We are delighted to welcome prospective students to Oxford on Saturday 17th May for our annual Modern Languages Open Day. The event will be held from 10.30am-4pm at the Examination Schools, located on the High Street in Oxford’s city centre.
Modern Languages Open Day 2022 photo (c) John Cairns
This event is a fantastic opportunity for students who are interested in learning more about our language courses, or who are still considering their options, as all of our languages will be represented at this Open Day:
French
German*
Spanish
Italian*
Russian*
Portuguese*
Modern Greek*
Czech with Slovak*
Polish*.
*All of these languages can be studied here at Oxford from beginners’ level.
Most of our Joint School degree subjects – English, History, Philosophy etc. – will also be represented at the event.
Modern Languages Open Day 2022 photo (c) John Cairns
Our Modern Languages Open Day is aimed primarily at Year 12 students and their parents/guardians/teachers, but Year 11 students who are starting to think about university study are equally welcome to attend.
Modern Languages Open Day 2022 photo (c) John Cairns
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 Q&A session for parents’/guardians’/teachers in the afternoon. Tutors and current students from the Faculty will be available throughout the day to answer questions from prospective applicants and their companions.
*Please note that, due to restricted places, only one parent/guardian/teacher may accompany each student for the morning session.
You can view the provisional event programme here.
Booking your place at this event is compulsory – you can register your attendance here. Bookings will close at midnight on 14th May 2025.
Any questions can be directed to schools.liaison@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk.
We look forward to seeing lots of you in May and welcoming you to Oxford!
On the blog this week, first-year student ambassador, Laurence, describes his experience of attending our Modern Languages Open Day in 2022, and how it led him to where he is today.
I feel so grateful to be where I am today, a student of Philosophy and French at St John’s College. My journey into university language study began at the Faculty Open Day in May of 2022, when I was in Year 12. A couple of months prior, I had woken up one day and decided that I could not graduate with a law degree at 21, start training for the world of work, and never broaden my horizons beyond that. French was my favourite subject at school, and I had a passion for literature and culture as well as a budding desire to travel. I switched my application preparation towards languages, and the Open Day was my first port of call.
As an Oxford Bursary recipient from a state comprehensive in Coventry, I remember feeling awe when I arrived with my mum at the Exam Schools, where we listened to a range of different talks. It was refreshing to talk to other young people who had a passion for languages: MFL learning in my school had suffered from a chronic lack of interest. I particularly enjoyed the variety of sessions at the Open Day, from talks on French specifically, linguistics, and Italian, another language I was considering. Talks from tutors were highly informative regarding the literature/language balance as well as studying a language with philosophy, with personal touches about their own research interests that could not be so easily gleaned from the university website. I loved the excitement in the atmosphere around the Open Day, even the sun was out on the High Street!
The Examination Schools in the sunshine at the 2022 Open Day Photo by John Cairns
I decided that a languages degree was for me, and after further discussions with ambassadors (French and Philosophy is a great combination, they said), we headed home. I remember on the train we even met a woman whose daughter had just graduated in French, it seemed like a sign! I would certainly say that the Open Day stoked my interest in languages further and convinced me, through the emphasis on literature and culture as well as the sheer range of degree options available, that it was a better option than Cambridge or any other university.
Laurence with two other prospective students at the 2022 Modern Languages Open Day Photo by John Cairns
I have now finished two terms as a student here, and the experience has been everything that the Open Day promised, and more. I believe that the tutorial system is especially well adapted for subjects like English and languages because both tutor and student can pore over the text together. I think the Faculty does well at advertising this as what sets Oxford apart from other universities.
I have enjoyed much of the early modern content, including Montaigne and Racine, which may be the focus of my Authors Paper next year – although with the input of the philosophy side, Diderot and Pascal also sound tempting. I’m also excited to look into potential linguistics or cinema papers later in my degree. The language side of the degree has also been engaging: the expertise of my native speaker teachers has shown me a new way to reach fluency beyond learning cast iron grammar rules, namely a sensitivity to context, culture, and idiom.
I feel like I have personally travelled a long way since the Open Day, now a languages ambassador myself. Grateful for the opportunity to help others to discover languages too, getting to give back through this outreach work is the greatest privilege.
****
You can still sign up to attend our Open Day on Saturday 11 May! The programme and booking link can be found here. The deadline to register your place is 8 May – don’t miss out!
It’s not too late to register your place at our Modern Languages Open Day at the beautiful Examination Schools (75 – 81 High St, Oxford) on Saturday 11th May!
Modern Languages Open Day 2022 photo (c) John Cairns
This annual event is a fantastic opportunity for students who are interested in learning more about our language courses, or who are still considering their options, as the Open Day will cover ALL of our languages: French, German*, Spanish, Italian*, Russian*, Portuguese*, Modern Greek*, Czech*, and Polish*. Most of our Joint School degree subjects – English, History, Philosophy etc. – will also be represented at the event.
*All of these languages can be studied here at Oxford from beginners’ level.
Our Modern Languages Open Day is aimed primarily at Year 12 students and their parents/guardians/teachers, but Year 11 students who are starting to think about university study are equally welcome to attend.
Modern Languages Open Day 2022 photo (c) John Cairns
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. Tutors and current students from the Faculty will be available throughout the day to answer questions from prospective applicants and their companions.
*Please note that, due to restricted places, only one parent/guardian/teacher may accompany each student for the morning session.
We are delighted to welcome prospective students to Oxford on Saturday 11th May for our annual Modern Languages Open Day. The event will be held from 10.30am-4pm at the Examination Schools, located on the High Street.
Modern Languages Open Day 2022 photo (c) John Cairns
This event is a fantastic opportunity for students who are interested in learning more about our language courses, or who are still considering their options, 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 degree subjects – English, History, Philosophy etc. – will also be represented at the event.
*All of these languages can be studied here at Oxford from beginners’ level.
Modern Languages Open Day 2022 photo (c) John Cairns
Our Modern Languages Open Day is aimed primarily at Year 12 students and their parents/guardians/teachers, but Year 11 students who are starting to think about university study 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. Tutors and current students from the Faculty will be available throughout the day to answer questions from prospective applicants and their companions.
*Please note that, due to restricted places, only one parent/guardian/teacher may accompany each student for the morning session.
The Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages is delighted to announce a brand new event for the 2023/24 academic year – a Beginners’ Languages TasterDay!
Alongside our usual Modern Languages Open Day (which will take place on Saturday 11th May), this year we will be running an event dedicated to our beginners’ languages courses. This new event offers students from UK secondary schools in Year 12 or equivalent an opportunity to gain greater insight into our beginners’ languages degree programmes at Oxford. Students in Year 11 who are starting to consider their options for university are also welcome to attend.
The Taster Day will take place on Saturday 2nd March in our main Faculty teaching spaces – the Taylor Institution Library and 47 Wellington Square. After an information and Q&A session in the morning, students will have the chance to attend taster sessions in two of our beginners’ languages.
Photo taken from our Modern Languages Open Day 2022 photo (c) John Cairns
The following languages will be represented at the Taster Day, with academics and current undergraduates present to provide further information about the course(s) and to answer students’ questions:
German
Portuguese
Italian
Russian
Czech (with Slovak)
Modern Greek
Polish
The provisional event programme can be found here.
To register for the Taster Day, students should fill out this form by 10am on Friday 23rd February so we know who to expect at the event. Please note that spaces will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, and the form will close once our maximum capacity has been reached.
We are also pleased to be able to help students who are in need of additional financial support with reasonable expenses such as travelling to and from Oxford for the event. There is a space to include this information in the registration form.
Photo taken from our Modern Languages Open Day 2022 photo (c) John Cairns
Our beginners’ languages courses offer an exciting and rare opportunity for students to engage with a new language and culture for the first time, or to pick up languages they studied at GCSE. The courses are challenging yet rewarding, with many designed to bring students up to A-level standard within the first year. Therefore, we would love to welcome students who are strong linguists and/or who are looking for a new challenge at University to this event.
As well as alongside a post-A-level language, most of our beginners’ languages can be studied in conjunction with subjects from the Humanities such as English, History, Linguistics, or Philosophy, for which applicants do not need to be studying a language to A-level or equivalent. With this in mind, we would also welcome students of Humanities subjects who are interested in picking up a language at University.
For further inspiration and information, below are some links to content from our tutors and undergraduates about why taking a language from scratch is so worthwhile:
We’re delighted to announce that our annual Modern Languages Open Day will be taking place on Saturday 11th May, once again in the Examination Schools in Oxford city centre. Save the date! Mark it in your calendars!
The Examination Schools, Oxford Modern Languages Open Day 2022 photo (c) John Cairns
Bookings are not yet open but you will be able to reserve your place soon via our open days webpage.
This event, which runs from 10.30am-4pm, is a fantastic opportunity for students who are interested in learning more about our language courses, or who are still considering their options, 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 degree subjects will also be represented at the event.
*All of these languages can be studied here at Oxford from beginners’ level.
Modern Languages Open Day 2022 photo (c) John Cairns
Our Modern Languages Open Day is aimed primarily at Year 12 students and their parents/ guardians/ teachers, but Year 11 students who are starting to think about university study 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 provisional event programme here.
Come and visit us this summer to discover what student life at Oxford is really like.
The University of Oxford is once again ready to welcome prospective applicants and their companions to our annual Summer Open Days! Regardless of which universities you are interested in studying at, open days are an important opportunity for you to get a feel for the cities and/or campuses in which you might be spending three or four years. We recommend visiting lots of different universities if you can to find out which places make you feel most at home.
Here at Oxford, we have University-wide Open Days running on Wednesday 28 June, Thursday 29 June and Friday 15 September. These days offer an ideal opportunity for you to explore Oxford, find out more about our courses, tour colleges, and quiz our tutors and current students.
It will be busy and you will probably leave feeling that there just wasn’t enough time, but you will also have a really good idea of Oxford and whether it might be the university for you. The secret to open days is definitely planning ahead, so do take some time to explore all the information given here.
It is not mandatory to register for an Oxford Open Day, although we strongly recommend that you do in order to receive our university newsletters, full of top tips on how to make the most of your day.
In terms of Modern Languages, we will be running the following sessions between 10:15am and 3:30pm across these days:
Modern Languages at Oxford – Taylor Institution Library Presentation overview of our courses and resources followed by a Q&Awith tutors and current students.
‘Meet the tutors’ drop in session – 47 Wellington Square Tutors will be available in this period to answer any individual questionsabout our courses and the application process.
Library tours – Taylor Institution Library
The Taylor Institution Library (commonly known as the Taylorian)
These sessions are a great opportunity to learn about our Modern Languages courses, talk to our tutors from our different languages, look at our resources and study spaces, and pick up prospectuses.
We do not take bookings for these sessions, but places are allocated on a first come, first served basis. You can take a look at the programme here for more details.
We look forward to welcoming lots of you to Oxford and the Modern Languages Faculty very soon!
Happy Wednesday all! After some technical difficulties last week (apologies if anyone had issues accessing the blog), we’re back with a couple of reminders about upcoming events for (prospective) Modern Languages students… have a read below!
N.B. The deadlines for applying/registering for these opportunities/events fall within the next week, so don’t hesitate to sign up now!
Wadham College’s Modern Languages Summer School
A Summer School class at Wadham College, 2022
When: Monday 21st August – Friday 25th August 2023
Where: Wadham College, Oxford
What: Summer Schools are designed to give UK pupils studying in Year 12 a taste of what it’s like to be an undergraduate studying at the University of Oxford. Pupils will take part in an academic programme, live in College, meet student ambassadors studying at Oxford, and receive information, advice and guidance on applying to university.
Who: Year 12 French, German, and Spanish students from UK state schools
More information: You can find more information here and email the Wadham Access Team at access@wadham.ox.ac.uk with any questions.
Modern Languages Open Day
Modern Languages Open Day 2022 photo (c) John Cairns
When: Saturday 13th May 2023, 10.30am-4pm
Where: Examination Schools, 75-81 High Street, Oxford
What: Our Modern Languages 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.
Who: The Open Day is aimed primarily at Year 12 students and their parents/guardians/teachers, but Year 11 students who are starting to think about university study are equally welcome to attend.
How to register: Booking for this event is compulsory – you can register your attendance here.
Deadline to register: Bookings will close at midnight on Wednesday 10th May 2023.
It has been wonderful to meet so many students at our language-specific open days over the past few weeks. Building on this, we are delighted to be able to welcome prospective students to Oxford for our Modern Languages Open Day on Saturday 13th May, 10.30am-4pm. The event will be held at the Examination Schools, located on the High Street.
Modern Languages Open Day 2022 photo (c) John Cairns
This event is a fantastic opportunity for students who are interested in learning more about our language courses, or who are still considering their options, 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 degree subjects will also be represented at the event.
*All of these languages can be studied here at Oxford from beginners’ level. From this year’s admissions cycle, students can also apply to study Beginners’ German with our Joint Schools subjects (e.g. English, History, Linguistics etc.) for the first time.
Modern Languages Open Day 2022 photo (c) John Cairns
Our Modern Languages Open Day is aimed primarily at Year 12 students and their parents/guardians/teachers, but Year 11 students who are starting to think about university study 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. Bookings will close at midnight on 10th May 2023. 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 Oxford!
Bookings for our Russian & Slavonic Languages Open Day are now open!
This year, our Russian & Slavonic Languages Open Day will be held on Saturday 4th March, 10.15am-12.30pm at University College, Oxford.
Like our other language-specific open days, this event is smaller and more focused in its scope compared to our wider open day later in the year, allowing more time to explore a subject.
Our Russian & Slavonic Languages Open Day is designed to provide greater insight into our undergraduate degree programmes in Russian and other Slavonic languages such as Czech, Polish and Ukrainian. These languages are all available to study at beginners’ level here at Oxford, so the open day presents a great opportunity to find out more about these options and what the courses entail. It’s also a lovely excuse to come and visit an Oxford college and the city for the day, meet our current students and academics, and experience a taste of student life.
Event programme for the 2023 Russian & Slavonic Open Day
If you are interested in coming along to this event, you can reserve your place on our open days webpage. Please note that bookings are mandatory for this open day and that the deadline for registering is 20th February 2023.
As a reminder, we’re running several language-specific open days over the next six weeks… take a look at the table below for further details and sign up to attend here!
*This open day has been designed to be accessible for students considering beginners’ German. From this year’s admissions cycle, applicants can mix Joint Schools subjects with beginners’ German, so please do encourage students considering degrees in English, History, Philosophy etc. to come along and try out some German!
We look forward to meeting you at these events soon!
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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