Language abilities?

[applejuice27]

I'm in the junior year of my undergrad, and I'm seriously considering going on to grad school when I finish here. I'd like to specialize on the French Revolution. Unfortunately, my French language abilities are minimal. How realistic is it to be able to study such a field without strong French language abilities? 

[annieca]

This depends on if you want to do a MA or a PhD. This also depends on your program. This is just the technical aspect of it. The realistic bit of it comes a bit later.

 

- Some MA programs (Maryland's that I know of) doesn't require a language test for its MA students.

- Other MA programs do require a language test but it's really easy (translate 30 lines, read a 5 page article and summarize in English, 4 hours, use of a dictionary)

- PhD will generally require at least two languages by the time you start your dissertation.

 

So that's the technical side of it. You could probably get away with not knowing a ton of French and still fulfill the requirements. Do I recommend that? Absolutely, 100% no. 

 

Part of being a historian is researching widely and deeply. And delving into those primary sources. How are you going to delve into primary sources about the French Revolution if you can't read French? It doesn't have to be fluent - trust me. But you need to be able to read at the very least, at a decent level. I've heard it recommended that 2 years of an easier language will help you to pass the language exam. If you want to go on to a PhD or really delve into sources, you need more. 

 

And I'm not sure if this holds true for French history (I'm an East Europeanist myself), but more and more PhD programs are requiring two languages. If you're a medievalist, common to need 4 and this one poor girl I knew doing Mediterranean history - 6. 

 

I hope that answers your question!

[ἠφανισμένος]

I'm not a historian, but I would add that I got my French reading up to speed with French 101 + 102 and a wonderful book called French for Reading.  The classes help you with pronunciation (which is especially important for French) and with developing some spoken fluency, though not much.  They give you a jumpstart on internalizing the structures of the language.  Then go through French for Reading  starting with or after your second semester, and you'll be well on the way to reading French.  I don't mean to say that developing reading ability in French is easy, because it's not, but it is certainly doable with the right tools.

[dr. t]

I'm in the junior year of my undergrad, and I'm seriously considering going on to grad school when I finish here. I'd like to specialize on the French Revolution. Unfortunately, my French language abilities are minimal. How realistic is it to be able to study such a field without strong French language abilities? 

 

I'm not sure I understand your question. If you're asking if you will need to develop strong French language abilities to study the French Revolution, the answer is yes, and the fact that you had to ask is troubling. If you're asking if you need them to apply, then the answer would depend on the specific program and the overall strength of your application, but more is better.

[czesc]

More realtalk: as a Europeanist, you will be expected to know at least French and German by the time you take your oral/comp exams. As someone who wants to study the French Revolution, you should probably have a proficient command of French going into your PhD program. That is, unless you're only studying the response to the French Revolution in some other country - in which case that country's language assumes the greatest importance in your application - but even still, French will play a significant role.

 

Of course, as annieca mentions, when historians speak about "knowing languages" they generally only mean reading knowledge (sometimes defined as loosely as "being able to get this with the help of a dictionary"), in order to understand primary source documents. BUT as a scholar of the French revolution, expected to travel to France and attend French conferences, I would expect that you would have to attain some greater proficiency in spoken French as well.

[seaofghosts]

I'm a junior also (graduating in three semesters, including this one), and also plan on going into European history. I'll have about three years of German under my belt once I graduate (but not quite a minor), so my game plan at this point is to focus on languages during my MA. You would, theoretically, have a couple of years of coursework before beginning your dissertation in a PhD program, but it depends on the program. So you might have to go a similar route -- start French now if you can, either on your own or at your university, then go full-steam during your MA.

 

There are also immersion courses you can do over the summer, but they're pricey. I couldn't find any that fit my own needs, unfortunately, but maybe you'll be able to find one! 

[Kirialax]

I'm not a historian, but I would add that I got my French reading up to speed with French 101 + 102 and a wonderful book called French for Reading. 

I would definitely recommend that book as well. It's designed specifically for graduate students who just want to read. That said, it doesn't even going over the alphabet, and will not help you speak French at all. However, if you're just looking at reading French you're in luck because it's not really that bad. There are tens of thousands of English cognates and the word order and grammar are mostly pretty simple if you're just reading.

[Beckert]

So what about those of us who are native english speakers intrested in US history? I took french in college but was never great with it and would need to review alot. 

[czesc]

Typically Americanists need to know at least one foreign language, and they typically choose an easy European one (say, Spanish or French). This isn't as burdensome as you might think: I bet with minimal practice or even not you might be able to pass a requisite reading exam in French - being able to translate something with the aid of a dictionary is usually what a department requires. 

[dr. t]

Typically Americanists need to know at least one foreign language, and they typically choose an easy European one (say, Spanish or French). This isn't as burdensome as you might think: I bet with minimal practice or even not you might be able to pass a requisite reading exam in French - being able to translate something with the aid of a dictionary is usually what a department requires. 

Eh, I think you'll find this will depend on the department; the difficulty of language exams varies widely. If the examiner chooses a selection where the author wants to show off how great his command of the language is, you'd better know your stuff. Also, word count/time are factors which means that you still have to know vocab. The French language exams at my school are ~400 words to be done in 1 hr. 

[CageFree]

So what about those of us who are native english speakers intrested in US history? I took french in college but was never great with it and would need to review alot.

Some programs also allow Americanists to do quantitative analysis or something similar in lieu of a language, though I think this does these students a disservice, not to mention it's unfair to those of us who have to know at least one, maybe two, sometimes three or four languages.

Knowing a second language shouldn't be solely for the purposes of research... it is also an intellectual pursuit, not to mention a useful life skill. It used to be that most well-educated people could speak two or three languages; this is still the case in much of Europe.

I was in South America this past summer and was quite impressed by the number of people (most of whom were not academics) I encountered who spoke English in addition to Spanish (quite well, in fact). Not only that, but they viewed knowing a second language as a life skill.

As for the OP, it's simple. You want to study French history, learn French. Not only for reading, but also for conversation. You will likely have to go do research in France at some point and trust me, knowing how to SPEAK the local language makes EVERYTHING much easier. You can't expect archivists to know English and help you find resources.

[Beckert]

Sorry for all the newbie questions but  when are the test usually adminstered? At the interview stage, right before term starts etc? I am going to brush up on my french (thanks for the "reading for french" suggestion) and want to know how much time I have.

[czesc]

There are usually placement tests offered at the beginning of the semester (a few days before classes start) at most universities. 

 

Many of these tests are now also online and I've talked to departmental admins about arranging special seatings, so I'd imagine there's some flexibility, depending on your school, the language(s) you want to be tested in, and departmental policies.

[CageFree]

Sorry for all the newbie questions but  when are the test usually adminstered? At the interview stage, right before term starts etc? I am going to brush up on my french (thanks for the "reading for french" suggestion) and want to know how much time I have.

That is very program-dependent. In mine, you have to pass the exam(s) before you can take your qualifying exams, so you have a couple of years. Some of us took our exams right away just to get them out of the way, others are still working on their languages.