BA (Hons) German Studies

Student profile

Emily Jane Coston
BA (Hons) German Studies

BA (Hons) German Studies - Coston EI originally came to Portsmouth to study Applied Languages, but I found that I enjoyed German so much I decided to switch and concentrate on just that language. It means I've studied a variety of aspects of Germany - its culture, history and politics - and my favourite units so far have been 'Politics of Post War Germany 1945-1990' and 'Comparing Extreme Right Parties in Contemporary Europe'. I'm also taking translation units, which I am really enjoying. This year (2011-12), a group of German students included myself formed a German Society; I am the secretary, which means I play a big role in the running of the society. We arrange weekly activities including film nights and informal Stammtisch evenings, to help students of all levels improve their skills in a fun and informal manner.

SLAS is a great department: you will always be given the support and feedback that you need, the lecturers are helpful and provide interesting lessons, and the library has a vast amount of books so you will almost always find the books that you need. Subject librarians can help you in greater details if you need it. And Portsmouth is a student town, so there is always something going on. You can never be bored because there are so many bars, clubs and shopping outlets; the beach, pier and commons are great in Summer. It's close enough to other places such as Southampton and Brighton and it is only 2 hours to London.

I feel a lot more confident in my German language skills now, and I have new interests, which I probably would not have discovered had I not done this course. Now I am hoping to move to Austria for a year to work as a Language Assistant, in order to further improve my German; after that, I would like to come back to the UK to train for a PGCE to teach German to secondary school pupils. I think that studying another language opens doors to other countries and cultures other than your own, and I am keen to learn more about them. I plan to travel as much as possible!