Study options

Our Modern Language provision is amongst the broadest and most diverse in the UK, featuring over 100 different subjects and combinations, all of which share certain key features.

Key facts

• There are 120 credits per year of study, including compulsory and optional course units.
• In Year 1, compulsory core language units are tailored to your ability alongside compulsory units which will introduce you to culture and society. You’ll also receive training in crucial academic skills such as critical analysis, argumentation, research and academic writing.
• There are extensive opportunities to develop expertise in areas of particular interest to you, including literature, film and popular culture, history and politics, linguistics, translation and interpreting.
• For most Single Honours students, there is an opportunity to take up to 40 credits’ worth of free choice course units per year from many subjects in the Faculty of Humanities. This includes language courses from the University Language Centre’s LEAP (Language Experience for All Programme) programme and our Flexible Honours programme.
• For most Joint Honours students, there is the possibility to weigh your studies more heavily toward one subject or the other - up to an 80/40 credit split from Year 2.
• Integrated training in transferable skills including oral and written presentations, IT skills, time management, leadership and team-working designed to enhance your employability.

Combining languages with other subjects

We offer a wide range of degree programmes combining the study of a modern language with another subject. They can be tailored to your interests and career goals, and can focus more on one subject than the other.  

You'll enjoy core language units and a wide range of optional units on topics such as cinema, history, literature, politics and translation.

Each course features residency abroad in the third year, giving you first hand experience of the language, culture, people and society of a country (or countries) where your chosen language is spoken.