Modern Languages Open Day – register now!

We are delighted to welcome prospective students to Oxford on Saturday 16th May for our annual Modern Languages Open Day. The event will be held from 10.30am-4.30pm in the in the brand-new Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities.

The Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities

This Open Day is designed to provide further information about and insight into studying a modern language and the various degree combinations we offer at Oxford. 

As a Faculty, we offer the following languages: French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Czech with Slovak, Modern Greek, and Polish, all of which will be represented at this event. These can be combined with another language from beginners’ level (with the exception of French and Spanish which cannot be studied from scratch), or another Humanities subject (History, English, Philosophy, Linguistics, Classics, and a Middle Eastern Language). 

After a general information and Q&A session in the morning, students and their companions will have the chance to attend subject-specific sessions in the afternoon, where they can meet tutors and current students from those subjects. 

Modern Languages Open Day 2022 photo (c) John Cairns

A full programme for the Open Day will be made available shortly. 

Please fill out this form by 12 noon on Wednesday 13th May to register for the Open Day so we know who to expect at the event. 

Please note that we can only host one companion (parent/carer/teacher) per student. Spaces will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, and the form will close once our maximum capacity has been reached. 

If you have any questions or would like to amend your booking, please get in touch with Nicola Brown, Schools Liaison and Outreach Officer, at schools.liaison@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk.

Year 12 Book Club

Wadham College, Oxford are introducing a virtual Book Club for Year 12 students attending a state school who are currently studying English Literature and/or Modern Languages or who would be interested in studying these subjects for their university degree.

A French session at the 2021 Wadham College Summer School

The Book Club will involve three online sessions, as well as the chance to attend a final, in-person session and Taster Day at Wadham College. Each session will involve a short lecture, breakout room discussion with current Oxford students, and recommendations for further reading and support.

The theme for these sessions will be ‘Possible Worlds’, considering the ways that writers have thought about the possible futures that may await humanity. The aim is to build on core A-Level English texts by thinking about their wider literary contexts with the aim of bridging the gap between A-Level and university study. In the 3rd session, Dr Cat Parry (Tutor for Portuguese) will also incorporate poetry in translation in order to develop appreciation for world literature. Participants will be required to read 1-3 short extracts (provided) ahead of the sessions.

The sessions will be held on the following dates:
Session 1: Monday 27th April, 16:30-17:30, Prose/Drama with Dr Douglas Clark (Tutor for English)

Session 2: Monday 18th May, 16:30-17:30, Prose/Drama with Dr Douglas Clark

Session 3: Monday 8th June, 16:30-17:30, Poetry with Dr Douglas Clark and Dr Cat Parry (Tutor for Portuguese)

Session 4 (Taster Day): Monday 22nd June

Sessions 1-3 will be held online via Microsoft Teams.

Students can sign up to join the Book Club here.

If you have any questions about this activity, please contact access@wadham.ox.ac.uk.

Modern Languages and Linguistics Taster Day

Year 12 students from state schools and colleges across the UK are invited to join Lady Margaret Hall (one of our lovely Oxford colleges) for a Modern Languages and Linguistics Taster Day on Wednesday 22nd April. 

Lady Margaret Hall
Fisher Studios LTD

This Modern Languages and Linguistics Taster Day gives students the opportunity to experience the richness and diversity of our undergraduate degree programmes. Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) tutors will offer a series of taster workshops focusing on French literature and Spanish cinema, alongside introductory sessions to Portuguese, Russian and the study of Linguistics. These tasters will give an indication of the variety of areas and approaches that make up a Modern Languages course, which extends across literature, language, film, history, culture, and thought, and of the wide range of skills our students hone through their in-depth study.

The day will include a discussion of the Modern Languages and Linguistics application process at Oxford, a mock interview, and a Q&A with tutors and current undergraduate students in Modern Languages. All attendees will also have a tour of LMH with one of our student ambassadors and a free lunch in the college hall.

We welcome any Year 12 student from a UK state school who has a keen interest in languages and linguistics, who is studying at least one language (French, German, Spanish) at A-level, and is considering studying modern languages at university. No prior knowledge of a specific language or of linguistics is required in order to attend a taster session on that topic.

Please register for this event by filling out our Taster Day application form.

More information about the day and the selection criteria can be found here.

If you have any questions about the Taster Day, please get in touch with our Access and Outreach Team via outreach@lmh.ox.ac.uk.