r/LSU • u/According_Walrus613 • 4d ago
Venting Required Foreign Language
My. God. The Foreign Language requirement for Humanities students has to be one of the worst, most stressful aspects of going here that I've been through so far. It's just so draining and genuinely makes me feel like a failure because I get none of it and need help 99% of the time.
Most of it is knowledge we won't retain because of how difficult it is to learn an entire new language at part of life; most of the students either cheat or have so little interest because it is only smth to graduate to them and not learn, and I feel like my professors want me to be an expert or smth. Like, I genuinely don't know if I can do this any longer.
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u/LirielsWhisper 3d ago
I took French and I actually learned a lot. Alas, I dont use it in my career so I've lost most of it, but I still dont think it was a waste.
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u/According_Walrus613 3d ago
Yeah I completely receive that. Learning anything is not a waste, and is always beneficial to know more. It’s just frustrating and I said that during venting, idk it’s just so complicated to me
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u/NapsRule563 4d ago
Idk why LSU is so fixated on making foreign language much more difficult than other classes, worth more hours.
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u/According_Walrus613 4d ago
Right like that’s my main issue. I am not a Spanish or French major, why is this stressing me out the most when I’m not gonna retain any of it. And I’m not even necessarily mad at having to take it, it’s the 4 semesters. 2 should be the max
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u/NapsRule563 4d ago
Four? That may be your major. My Tiger is in social work and had to take two semesters. They were worth four hours of credit each, but only one year’s worth of class.
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u/According_Walrus613 4d ago
Ah yes, they must be in the human sciences school. Sadly humanities have to take 2 years
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u/NapsRule563 4d ago
That makes no sense unless the plan is to get a doctorate, and most schools still have the archaic requirement of needing to be able to read analysis in original, usually foreign, languages.
Get a good tutor, and good luck.
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u/animetimeskip 4d ago
I mean yeah if you’re doing a doctorate in history I’d hope you’d know how to read the language pertinent to your doctorate
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u/zoozoo216 3d ago edited 3d ago
I have dyslexia and had it waived as an ADA request during my studies
If you do this - make sure to have a doctors note + neurology evaluation and approval from the disability center
LSU is a public university and must abide by the ADA guidance
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u/drippysoap 3d ago
The Simpson has a French dub. Just watch that constantly. Shakira is what help me learn Spanish.
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u/PathSpecial7134 3d ago
i’m doing Italian for mine and it definitely sucks but there are a lot of positives with having a language and since you’re going to be forced to take it anyways best to embrace it.
Resume will look a lot sharper, especially since you only need a few more credits after your initial and intermediate French for a minor.
You probably really just need a good couple of study sessions with your professor or alone. Use youtube videos, have AI help generate you practice questions. If you use VHL then download the grammar slides and study them religiously and use the vocab tool for flashcards. You got this shit
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u/According_Walrus613 3d ago
Thank you. Thank you. I’ve made today to start of a dedicated study that I plan on doing at least a few times a week. I’m gonna sit and just listen and write notes for French. Someone saying me not getting French may mean college isn’t for me kinda got to me 💀 Now I gotta prove them wrong
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u/sexyhotprincess69 3d ago
hah thats one of the reasons i swapped from psych to mass comm 😅
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u/According_Walrus613 3d ago
That was gonna be my backup major but I am so good at political science that all my poli classes are a breeze to me. It’s a passion of mine and I don’t wanna change my major cause of one class. (Yet at least)
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u/sexyhotprincess69 3d ago
yeah it sucks bc i truly did enjoy psych but i have never been good at learning other languages and the thought of having to tackle the next 2 advanced classes when i was barely grasping the beginner courses… i just couldnt. sucks i had to change my major from something i was enjoying bc of gen ed requirements that dont have a ton to do with the major but c’est la vie 😅
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u/Own-Ground-9975 3d ago
If you take French as a part of your foreign language requirements, I can help you depending on my schedule. French is my 1st language.
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u/According_Walrus613 3d ago
Ooh that’d be a great help if you can
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u/Own-Ground-9975 3d ago
Sure. Just reach out or send me your contact info when you need help. I'm at the law center every week day.
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u/redpowah 4d ago
Take Latin. Just take latin. You dont need to speak it, the professors are laid back (shout out Dr Barto and Dr Warga) and theres enough similarities between English and Latin that you can use context clues and guess the word.
If we didnt have to take Foreign Language, id be taking more classes related to my major.
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u/According_Walrus613 4d ago
I’m already two years into French, and it’s my third semester. Is it really worth it, because if it is I’ll take it. French genuinely has me in sweating fits of stress 💀
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u/redpowah 4d ago
Its worth it but if you've come this far in french, youre kinda stuck. LSU wants you to graduate on time and taking a W in french and then taking the 4 semesters of Latin to satisfy the credit is gonna prolong your LSU career.
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u/According_Walrus613 4d ago
Theoretically could French count as general elective hours, and I’d just take Latin along with the rest of my classes?
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u/redpowah 4d ago
Dunno. Better check with an advisor. Appointments open Friday for the following week
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u/Senditwithethan 3d ago
It's such a waste with technology now, I have a friend and Finland and although he speaks good English when I text him the auto translate is so good that it doesn't matter what he texts me in. Phone calls are getting very good too with inflection and voice
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u/Chicken_Permission22 Screen Arts, Italian minor ‘28 2d ago
Honestly, I understand. I'm trying to learn a third language (Catalan) right now and there is some blockage.
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u/According_Walrus613 2d ago
Ngl I also wished I chose a cooler language than one of the more known ones 😭 like randomly bussing out Catalan would be so cool
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u/Chicken_Permission22 Screen Arts, Italian minor ‘28 2d ago
Which language are you doing? I finished all of the main italian classes here. For me it was easier than French, but you do need to pronounced every letter, so if you haven't chosen one yet I highly recommend it, though there are only four professors that teach it.
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u/Ghomstr003 3d ago
I am in the exact same boat. No one ever understands and just says to get a tutor or talk to the professor. I have this complete mental block when it comes to language. I am a great student, but even with English I struggle with my words due to a learning related neurodivergency, idk how I could master a new language when I can’t my own. I even tried to change my major out of the humanities college to avoid the requirement but I think I’m just going to attempt foreign language for the fourth time…
def don’t listen to the people that say take Latin though. At least in my experience, it was incredibly fast paced and difficult(I was told this was mostly a professor issue and I got the ‘hard’ professor, but if your struggle with language is from memorization/application issues, Latin is the worst).
I failed online French due to talkabroad and my issues with speaking, but I might try again. Tempted to just change languages entirely to a new one, maybe something with an unfamiliar alphabet system so I can learn from scratch, but i have a feeling it wouldn’t change much. Since I see you’re also in French, could you tell what an easy intermediate french course would be? Or what professors are easier? I only need to take two semesters of FL but it’s terrible regardless.
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u/According_Walrus613 3d ago
I take online French with Vance and she’s actually very lenient in my experience with grading, she gives good feedback and if you follow it you will get an A at least on the videos that you have to submit every other week, and on the homework it’s rather straight forward or you could just google to answers( or use it to help you ofc).
Now talkabroad was relatively straight forward, I had notes on the side of my screen to help me cause I suck at remembering it. It’s just so difficult for me to remember the new rules of a completely separate language. But I pushed through and I think I did at least a high C-low B work, maybe a low A. Only complaint is that French is a language much harder to learn when not in front of someone hearing cause half the words don’t look how they sound. But if you use translate or smth before having to record anything you should be fine. You can dm if you want a full breakdown of all the tricks I learned so far.
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u/Maleficent-Road-6139 4d ago
You want to be a university graduate and know only one language? Better dop out right now.
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u/bloontsmooker 4d ago
I took Latin at 7 AM M-F and it was one of my favorite classes of all time - languages are an easy A and college may not be for you if you’re struggling with this
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u/According_Walrus613 4d ago
It’s just something I’m struggling with, I don’t think it representative of an inability to go to university as a whole
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u/bloontsmooker 4d ago
I think lowkey - super simple classes to buckle down for, expectations are really clear, generally a ton of inputted grades to help you out, near infinite extra materials to help you out if you’re struggling. Comes down to effort, and if you can’t make French shake, maybe this isn’t the right path for you?
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u/According_Walrus613 3d ago
I mean that’s subjective, and that’s a big assumption based on one class in my opinion. I passed college classes while in high school and every other class to me is a breeze, literally French is the only class I have trouble with or get a modicum of stress from. It’s learning a whole new language, that’s not simple task and for everyone.
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u/Gemmedacookie 4d ago
I’m a PhD student in the French department if you need help. I’ve taught and tutored for a long time and I understand the struggle.