Modern languages ba (hons)

Structure

Study one, two or three languages with our highly flexible Modern Languages BA. Once we’ve received your UCAS application, we’ll get in touch to ask you for your language choices.

Single language

Study one language subject that will appear in your degree title, eg, Modern Languages (German) BA.

Choose from French, German, Russian and Spanish.

Double language

Study two language subjects combined and they will both appear in your degree title, eg, Modern Languages (French and Russian) BA.

Choose from Catalan, French, German, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. You cannot study two languages at beginner level.

Catalan and Portuguese cannot be taken together - all other language combinations are possible, depending on your level of prior knowledge.

Language as a minor subject

Add a further language as a minor subject from Year 2, alongside your main language(s). The minor subject will not appear in your degree title.

Choose from Catalan, Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, Modern Arabic, and Portuguese.

Some language combinations may be restricted for timetabling reasons. Taking a further language as a minor subject depends on a satisfactory result in your main language(s) in Year 1.

• French
• German
• Russian
• Spanish
• Catalan
• Portuguese

French

Levels: post-GCSE, post A-level, native/heritage speaker

You’ll take a French language module every year, streamed according to entry level. In your first year you’ll also take modules introducing you to French Studies and critical thinking and writing. In later years, you’ll choose from a wide range of modules.

• Paris in Art
• Translation into French

• 20th century French Thought: Violence and Values
• Art in France: Manet to Early Picasso
• Out of Place: Literature and Dislocation
• The Sounds of French
• The Story of my Life? French Autobiography and Autofiction
• Why Belgium? Identities, Cultures, Narratives

• Advanced Oral Competence in French
• French Feminist Writing
• Language and Society in the French-speaking World
• Languages in the Classroom: Teaching French
• Lovers and Libertines: 18th century French Fiction
• Modern Languages Research Project
• Narrative in Theory and Practice Proust Surrealism

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

German

Levels: beginner, post-GCSE, post A-level, native/heritage speaker

You’ll take a German language module every year, streamed according to entry level. You’ll also take a module introducing you to German Studies in Years 1 and 2, alongside your choice of optional modules.

• Austria Today
• German Film I
• Germany Today
• Heinrich von Kleist
• Introduction to the Structures and Varieties of Modern German

• Brecht and the Drama
• German Narrative Fiction: Text and Film
• German Play
• German Romanticism in its European Context
• German for Business
• The (Re-)Birth of Tragedy: Schiller, Nietzsche and other Legacies

• Advanced German for Business
• Anglo-German Cultural Relations Past and Present
• German Poetry in the 20th century
• German Sociolinguistics
• German Swiss Literature and Culture
• History of the German Language
• Languages in the Classroom: Teaching German
• Modern Languages Research Project

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Russian

Levels: beginner, post-GCSE, post A-level, native/heritage speaker

You’ll take a Russian language module every year, streamed according to entry level. You’ll also take modules introducing you to Russian Studies and Russian culture in Year 1. You’ll have a range of modules to choose from in other years.

• History of Russian
• Reading Contemporary Russia

• Contemporary Russian Film
• Russian Film: Gender and Society
• Russian Novel: Countryside and Nation
• Russian Short Stories: The 20th century
• Russian Syntax

• Styles of Russian
• Russian Novel: Crimes and Punishment
• Modern Languages Research Project

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Spanish

Levels: beginner/post-GCSE, post A-level, native/heritage speaker

You’ll take a Spanish language module every year, streamed according to entry level. You’ll also take a module introducing you to Hispanic Studies in Year 1, alongside your choice of optional modules.

• Introductory Catalan
• Introductory Portuguese
• Re-viewing the Spanish Civil War

• Colonialism and Culture in Latin America
• Cuban Poetry and Fiction: Post 1980
• Literature, Dictatorship and Cultural Memory in the Hispanic World

• Advanced Oral Competence in Spanish
• Cervantes and the Nature of Fiction
• Modern Languages Research Project
• Spanish Translation: Theory and Practice
• Subversive Humour in Modern Spanish and Latin American Literature and Film
• The Mexican Revolution and its Aftermath
• War, Humour and Love in Medieval Spanish Literature

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Catalan

Level: beginner

You’ll take a Catalan language module every year, as well as choosing modules on Catalan culture and society.

Options include:

• Catalan Culture: Art, Literature and Football
• Desire and Society in 20th century Catalan Literature
• Narrating the Catalan Nation

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Portuguese

Level: beginner, post A-level/heritage speaker

You’ll take a Portuguese language module every year, as well as choosing modules on the culture and politics of the Portuguese-speaking world.

Options include:

• Brazilian Cinema: The Social Tradition
• Brazilian Cultural Studies
• From Dictatorship to Revolution in Portugal’s Cinema
• Manoel de Oliveira: Image and Utopia in Portugal's Cinema

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Other languages

You can also take language modules in Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese or Modern Arabic.

Year abroad

You’ll spend your year abroad in a country where your main language is spoken. If you’re taking two main languages, you’ll divide your time equally between two countries.

How you spend your year abroad is up to you. You can choose from:

• studying at a university
• teaching English as a foreign language assistant
• on a work placement (with our support, or independently with our approval).

We give you extensive support and advice on arranging placements, and stay in touch while you’re abroad.

We have a large number of partner institutions across Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Portugal, Russia, Russian-speaking Latvia, Switzerland and Spain, as well as destinations outside Europe such as Columbia, Mexico and La Réunion.