Course summary

Would you love to develop your understanding of the cultures and values of different countries and become a highly proficient linguist in the process? Taught by world-leading researchers, our flexible and exciting BA Modern Languages opens a window onto other cultures. This degree gives you the opportunity to specialise in one or two modern languages - French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish - and to study the literature, history, film, thought and visual culture associated with each language. If you study one language* you will graduate with: 

• BA French Studies

• BA German Studies, or

• BA Spanish and Latin American Studies

• Please note that Italian and Japanese can currently only be taken with another language.

• The study of languages allows you to better understand other people and cultures.

• The development of advanced communication skills and intercultural awareness is a key employability skill.

• If you are interested in comparative literature and culture, you will find plenty of opportunities to develop this interest alongside modules which focus on specific languages.

• The International Experience pathway gives you the chance to spend a year abroad studying at one of Birkbeck’s partner universities in France, Germany, Italy, Japan or Spain.

• Ours is a community of scholars with shared interests in interdisciplinary topics and cross-cultural research. Our affiliated research centres, the Centre for French, Francophone and Comparative Studies, the Centre for Iberian and Latin American Visual Studies and Birkbeck’s Eighteenth-Century Research Group provide an important platform for this exchange.

• We are surrounded by cultural institutes such as the Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies (at Senate House), the Goethe Institute, Institut Français, Instituto Cervantes, and Japan House London.

• We also offer combined language courses in which you can study another subject along with a language and its culture, e.g. art history, English, law, linguistics, journalism, politics and digital media.

• a sophisticated use of written and spoken English

• a high or near-native competence in one or two foreign languages

• a heightened awareness of how to interact with people from foreign countries linguistically and culturally

• increased confidence to present complex issues

• the ability to analyse critically literary texts, films, visual art and cultural artefacts.

• teaching languages

• banking and finance

• publishing

• journalism

• the Civil Service

• translation

• diplomacy

• international relations

• the cultural sector

• further study and research.