It has been wonderful to meet so many students (both virtually and in person) at our language-specific open days over the past few weeks. However, we are delighted to be able to welcome prospective students to Oxford for our Modern Languages Open Day on Saturday 7th May. The event will be held at the Examination Schools, located on the High Street.
This event is a fantastic opportunity for students who were unable to attend our more recent open days, or for those who are interested in learning about our other language courses, as this Open Day will cover ALL of our languages: French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Modern Greek, Czech, and Polish. Most of our Joint School degrees will also be represented at the event.
Students working in the Taylor Institution, the University’s centre for the study of Modern European languages and literatures
The Modern Languages Open Day is aimed primarily at Year 12 students and their parents/guardians/teachers, but Year 11 students who are starting to consider their options are equally welcome to attend. The Open Day will offer an overview of our Modern Languages courses and a general Q&A for prospective students in the morning, with individual language sessions and a parents’/guardians’/teachers’ Q&A session occurring in the afternoon. You can view the full event programme here.
Booking for this event is compulsory – you can register your attendance here. Please note that, due to restricted places, only one parent/guardian/teacher may accompany each student for the morning session.
We look forward to seeing lots of you in May and welcoming you to the Modern Languages Faculty here in Oxford!
Here at Oxford, the Modern Languages Schools Liaison Team are looking to expand our teachers’ mailing list so that we can connect with and reach out to more schools across the UK.
We use our mailing list to send round semi-regular newsletters about upcoming events, outreach activities and opportunities for schools, such as Open Days, Study Days and one-off workshops. These are all related to Modern Languages and designed to promote the study of languages in schools so don’t worry, you will never be spammed with irrelevant content.
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash
If you’re an MFL teacher, we would love for you to join our mailing list so we can keep you up-to-date with all the wonderful languages-related events and activities occurring at Oxford! If you’re already part of our mailing list, please do let you teacher friends and colleagues know about the list and how to sign up.
Signing up is really easy – all you need to do is email us at schools.liaison@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk. We’ve even drafted an email template for you to use to speed up the process:
Dear Schools Liaison Team,
My name is [insert name here] and I am an MFL Teacher at [insert school name here]. I would like to join your teachers’ mailing list and formally give my consent for you to hold my data for the purposes outlined below.
GDPR compliance statement: We are working to comply with the terms of the General Data Protection Regulations, and as such we want to ensure that you are aware of the ways in which we will be using/holding your data. We will hold the details you have provided to us (name, e-mail address, school name) in a secure environment, and will use them to send information by e-mail related to Modern Languages Schools Liaison at the University of Oxford. We will not pass these details on to external companies or individuals. We will hold the data until such time as you may ask to be removed from the lists – you may unsubscribe at any time and if/when you do so all the data you have provided will be deleted from our system.
Many thanks and best wishes, [Insert name here]
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We look forward to welcoming you and your colleagues to our ever-growing network of MFL teachers!
In this week’s blog post, our colleagues from The Queen’s College share details of their next International Book Club meeting – a really wonderful opportunity for school students to engage with literature from around the world!
The International Book Club is a chance for pupils in Years 11, 12 and 13/S4-6 to explore foreign language books which have been translated into English with other like-minded, literature-loving students. We meet once a term to discuss a foreign language book in English translation, so knowledge of the original language is required to take part. The meeting will take place over Zoom and newcomers are always welcome!
For those of you thinking that you may like to study languages at university, there will also be a chance to hear more about what this would entail and to ask us your questions. These meetings are a perfect opportunity for you to explore books that aren’t on your school syllabus and to engage with some exciting literature in translation.
To take part in the International Book Club, you will need to read a copy of the set book in advance of the session. You may like to make some notes on what you’ve read – for example, the key themes of the text, things you liked or disliked about the narrative or characters – that you would like to share during the Book Club.
Our next session will be held on Wednesday 23rd March at 7pm, and we will be reading A Long Way from Douala by Swiss-Cameroonian author Max Lobe, translated by Ros Schwartz from French – and occasionally from Camfranglais, a mixture of French, (Pidgin) English, and indigenous Cameroonian languages including Beti-Fang, Bamileke and Duala, spoken mainly by young people in Cameroon. As we follow the narrator, Jean, and his best friend Simon across the country in search of a runaway older brother hoping to make it as a professional footballer in Europe, the book addresses weighty contemporary issues of migration, terrorism, and sexuality without ever losing its sense of humour.
If you would like to attend the book club, please register your interest by completing this Google form.
If you have any questions about the Book Club, please let us know! You can email us (translation.exchange@ox.ac.uk), or find us on Twitter.
***Please note that if we are oversubscribed for the International Book Club and are required to limit the numbers of attendees, we will select participants based on the contextual data they provide, giving priority to students attending UK state schools.***
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A reminder that we are still taking bookings for our Italian and Russian & Slavonic Languages Open Days, both taking place on Saturday 5th March. You can book your place here – don’t miss out on the chance to learn more about these exciting courses!
2nd year Spanish & History student at Balliol College, Georgie, explains why she loves her choice of degree course and why others might want to follow in her footsteps. Take it away Georgie!
At the age of 15 or 16, I’d always feel a mild degree of panic when asked the question “What do you want to study at uni?” It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the various subjects available to study at university, especially if you enjoy a wide variety of the subjects you take at school.
I studied the International Baccalaureate in Sixth Form, in which you take six subjects, so the thought of narrowing down to a single specialism felt very alien to me. But I soon came across the option to study a Joint Schools degree (also called a “Combined Honours” degree at some unis), and this seemed like a very attractive deal.
At Oxford, it is possible to take a Modern Language alongside a Humanities subject – Classics, English, History, Philosophy or Linguistics. This is a four-year course, with one year spent abroad, in which prelims (the first year) doesn’t count towards your degree, and your final exams take place at the end of your fourth year.
Balliol Hall from Fellows’ Garden – taken from Balliol’s website
I’m midway through my second year at Balliol studying History and Spanish, and I absolutely love my degree, but I still believe that Joint Schools studies are notoriously mysterious. Read on as I try to bring some clarity to the subject…here are 5 reasons why I love my Joint Schools degree:
1. Breadth of Study
Taking a Modern Language and a Humanities subject means you take roughly half of the courses that a single-honours language student takes, and half the courses that a single-honours humanities student takes. Your modules are taken from the two distinct schools. A first-year taking History and Modern Languages, for example, would study two history papers, two foreign literature papers, and two language papers.
Studying two subjects automatically doubles the number and variety of modules available to you. The courses for both languages and humanities are extremely rich and there is a huge degree of freedom to explore your interests and choose your specialisms.
As a joint-schooler, I can access all the History modules offered to single-school students, and, since I take half of what they do, I do not have bend my studies around period or geographical requirements.
Photo by Benigno Hoyuela on Unsplash
While straight History pupils must, at some point in their degree, study both “British Isles” and “European and World” papers from a range of different historical eras (early modern, 20th century, early medieval, etc.), joint schoolers have more freedom to choose not to study certain periods or geographical areas. As a joint-schooler, it is possible, for example, not to study a British History course during your entire time at Oxford.
2. Studying One Enriches the Study of the Other
While modules are taken from the two distinct schools, and do not explicitly blend the subjects, studying one subject really enriches the study of the other. The skills learnt in taking a modern language, such as rigorous literary analysis and attention to detail, can be applied to great benefit in the study of your other subject. Equally, studying humanities modules can bring perspective to your reading of foreign literature, as well as greater awareness of socio-political concerns.
It is possible to choose modules from different subjects which complement each other. To give two concrete examples:
A Classics paper, “The Latin Works of Petrarch”, could be taken alongside “Medieval Italian Literature: 1220-1430″.
Or a History paper, “Enlightenment and Revolutions: 1650-1850″, could be taken alongside the French “Modern Prescribed Authors I”, specialising in Voltaire and Diderot.
The lateral links to be made in blending the two schools are extremely exciting.
3. It’s Impossible to be Bored
As you might have guessed by now, it is virtually impossible to be bored! If you are the type of person who likes to have multiple subjects to focus on at one time, Joint Schools are perfect due to the breadth of study and the freedom to tailor your course to your interests. It should also be said that the Joint Schools courses are carefully designed so that you have a normal workload! You won’t be bored but you also won’t have unmanageable amounts to do!
In the same day, I might translate a passage from a modern Latin American novel, read up on early medieval representations of gender, or complete an essay analysing a Spanish Golden Age ballad. There is always more to learn and read about; Joint Schools degrees can make you think in new ways and broaden your world outlook.
Photo by Redd on Unsplash
4.You Meet a Wider Variety of People
As a second year, my regular weekly timetable consists of: a history tutorial and/or a literature tutorial, a language tutorial, two language classes, two lectures, and (for this term only) a history seminar. This is the biggest workload I have had so far, and schedules vary greatly over the three years spent in Oxford.
Classes and lectures are run through the Modern Languages Faculty, and, through these, it is possible to meet students from all over the university. Tutorials may be held either through the college or at another college, where your tutorial partner/s come from a different college. Taking more classes, from different schools, widens the variety of people with whom you interact and makes for a very interesting set of daily conversations!
5. The Year Abroad
A huge attraction for taking Modern Languages is, of course, the Year Abroad. Usually taken in your third year – apart from students of Beginners’ Arabic or Beginners’ Russian who go in their second year – the Year Abroad offers the opportunity to spend some time working in industry, teaching, or studying in a foreign country.
Edificio Metropoli, Gran vía – Madrid, Spain. Photo by Jorge Fernández Salas on Unsplash
When studying Modern Languages at Oxford, the norm (but not the rule) is to take two languages. As a joint-schooler taking one language alongside a humanities subject, you can devote your entire year to immersing yourself in your single target language; the opportunity to improve your language skills and culturally enrich your life is unparalleled. When you get back to Oxford, by fourth year, you will have a wealth of experience and cultural knowledge from which to draw upon in your studies!
I can honestly say I love my degree. Studying two subjects – in my case History and Spanish – has meant I’m never bored of work, especially because I can productively spend time searching for places to go on my Year Abroad! If I were to go back in time about 3 or 4 years, I’d tell my past self to stop worrying about trying to choose a single specialism. Each subject offers such a broad variety of choice and an incredible degree of freedom to tailor your studies around your interests.
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Thank you Georgie for that wonderful insight into the joys of a Joint Schools degree course!
A reminder that we are still taking bookings for our Italian and Russian & Slavonic Languages Open Days, both taking place on Saturday 5th March. You can book your place here – don’t miss out on the chance to learn more about these exciting courses!
It’s a busy time here at Oxford, particularly for Modern Languages! As there are so many fantastic events and activities for young linguistics taking place across the University over the next few weeks, we thought we’d give you a run down of these exciting opportunities and how to get involved. All here in one place, just for you!
So, without further ado…
German Open Day– MS Teams, Saturday 19th February
It’s the last chance to sign up to our German Open Day this Saturday, 11am-3pm! This event offers a unique opportunity to gain greater insight into the German degree course here at Oxford, listen to some fascinating taster sessions on topics such as German Film and Reading a Medieval Manuscript, and speak directly to our wonderful academics and current students.
Take a look at the programme and reserve your place here!
Somerville Year 12 Study Days – MS Teams, 22nd-25th February
Somerville’s virtual Study Days will feature taster lectures or workshops run by Oxford University academics, which offer a challenging and entertaining introduction to university-level study of various subjects.
The sessions are open to all Year 12 students at a UK state school who are taking a related subject, and/or are thinking about going on to study a related subject at university. Students will also have the opportunity to hear advice from admissions and outreach staff about applying to Oxford and Cambridge, and to ask the college tutors and current undergraduates questions about their subject of interest.
The Modern Languages session is taking place on Thursday 24th February, 4-6:30pm, on the topic of ‘German Poetry Without Words – The Creative Magic of Language’.
Please note: There is no need for any knowledge of German (although helpful); the session is open for everyone interested in a degree in Modern Languages, including joint degrees and/or Modern Languages with a beginner’s language.
More information about all of the subject sessions and how to apply for a place can be found here, under the heading ‘Year 12 Study Days’.
Spanish & Portuguese Open Day – St Anne’s College, Friday 25th February
Our Spanish & Portuguese Open Day is taking place in person at St Anne’s College this year, between 10am and 3pm. Just as for German, this event is a great opportunity to learn more about our Spanish and Portuguese degree courses, experience taster sessions, and talk to academics and undergraduates from those subject areas.
Take a look at the programme and reserve your place here!
Modern Languages Study Day– St John’s College, Wednesday 9th March
The Modern Languages Study Day at St John’s is open to all pupils currently studying at non-selective state schools and sixth-form colleges in the UK, in Year 12 (Lower Sixth) or equivalent, studying a Modern Language at A-level (or equivalent) as well as pupils studying History and English who are interested in starting German from scratch.
This day-long event offers pupils the opportunity to find out about studying Modern Languages at the University of Oxford. Pupils will attend academic taster sessions, receive a tour of St John’s College, and find out about the Modern Languages undergraduate degree and application process from tutors and current students.
Further information about eligibility and how to apply can be found here. The deadline for applications is Monday 21st February at 4pm.
Oxford German Olympiad – Round 2 is now open for entries!
For those who don’t know, the Olympiad is a large competition for learners of German from Year 5 upwards. Not only does 2022 mark our 10th Oxford German Olympiad, but this year, the Oxford German Network is also celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Oxford-Bonn Town Twinning and the 80th anniversary of the first four White Rose resistance leaflets.
Therefore, we have two Round 2 tasks to choose from this year: Celebrating 75 Years of British-German Town Twinnings and The White Rose Project: Resistance Leaflets.
Thanks to our generous sponsors White Rose Project, Oxford-Bonn Link and British German Association, there are exciting cash prizes for the winners of each task.
Further details about the tasks can be found here. The deadline for all entries is 10th March 2022.
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Hopefully that’s enough to keep everyone busy for a while! Do check out the links we’ve highlighted in this post for more information. See you next week!
Following a successful two-year run, University College, Magdalen College and the Faculties of History and Modern Languages are delighted to announce that the virtual BAME Humanities Study Day will return on Tuesday 12th April 2022!
This event offers UK state school students with Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) heritage an exciting opportunity to engage with academic taster sessions from across the Humanities subjects, and also to access support with the Oxford admissions process.
Last year, students chose to attend two academic taster lectures on fascinating topics such as:
Is a robot a human? Ancient dreams of a technological future (Classics)
Representing the First World War (History)
Sixteenth-century French Women’s Writing: Challenging Gender Expectations in selected works of the Dames des Roches (Medieval & Modern Languages)
Islam and Politics in the Middle East (Oriental Studies)
Decolonise Art History? (Art History)
Medieval English and Arabic Devotional Texts (English)
These talks offer students the opportunity to engage with topics which lie outside of their school curriculum and introduce them to studying subjects they love at university level. Like last year, these taster sessions will be supplemented by interactive admissions workshop delivered by outreach colleagues from across the collegiate university with assistance from our fantastic student ambassadors.
Screenshot from BAME Humanities Study Day 2021
There will also be an opportunity for participants to ask lecturers and current students questions about studying the courses they are interested in. Last year, this opportunity to engage with academics of BAME heritage was a highlight for several of the participants with one commenting that their favourite part of the event was:
“Seeing people of colour in academia! All the professors were such wonderful people and so down to earth and their talks were so engaging.”
Another participant commented:
“Originally, I wasn’t sure about applying to Oxford at all, but this study day gave me more confidence in my ability and made my voice feel more important and valued, something which often does not happen at school.”
If you are interested in attending this year’s BAME Humanities Study Day, you can apply here until 20th February when applications close. Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity!
Thank you to the Faculty of History for the information about last year’s BAME Humanities Study Day. The full event report is available here.
Applications to Oxford’s flagship outreach programme close on Monday 7th February at 11pm – don’t miss out!
Photo by John Cairns
You’ve probably read our previous blog posts about the benefits of the UNIQ programme – if you haven’t, you can check them out here – so we won’t repeat ourselves! However, if you’re debating whether or not to apply, these quotes from previous UNIQ participants might help!
‘Applying to UNIQ was the best decision I’ve ever taken.’
UNIQ Oxford 2018 – Ian Wallman
‘UNIQ made me a lot more confident in applying to university.’
‘I learnt so much that couldn’t be found simply from open days and prospectuses.’
UNIQ – Ian Wallman
‘I felt so motivated, supported and felt for the first time that Oxford could be for me.’
‘The uni also does not seem as ‘study study study’ as I thought, there are loads of activities going on, even cheerleading and musical theatre, which I really did not expect.’
‘UNIQ has especially dispelled the myths of Oxford being for a certain type of person.’
‘UNIQ has made me realise just how much I enjoy studying my subject. It has made me more excited for university and more confident that I can make a competitive application to Oxford.’
Here at the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, we organise and run a range of open days for prospective students and their parents and guardians. Open days are one of the best ways to get a real feel for a University, helping students to make informed decisions about their futures.
Over the course of February and March, we will be holding our language-specific open days, designed to provide greater insight into our undergraduate degree programmes. In comparison to our wider open day in May, language-specific open days are smaller and more focused in their scope, allowing more time to explore a subject in depth.
For example, the German open day offers an introduction to German film, linguistics, and different types of literature. On the Spanish and Portuguese open day, you can explore medieval Iberian literature and learn Portuguese in 15 minutes. The Italian open day will introduce you to Italian literature’s biggest names from the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods.
So, if you’re thinking about applying to study languages at Oxford, or want to find out more about a particular course, these open days offer a wonderful opportunity to meet some of our tutors and current students, come along to academic taster sessions which will give you a flavour of what it’s like to study languages, and ask lots of questions.
Below are the details of our 2022 language specific open days. You will need to book a place at these events, which you can do via our open daywebsite, where you will also find the event programmes.
German: Saturday 19th February, 11am – 3pm, Microsoft Teams
Spanish & Portuguese: Friday 25th February, 10am-3pm, St Anne’s College
Italian: Saturday 5th March, 11am-1.30pm, Microsoft Teams
Russian and Slavonic Languages: Saturday 5th March, further details to be published soon.
You may have noticed that there is no specific open day for French: students interested in French should attend the Faculty’s main open day in May or one of the University open days in July or September. Keep your eyes peeled for more information about those events in future blog posts.
We look forward to having you along to our language-specific open days – don’t forget to book your place!
While you’re here: a reminder that applications to our 2022UNIQ programme are still open! You can read more about this fantastic opportunity for UK state school students in last week’s blog post, or head to the websitefor further information.
After two years of online delivery, UNIQ 2022 is delighted to be able to welcome Year 12 students back to Oxford! UNIQ 2022 will combine the best aspects of our residential summer school and sustained online programme to offer a hybrid UNIQ programme to 1600 students across the UK.
UNIQ logo
What is UNIQ?
UNIQ is Oxford University’s flagship outreach programme for Year 12 students at UK state schools/colleges. It is completely free and prioritises places for students with good grades from backgrounds that are under-represented at Oxford and other universities. The UNIQ programme offers a fantastic opportunity for these students to immerse themselves in the Oxford environment, sample some of our teaching, and try out life as an Oxford student.
What does the programme entail?
UNIQ 2022 offers both an in-person residential in Oxford and an online support programme. Taking place over several months, UNIQ starts in April, with academic courses in the summer, followed by university admissions support.
During the summer residential, students have the opportunity to experience life as an Oxford undergraduate by staying in an Oxford college and exploring the city for themselves. They will also get to know some of our Oxford undergraduates and work with our academics in face to face lectures, labs and tutorials.
What does this look like for Modern Languages?
For Modern Languages, there will be courses available for Spanish, French, and German. All three courses enable students to explore the language, literature, theatre, film, and linguistics of each discipline, while also providing the opportunity to have a taster of four other European languages at a beginners’ level.
Our aim is to give students a taste of what it is really like to study Modern Languages at Oxford, and to provide a sense of the breadth of our courses – including several of the languages you can study here as a beginner.
UNIQ student testimony
What are the benefits?
Throughout the UNIQ programme, students will explore subjects they love and gain a real insight into Oxford life, helping them to prepare for university, and decide what is right for them. UNIQ also enables students with similar interests in local regions and across the UK to connect with each other through social and academic activities.
Most UNIQ students go on to apply to the University of Oxford and they also get help to prepare for our admissions tests and interviews. In general, UNIQ students who apply to Oxford have a higher rate of success than other applicants.
How do I apply?
We welcome applications from:
Year 12 students from England and Wales, in the first year of A level studies or equivalent
Year 13 students from Northern Ireland, in the first year of A level studies or equivalent
S5 students from Scotland, studying Highers or equivalent
The online application process is quick and easy – it only takes 15 minutes! – and can be completed via the UNIQ website. Applications close on Monday 7th February at 11pm.
You will need:
the name of the school where you did your GCSEs (or equivalent) or your Nationals if you are a Scottish student.
the name of your current school.
your first and second choice UNIQ courses.
your teacher’s surname and email address.
a list of your qualifications.
As UNIQ is an access programme, admission to UNIQ 2022 will be based on a range of criteria that relate to students’ academic potential and socio-economic background. You can read more about this here.
We hope you had a wonderful break over the festive period and enjoyed celebrating with friends and family where possible.
Despite ongoing restrictions, countries around the world celebrated the New Year with their usual impressive firework displays… as well as with some less well-known traditions designed to bring luck for the year ahead.
Did you know?
In Denmark, people smash plates on the doorsteps of their friends and family to bring them good fortune. As the tradition goes, the more broken plates, the more luck you’ll have! Godt nytår!
In Spain, a common New Years Eve tradition is a grape-eating challenge – one grape on each of the twelve clock strikes which see in the new year, representing good luck for the twelve months to come. ¡Feliz año nuevo (y buen provecho)!
In Romania, one tradition involves dressing up as bears, playing instruments and dancing, rituals designed to ward off evil spirits from the year before. According to some Romanian legends, bears have healing powers and are considered to be sacred animals. Un An Nou Fericit!
Here at Oxford…
We’re already starting to think about the year ahead and the exciting projects we have planned. Applications for our 2022 UNIQ programme open on Monday 10th January. UNIQ offers high achieving state school pupils from underrepresented backgrounds ongoing academic support as well as a summer residential in Oxford.
We will be publishing more information about the programme on next week’s blog post, but feel free to have a look at the UNIQ website if you are interested in finding out more.
In the meantime, wherever you are in the world, we wish you all a very happy and healthy 2022!
A blog for students and teachers of Years 11 to 13, and anyone else with an interest in Modern Foreign Languages and Cultures, written by the staff and students of Oxford University. Updated every Wednesday!
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