Monthly Archives: December 2022

Student life, Studying at Oxford

Celebrating Oxmas!

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Continuing our festive theme from last week, in this week’s blog post, Emma (first-year undergraduate at St Hilda’s College studying German and Linguistics) tells us all about Oxmas!

Due to the shorter 8-week terms at the University of Oxford, students head home for their winter vacation on the first weekend of December. Although this might be reason to believe that the festive period doesn’t overlap with term time, ‘Oxmas’ is Oxford University’s popular take on the festive season. Oxmas allows staff and students to come together and celebrate over the final week or two of Michaelmas (Autumn) term. The events act as a guiding light to help everyone over the finish line of what has, no doubt, been a tiring couple of months.

St Hilda’s Christmas tree

On a surprisingly mild November evening, as 6th week was drawing to a close, staff, students and locals gathered along the High Street in Oxford to watch the Christmas lights get switched on. Twinkling stars, snowflakes and sheets of golden light now illuminated Oxford as darkness began to fall earlier each day. It was at this point in term that wonderfully decorated and beautifully coordinated Christmas trees were starting to pop up, as if by magic, by some of the University’s many departments and in all of Oxford’s 39 colleges.

Christ Church main dining hall

For me, Oxmas truly started on Monday 21st November, when I was lucky enough to go to Oxford University German Society’s Christmas Dinner. As a German and Linguistics student, I have been attending German Society events all term, including the college bar crawl, Kaffee und Kuchen and Oxtoberfest – Just to name a few! German society at Oxford is a lively hub of community spirit and cultural celebration, brought to life by native Germans and German enthusiasts alike. The events offer an opportunity for people learning the language to fully immerse themselves in fast-paced German conversation and are a time for native speakers to chat to others about shared experiences of coming to study in the UK. The Christmas Dinner was held in the McKenna Room of Christ Church College and included a festive drinks reception and a delicious three course meal, followed by coffee and chocolate. Weihnachtslieder were interspersed between each course: Everyone joined in with renditions of the classic German carols ‘O du fröhliche’, ‘Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht’ and ‘Alle Jahre wieder’. After the meal, we moved across to Christ Church’s main dining hall (used as inspiration for The Great Hall in Harry Potter) and ended the evening with some Christmas Poetry, read aloud in German.

St Hilda’s Anniversary Tower

On Friday of that same week, the Linguistics students at my college were invited to a ‘Chrismukkah’ get-together. This was a chance to celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas whilst catching up with fellow Linguistics students and tutors about the joys and challenges that Michaelmas term had brought so far. An inviting spread of doughnuts, stollen, nibbles and drinks awaited us in St Hilda’s Anniversary Tower, which was lit up by a colourful light display.

The final week of term soon raced around and was jam-packed full of Oxmas spirit. Carols rang out across the city: Choirs performed in the University Church and in each of the colleges. St Hilda’s hosted their very own ‘Carols on the Stairs’, where members of the college came together on a crisp winter’s evening to enjoy festive treats while the talented choir put on a brilliant performance. Each college also celebrated by holding an Oxmas-themed formal dinner; students and staff dressed up in formalwear, pulled Christmas crackers and were served tasty food. Tickets for these formals sold out within seconds, which led to festivities being extended to a further Christmas lunch on the final day of term in many of the colleges, such as at St Hilda’s. What better way to mark the last day before saying goodbye to your friends for the winter vacation!

Perhaps the strangest aspect of ‘Oxmas’ is that students arrive home on the first weekend of December brimming with Christmas cheer… Only to find that everyone else has just begun their advent calendars!

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We wish all our readers a wonderful break with friends and family over the festive period – see you back here in the new year!

Italian, Italian culture

Gifts from Santa Lucia

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Present-giving around the turn of the year involves traditions which vary from country to country. In different parts of the world, gifts are brought by Father Christmas, Saint Nicolas (more about this here) or the Three Wise Men (the Spanish ‘Reyes’ or Kings).

In Bergamo and some other parts of Northern Italy, Santa Lucia, a 4th-century martyr from Syracuse in Sicily, is the one who distributes treats to children. With a name based on the Latin root for light (Lux), Santa Lucia is celebrated close to the shortest days of the year with candles (like in parts of Scandinavia) and gifts which bring good cheer in times of darkness. An (incorrect) Italian saying holds that ‘Il giorno di Santa Lucia è il più corto che ci sia’, Santa Lucia’s day is the shortest one there is—the longest night actually falls on the winter solstice. Santa Lucia (or St Lucy) is the patron saint of the blind and of opticians, and she is often represented holding a plate or a staff on which sit a pair of eyes as an allusion to an episode in her life. The Italians value the figurative meaning of light and view Santa Lucia as a figure representing a form of wisdom and clear-sightedness.

The reason for Santa Lucia’s importance in Bergamo is to be found in the presence of her relics in Venice—the large church of Santa Lucia, not far from the train station which bears her name, was built to house them. Bergamo, which is in Lombardy, was (until the end of the eighteenth century) a part of the territories of the republic of Venice and the lion of St Mark is visible on town gates, fountains and other constructions throughout the town.

Whilst Santa Claus has his reindeer, Santa Lucia is said to be accompanied by a donkey, her asino or asinello. He is sometimes described as alato or winged to help him fly from house to house on his mission to deliver presents—at the top of the page you can see a picture of the saint and the donkey on the blackboard showing a festive poem which was in the window of a confectioner’s in Bergamo. Since the early 20th century, children in the city have taken to writing letters to Santa Lucia to give her an idea of what they would like and, sometimes, to assure her that they have spent the year being good. The letters, known as letterine (for little letters or lettere) are taken to a small church and set in colourful piles in front of the saint’s statue.

When I visited the church, I was struck by the variety of the letterine and the canny approach some of the authors had taken. To guarantee that the presents will go to the right place, the children make sure their names are on their messages.

Stefano wrote his in large capitals. A parent had possibly added on a red envelope that another letter was from la piccola Amelia—little Amelia. One child hedged her bets and addressed her requests to both Santa Lucia and Babbo Natale—Father Christmas!


A girl called Gaia wrote Cara Santa Lucia mi piacerebbe ricevere questi regali or Dear Santa Lucia, it would please me to receive these gifts and then stuck five pictures out of a catalogue showing what she hoped she would get. Next to the photograph of pink headphones she added Senza filo, literally without thread or wire, i.e. cordless, to make sure the right pair was delivered.

Until December 12, children drop in to the church, clutching their letters and dropping them on the top of the growing piles of missives. That evening, at home, they will prepare snacks for the saint and her donkey—she gets biscotti and milk, he gets carrots, water and sometimes hay. They then go to bed and are instructed to sleep: Santa Lucia is said to throw ashes into the eyes of naughty girls and boys. The next morning, on waking up, if they have been good, they will find lots of sweet treats including monete di cioccolato—chocolate coins—and, possibly, some of the gifts for which they had asked.

Written by Catriona Seth, Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature
All Souls College, Oxford

Applying to study modern languages, French, Student life, Studying at Oxford

Studying Languages at Oxford: Expectations vs Reality

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In this week’s blog post, first year French and Modern Greek student at St Peter’s College, Reuben, shares his experiences of starting his course at Oxford and how closely they matched his expectations. Over to you, Reuben!

After a year out of education to decide what I really wanted to study, I could not wait to begin my dream degree course at the University of Oxford. How has the degree lived up to my expectations however? What is the first term studying languages really like? Read on to find out.

View of St Peter’s College from a snow-covered New Inn Hall Street. Copyright © University of Oxford Images / John Cairns Photography — All rights reserved.

Hello readers. My name is Reuben Constantine, I’m a student ambassador for the Faculty of Modern Languages and a first year student of French and Modern Greek at St Peter’s College. I am now at the end of my first term in Oxford and in this article, I intend to compare my expectations of study here with the realities I have experienced. 

I will provide first of all some context so you can better understand my situation in relation to my experience at the university. For my A-Levels, I studied Biology, Chemistry and French. An ‘eclectic mix’ I have been told, and a mix of subjects which left me unsure of what to pursue post-18. For various reasons I decided to take a ‘gap year’ in which I would decide what I was going to do. University was a possibility, but I was unsure of which subject to study. I had enjoyed biology and chemistry, and many people told me I should pursue a career in the medical sector.

I had, however, another passion which seemed to be pulling me – languages. During my studies of French, I fell in love with not only the French language but the process of language learning itself. I had plenty of free time during lockdown and so decided to begin teaching myself a second and  eventually a third foreign language. By the end of my gap year I could confidently converse in French, Modern Greek, Spanish, Italian and even German. I was totally addicted to language learning and so (with the encouragement of some friends who had noticed my apparent enthusiasm) I decided to follow this newfound passion and study languages at university. Which university would I choose? My dream was Oxford: a university with a great reputation and the only university that offered a degree in my favourite language, Modern Greek.

I must admit however that it seemed a long shot. I had not studied any essay subjects for A-Level and I had heard that Oxford degrees were very literature-focused. Would I be the sort of student they were looking for? Nonetheless I was convinced that this is what I wanted to do, and couldn’t believe my luck when I found out I had been offered a place!

How has my first month been then? Frankly, it has been fantastic. However I must admit, it hasn’t been how I necessarily expected.

Copyright © University of Oxford Images

What elements have I enjoyed most about study here in Oxford? First of all, the professors are experts in their subject areas and it is a real privilege to be taught by them – especially in the ‘tutorial system’ which allows for very small class sizes. I have been immensely satisfied with the number of contact hours I receive weekly. On an average week I will spend 12-15 hours in lectures, language classes and tutorials. This means that the timetable is nicely structured and I feel like the professors really care about me and my progress. This contrasts with the experience of some of my friends who study languages in other institutions who receive very few contact hours and are often left to their own devices. At the same time, for a language lover like myself this number of hours does not feel overwhelming and I am comfortably able to support the workload (typically with 1 or 2 essays and 1 translation to do outside of lessons per week).

I must admit, however, I have been surprised by the approach to literature. As mentioned, I was aware that literature constituted a large part of the degree but I was still not quite prepared for this. The texts we examine in are often very thought provoking, but I was quite shocked to find out that the essays we write about these texts are in English and I have sometimes been left feeling as if I were studying a degree in ‘English Literature’. The focus seems to be more what certain writers thought about certain issues rather than the language in which it is written. I can’t say that this isn’t interesting and I know that many of my fellow students love this aspect of the degree. However, for me personally the essays written in English (about French theatre for example) have at times seemed quite distant from my love for languages themselves.

I acknowledge, however, that culture and language are inseparable; a good understanding of societal issues in the lands where the language is spoken is vital to truly master a language. Moreover, in subsequent terms and years, students have greater control over their modules and papers and are thus able to focus their study onto the aspects which are more interesting to them. For me this may well include the linguistics and evolution of the language with lesser focus on literature but time will tell.

Is an Oxford Modern Languages degree for you? If your only goal is to become fluent in a foreign language, then I would think again. This can be achieved without needing to invest in a university degree. Oxford language degrees feature much more than language acquisition itself.

However: If you really love the culture and literature of the languages you wish to study, then Oxford may indeed be for you. The resources available in the libraries and support from tutors make it one of the best places in the world to study. If you want a timetable packed with classes and lectures from tutors who’re often experts in their field, then once again, this may be the degree for you. Be prepared however for doors to be opened to various avenues that you may be surprised to see feature in a ‘modern languages’ degree (such as theatre or poetry).

Copyright © University of Oxford Images

To conclude, I must add that my experience of student life has been fantastic: it is easy to get involved in a range of extracurricular activities from sports to societies, and I have already formed many treasured friendships. I enjoy every day living here and I am learning a great number of things, even if not all of them are directly related to ‘languages’ as I had imagined. I am extremely grateful to the university for the opportunity to study here and cannot wait for the coming months and years.

A huge thank you to Reuben for those invaluable insights into starting a Modern Languages degree course here at Oxford, and the ways in which his initial experiences have differed from his expectations.