It’s been a couple of weeks now since you made the long journey down to Poitiers, and hopefully you’re starting to settle in to your new home. However, it’s now time for one of the most important things you will do in Poitiers: Picking your courses! The whole system can seem quite confusing, but hopefully in this article there’ll be a few good tips, and some good advice that will make the process a bit easier!
In Poitiers, like in Lancaster, classes are separated according to year group, and, like Lancaster, each module has its own code which specifies its level (e.g. Codes beginning with L1 are first year, L2 are second year and so on). All of the modules available for each semester are available in the ‘Guides des Formations’ on the faculty’s website. Each module also has its ECTS credits listed in green, which makes it much easier to see what each module is worth! They’re also a lot easier to use than UPPlanning (although that will be good for building a timetable once you have the module codes!)
Although these guides are a good starting point, there are a few more tips which might make choosing from the modules list a bit easier:
Don’t be afraid to ask Madame Millon for her advice and opinion. She usually knows which modules are popular or particularly good for Erasmus students, as well as some good alternatives if that class happens to be full!
It’s good to choose culture modules that bear some resemblance to what you would study back at Lancaster, but it’s just as important to choose subjects that you’re passionate about! There are plenty of options available, from history to linguistics, literature to cinema (These two branches are very popular with Erasmus students), and each has its own variations, so don’t be afraid to take a little time before you choose!
It’s better to start out with more ECTS than you need if it’s possible – after a couple of weeks you won’t be able to start any new modules, so feel free to choose as many as you like in the beginning. This way, you’ll have a couple of weeks to figure out which modules you like the most and you’ll be able to drop some modules and finalise your timetable!
It is highly recommended to take translation courses from French to English (Known as ‘Thème’) and from English to French (known as ‘Version’). Both theme and version can be taken separately, or in one module. In the case of thème, it might be good to take a third-year module, but if you choose a module containing English to French translation, then it might be best to choose a second-year class, as it is much harder to translate from English!
If you want to practise your French speaking, or just want to try something slightly different, there are two modules that might be helpful: Tandème is an L2 module where English-speaking and French-speaking students will be separated into groups of two or three and will discuss a different topic each week in both languages. This module is great, not just for practising your French speaking skills, but to build confidence and to make friends outside of your Erasmus group! Madame Millon also teaches an interpretation module, where students interpret texts from English to French and vice versa. This class is a third-year class and therefore quite challenging, but it’s certainly a good module to consider!
And finally, if you take another language at Lancaster, or you just fancy learning something new, there are plenty of options available for studying something other than French! Classes are available for German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese – or even French Sign Language, if you want to try something completely different!
I hope that some of these tips might be useful to you, whether you’re just in Poitiers for one semester or for the whole year! It can be intimidating at the start, but hopefully this might make it just a bit easier!
[EM1]Changed from ‘at the start’ to avoid repeating ‘start’ twice in one sentence.
