Modern Languages

Studying Modern Languages provides both practical training in written and spoken language and also an extensive introduction to European literature and thought. You will learn to write and speak the language(s) fluently, and will be able to choose from a broad range of options including linguistics, film studies and advanced translation.

Modern Languages have been taught in Oxford since 1724. The faculty is one of the largest in the country, with a total intake of more than 250 students a year (including joint courses). Undergraduate students can use the Taylor Institution Library, the biggest research library in Britain devoted to modern languages.
The University’s modern and excellently equipped Language Centre (see p 12) received special praise in the last Teaching Quality Assessment. Some of its resources are specifically tailored to the needs of Modern Languages students.

Language is at the centre of the Oxford course, making up around 50% of both first year and final examinations. The course aims to teach spoken fluency in colloquial and more formal situations, the ability to write essays in the foreign language, and the ability to translate into and out of the foreign language with accuracy and sensitivity to a range of vocabulary, styles and registers.

The course also focuses on studying literature, as this study is enjoyable, personally and linguistically enriching, and intellectually challenging. It gives you an understanding of other cultures that cannot be acquired solely through learning the language, and it leads you into areas such as gender issues, popular culture, theatre studies, aesthetics, anthropology, art history, ethics, history, philosophy, politics, psychology and theology. You can either study a broad, chronological range of literature or focus your studies on the medieval, the early modern, or the modern period right up to the present day.

The course also offers a wide range of options in non-literary subjects including linguistics, philology, advanced translation and film studies.

Employers value Modern Languages graduates because they are competent in one or two languages, have acquired a range of transferable skills and have first-hand experience of other cultures. The Languages Work website has further information about careers using languages: www.languageswork.org.uk. Modern Languages graduates from Oxford regularly go into highly competitive areas such as law, management consultancy, accountancy, international press agencies, the media, advertising, the Foreign Office and the performing arts. Recent Modern Languages graduates include a business development manager for a social enterprise company, a theatre director, and a personal tax manager.

Jenny, who graduated in 2000, has been working as a translator for the Star Group in the UK since 2005. She says: ‘I spent three years in a multinational blue chip company in the fast moving consumer goods sector using my languages daily in customer account management before studying for an MSc in Translation. The rigour and challenge of Oxford’s small-group tuition, plus the practical experience of working bilingually as a teaching assistant during my year abroad in Spain provided useful foundations for my work as a professional linguist.’

Richard, who graduated in 1999, is now a content developer for Linguascope.com. He says: ‘Studying languages at Oxford gave me a real focus for the subject, which has remained a life-long obsession and opened up great career opportunities. I have combined the strong grounding my studies gave me with a passion for IT, and currently work as lead developer for the UK’s best-known language resources website for schools. Oxford set me up as a lifelong learner of languages, and the learning skills I picked up there continue to help me adapt and develop in the professional world.’

› View College options for Modern Language courses

B. = Beginners' course

Students interested in this course might also like to consider other language courses or Oriental Studies.

Click on the subject names below to see KIS data for each language of each course.