parlez vous…. languages?

Hi!

I’m an American freshman in high school, and my parents are already urging me to research colleges that I’d like to apply for. U of T has been on my list for a little while now. I absolutely love Toronto- I go there every summer, and the people seem great. I’ve also heard that it is among the top list of schools in terms of language programs. (The US News website ranked University of Toronto as #7 on their list of language schools :D)

Specifically, I’m interested in education and language studies. I’m hoping to do something with either Spanish, French, Russian, or German (Can’t decide!) I’d also love to be a schoolteacher someday… I was also thinking of combining the two and teaching English abroad, or another foreign language back in the States.

In your opinion, how well is your language program? And will I be able to pursue a major/minor in education?

Thanks! (And sorry for being a clueless American minor…)
-Maddie 🙂

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Hey Maddie!

I’m glad to hear you love Toronto. Toronto rocks!

Now what do I personally think of the language program? I think it’s great! UofT is extremely supportive of immersing oneself in different cultures. I mean, we are located in the middle of Toronto, a highly diverse city, so there ya go! 🙂

But to be completely honest, I’ve never taken any language courses (aside from like… Old English), so I asked a few people that I know who have and here’s what I’ve basically gathered:

• Naturally, hard work is a necessity.
• Language courses are “rigorous” — you usually have one lecture at the beginning of the week and then a series of tutorials. Wah.
• If you don’t go to class, you can easily screw yourself over and like… fail.
• But if you do go to class, that can totally save your participation grade!
• Likewise, going to class will clarify anything the textbook might be leaving you confused over.
• You should definitely try taking a summer abroad language course.
• Admittedly, after first-year, the courses get a lot harder. But if you can make it past second-year, you’re good!
• We have a huge number of language courses.
• “Me gusta tu cara” apparently means “I like your face.”

That’ll all I’ve got! I hope that helped.

And as for a minor in Education, we offer a minor in “Education and Society,” but that’ll be open only to students in the CTEP program, which you can learn more about here.

Cheers!

aska