my GCSE Spanish course, I started talking to and then eventually started going out with a Mexican girl. This automatically meant from then on, that I was suddenly exposed to a new way of life. I began to see and experience a different culture and mindset - The Hispanic way! Furthermore, her family spoke minimal English at the time, so it became my duty to learn Spanish in order to truly make a connection. Over the years, I attended many events and parties with the Spanish and Latin American community around my locality. This opened my eyes up to the fact that there is a huge and prosperous world out there, bigger than just our tiny island. After gradually making a large, diverse, and incredibly affable friend base with all these different Spanish speakers, I was not only putting in more effort independently to learn Spanish, but I was also surrounded constantly with opportunities to converse and thus improve on speaking and understanding. As my friendships grew and strengthened, my range of vocabulary, my confidence and my fluency were skyrocketing. From once seeing Spanish as yet another boring hour of staring at the clock in school, to me it now meant a whole new world, perspective, and lifestyle. I was soon able to understand Spanish rap, cook Mexican foods and watch and take meaning from Spanish films on cosy nights in. All this experience over time became the foundations of the open-minded, culturally inspired, and multilingual person that I consider myself today. My experiences were able to shape my personality and ambitions into something new and desirable for the future. I ended up turning the GCSE Spanish grade 4 prediction into a grade 9, and this tailored my next two years of Spanish at A-Level into a grade A.
Above all, one of the most rewarding things I have ever been able to do is go to Peru on my own in year 12 for the summer and teach English to Peruvian children in Primary Schools across the poorer areas of northern Peru. From being a student who could hardly understand his own schoolwork in Spanish, I became a young man who was able to set schoolwork to others and help them work through it, in the hope that they could one day find the spark I found in learning languages and embracing a beautiful culture that is different to their own.
Finally, and to see where my experiences have led up to, I now have a place studying Spanish at the University of Nottingham, where I have been able to find yet another community of Spanish speaking companions. I brush up and improve on my Spanish skills every day in some way, whether that be timetabled classes, reading a book, putting on my Spanish playlist in the morning, watching the news in Spanish, or even just reading the caption from a post of a famous Spanish celebrity that I follow on Instagram. My love for Hispanic culture and society will never be reshaped, and the next big challenge I will face in regard to Spanish, is my mandatory 6 months abroad in a Spanish speaking country for my university course. I consider this my first full leap to complete independence and reliance on Spanish as I will be living and breathing all aspects, every day. I have the choice to go to Spain or many destinations in Latin America, and to know that this will be happening in just a year and a half is terrifying, but also thrilling, exciting and a dream come true.
On the other hand, a fresh, new, and equally exciting journey into the Russian language and culture is currently unravelling. Since starting a university course in Russian, whenever it came up in conversation with people, most of the time I would be greeted with the exact same reaction. People are generally confused, amazed, or perplexed when they reply with the simple question - Why do you study Russian? Yet in my opinion, these are exactly the most natural and rational responses from any curious person. I will admit, it is not every day that you find an English native with any interest in what Russia has to offer, let alone proficiency in the language. I have heard such things like, “But the Russian people are so cold and emotionless!”, “The Russian alphabet looks so angry as if it’s shouting at me from the page!”, “Do you want to be a spy?” and “It’s freezing in Russia, do you think you’ll be able to handle it?” Well, despite it being true that I may have to spend all my student loan on a coat warm enough to handle Russia in the winter, I undoubtedly consider every other common stereotype about Russia a huge misconception. Before coming to university, I knew I wanted to study Spanish, and I knew I wanted to study business, but I also knew that I wanted to study a second language. After countless searches of universities that offered the three subjects combined, it came down to a handful of options. Thankfully however, likewise to Spanish, I had been lucky enough in my life to have a limited but vital insight into Russian culture from a young age.
My family’s working background is in foster care of disabled and less fortunate children, and in my home city, Peterborough, there is a scheme run every year for foster carers whereby, many young people from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine who were affected by the devastating effects of Chernobyl have the opportunity to come to the UK for the summer holidays and stay with a British family. Once the holidays are over, we send them back with suitcases full of new clothes and food. Therefore, from a young age, I had picked up the odd words and phrases here and there in Russian in order to communicate with them. I could have picked Mandarin and had unquestionably greater chances of going into business with the potential for a much higher salary when I grow up. Equally, I could have chosen another romance language and gone into the tourism industry in the sun when I grow up. But no, it was the mystery, the uniqueness, the silent beauty, and the raging curiosity of the unknown that compelled me in the end to study Russian. After roughly a quarter of a year studying it, I have gone from knowing very little to a great amount about the lifestyle, culture, geography, people, and language, of both past and modern Russia. To further break down the stereotypes that I believe the British media thrives off when portraying Russia, the supposedly ‘cold’ and ‘emotionless’ Russian people are actually incredibly generous and kind-hearted, with a direct but raw sense of true humour. The Russian sense of identity, similar to the Hispanic identity, is upheld with great pride and deep affection. Russia and its former Republics have a surprising amount of ethnic diversity and natural beauty, all the way from the dazzling cathedrals of Moscow and St. Petersburg, to the untouched snowy desert lands deep into Siberia. Lastly, to match the 6 months abroad in a Spanish speaking country, I will make up the full year in either Moscow, St. Petersburg, or Kazan.
On the face of it, I would be lying if I said I was not nervous. Like I mentioned before, Russia holds a compelling sense of the unknown to us ‘Westerners’, yet deep inside my heart, like I already have made that emotional connection with the Hispanic culture and will continue to strengthen that, my love for Russia and the former Soviet Union is starting to manifest itself in different ways, but at the end of it all, I know that with my efforts and ambitions in life, I will make great connections and friendships along the way, so that Russia equally becomes an important part of my present and my future.
To sum it all up for those who took the time to read this, I think it is crucial that you choose to study a language that you can make some kind of emotional connection with. Whether that be a love for the food, the culture and festivities, the geography and natural beauty, the music, and films or even just because you feel an urge to go out there and learn about a specific place. It is undoubtedly the gains that you will make from these experiences and interactions that you will learn from best. A natural language learning talent mixed with hard work, effort, and determination to reach out of your comfort zone and achieve, will allow you to learn more than ever instead of just forcing yourself to reel off grammar exercises and hit a stagnant and unenjoyable wall. Furthermore, do not be afraid to make mistakes on the way. Myself and every other multilingual person on this planet will tell you that perfection doesn’t come overnight. I have made countless mistakes in Spanish and Russian, I still do make mistakes in them, and I certainly will make more mistakes in the future. The beauty of the process is that you learn from every mistake in every awkward situation, proceed to see the funny side of it, then go on to never make that mistake again.
Last but not least, my final and most crucial bit of advice is to ‘live the language’! I never truly learnt and appreciated my love for languages by sitting there all day reeling off exercises out of a book like a computer. The art of learning a language comes from an intrinsic motivation to open up to a new ideology and succeed by immersing yourself into new methods. This feature is especially useful at university level as you will have colossal opportunities to get stuck into your learning and achieve that desired outcome.
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