Linguistics and Modern Languages

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https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/linguistics-modern-languages-ba-hons

Linguistics and Modern Languages, BA (Hons) | Undergraduate Study

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Courses for 2027 entry

Linguistics and Modern Languages, BA (Hons)

Undergraduate Study

Our language and linguistics courses explained

This course offers you the chance to master a major modern language alongside the scientific study of linguistics.

The first 2 years of the course are spent in Cambridge. You’ll spend your third year abroad, immersing yourself in the language you are studying, before returning to Cambridge for the fourth year.

This course combines the core elements of our Linguistics and Modern and Medieval Languages courses.

Overview

Number 1 in the World for Modern Languages (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025)

Number 4 in the World for Linguistics (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025)

Linguistics and Modern Languages at Cambridge

On this course, you will learn about the language, culture and history of most European, and many non-European, countries. You'll study one modern language in depth. Alongside this, you will also explore how the scientific study of language can help us understand the human mind and creativity.

The range of topics available to study across linguistics and modern languages means you can develop your own curiosity about how these areas intersect.

Language options

You’ll choose one language to study on the course, most of which you can study without any previous knowledge of the language.

If you want to study French, you must have taken it at A level, IB Higher Level or equivalent. If you have already studied your chosen language at A level or equivalent, you will study at a more advanced level.

You can choose to study:

French and Linguistics (if you’re taking it at A level or IB Higher Level)

German and Linguistics

Italian and Linguistics

Portuguese and Linguistics

Russian and Linguistics

Spanish and Linguistics

No matter what your proficiency when you arrive, you leave with a high level of competence in your chosen language. All language classes are taught by highly proficient speakers, often first language users.

You can say which language you’re interested in when you apply to study the course. You may be able to change this choice before or shortly after you start on the course.

It may be possible to take an introductory course in another language in your second and fourth years. Check the course outline for details.

Year abroad

In the third year, you’ll spend at least 8 months abroad in one or 2 countries where you’ll usually do one of 3 things:

attend courses at a university abroad

become an English-speaking assistant at a school

complete an internship with a firm

Study of Linguistics

In addition to your chosen language, you will also study Linguistics. Areas of study will range from language in general to individual languages and language families. You’ll apply mathematical and digital techniques to explore language acquisition, pathology and evolution.

Your studies in Linguistics will be varied. You may:

study rhythm in speech and how this is used by poets

learn how we can record brain responses to language

explore creativity in young children as they acquire the grammar of their language

evaluate the outputs of large language models (AI systems) on translation tasks

Teaching and facilities

Teaching

We are a large and diverse faculty, whose members are international renowned experts in their fields.

Facilities

Our facilities include:

well-stocked Faculty library

Psycholinguistics/Neurolinguistics laboratory with eye-tracking and EEG equipment

Language Technology laboratory

Phonetics laboratory

Media Centre, which has equipment for film studies

bespoke language teaching and learning materials at the University's Language Centre

You'll also have access to the impressive Cambridge University Library, one of the world’s oldest university libraries.

Course costs

When you go to university, you’ll need to consider two main costs – your tuition fees and your living costs (sometimes referred to as maintenance costs).

Your living costs will include costs related to your studies that are not covered by your tuition fees. There are some general study costs that will apply for all students.

Find out more about general study costs.

Other additional course costs for Linguistics and Modern Languages are detailed below. If you have any queries about these costs, please contact the Faculty.

Books and set texts

All required reading is held in University and College libraries or available online, but you may choose to buy some books, such as language text books or literary texts for close study. The costs for these books will vary but will typically be up to £50 per year. Some Colleges may provide grants for purchasing books.

Printing and photocopying

You may need to do some printing and photocopying. The use of the printers in the Faculty costs 5p per A4 sheet in black and white, and 20p per A4 sheet in colour (subject to change).

Field trips and study abroad

Year abroad in Year 3: you will be expected to cover daily living costs and any travel costs associated with study abroad, at a level that would have been incurred whilst studying in Cambridge. Visit our tuition fees page to find out more about tuition fees for study abroad. For most UK/EU students and most year abroad activities, the normal student loans are available to cover maintenance costs and fees. Find out more about study abroad costs on the Faculty website.

Your future career

Fluency in a foreign language and an understanding of foreign cultures is in great demand on the job market. Employers also value the experience, independence and cross-cultural awareness gained during time spent studying abroad, even if you don’t work directly with languages in your job.

As a graduate you’ll have a range of jobs open to you. Recent destinations of graduates from our related courses include:

BBC World Service

international law firms

Potential future career paths for LML graduates could include:

Diplomatic relations

the language technology industry

the EdTech industry

the advertising industry

forensic investigation

speech therapy

voice and accent coaching for actors

data science

language teaching

translation and interpreting

Course outline

Teaching is provided through a mixture of lectures, intensive language classes, seminars and small-group supervisions.

For your language classes, you’ll get individual feedback from your teachers, outlining how you can improve further. For some of your linguistics classes, there will be practicals where a more hands-on approach is followed, for example using speech analysis software for visualising and quantifying speech acoustics.

For your supervisions, you prepare written work which you then discuss with a specialist in the field.

In your first year, you can generally expect around 12 to 14 hours of teaching each week.

Assessment

You’re assessed at the end of each year, primarily through a combination of written, oral, and practical examinations. You'll also be assessed through coursework. You may be able to replace some examinations with coursework.

An extended translation or research project, based on activities undertaken during your time spent studying abroad, is submitted at the end of the third year, and a compulsory dissertation at the end of the fourth year.

You won't usually be able to resit any of your exams.

Year 1 (Part IA)

You take 2 core linguistics papers:

Sounds and Words

Structures and Meanings

You also take 3 papers related to your chosen language, which you will either learn from scratch or post A level or IB Higher Level. French is not available to study from scratch.

Your first year focuses on developing your knowledge of foundational areas of linguistics. You'll also be developing your language skills by studying a wide variety of authentic texts, radio programmes and video clips.

You’ll experience a variety of teaching methods, including faculty classes of up to 15 students, and supervisions in small groups of between 2 and 6 students.

Year 2 (Part IB)

You take 4 to 5 papers in total, continuing your studies in linguistics alongside your chosen language, with the aim of acquiring a high command of the language.

If you are studying your chosen language from scratch, you take 5 papers. If you studied your chosen language at A level, you take 4 papers.

You can choose from a wide range of papers covering topics such as:

literature

linguistics

You may also be able to take an introductory course in a language and culture you haven’t studied before. The languages offered are subject to availability, but may include:

Modern Greek

Portuguese

Ukrainian

For some papers, you may be able to replace the exam with coursework.

Years 3 and 4 (Part II)

Year 3 (Year Abroad)

You spend at least 8 months abroad, during which time you prepare a project that counts towards your final mark. You can do:

a dissertation (extended research project)

a translation project

Just before the fourth year starts, you take an oral examination when you’re back in Cambridge.

In the fourth year you:

continue with advanced language work

take 3 specialised papers in Modern Languages and Linguistics, from a range of topics, areas and periods

Being able to choose some of your papers allows you to pursue your particular interests, for example:

specialising in one language

combining options from 2 or more languages

taking comparative options in linguistics, culture or literature topics

You will also write a dissertation on a topic of your choice. You will need to do individual research for this dissertation.

For further information about this course and the papers you can take see the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics website.

Changing course

It’s really important to think carefully about which course you want to study before you apply.

In rare cases, it may be possible to change course once you’ve joined the University. You will usually have to get agreement from your College and the relevant departments. It’s not guaranteed that your course change will be approved.

You might also have to:

take part in an interview

complete an admissions test

produce some written work

achieve a particular grade in your current studies

do some catch-up work

start your new course from the beginning

For more information visit the Faculty website.

You can also apply to change to:

Management Studies at the Judge Business School

You can't apply to this course until you're at Cambridge. You would usually apply when you are in your second or third year of your original Cambridge course.

You should contact your College’s Admissions Office if you’re thinking of changing your course. They will be able to give you advice and explain how changing courses works.

Entry requirements

The entry requirements listed are for entry in 2027 or deferred entry in 2028. Check our guidance on choosing high school subjects.

Minimum offer level

A level: A*AA

IB: 41-42 points with 776 at Higher Level

Other qualifications: Check which other qualifications we accept.

We don't ask for any specific subjects to apply to Linguistics and Modern Languages, if you want to study a modern language from scratch. You can study all languages options from scratch, except French.

If you choose French as your language option, you must have:

A level/IB Higher Level French

If you want to study your chosen language at a more advanced level, you will need an A level or equivalent in the language.

We also recommend these subjects for a strong application:

Languages

English (literature or language)

Mathematics

College entry requirements

The following Colleges usually set offers at the minimum offer level. They may sometimes ask for higher grades or an A* in a particular subject:

Christ's

Corpus Christi

Emmanuel

Fitzwilliam

Gonville & Caius

Homerton

Hughes Hall

Magdalene

Murray Edwards

Pembroke

Robinson

Sidney Sussex

St Edmund’s

St John’s

Trinity Hall

The following Colleges set extra conditions for most or all offers. For example, a higher offer or specify an A* in a particular subject. For more information check the College websites:

Lucy Cavendish

Colleges set additional offer requirements for a range of reasons. If you'd like to find out more about why we do this, check the information about offers above the minimum requirement on the entry requirements page.

IB offers

Some Colleges usually make offers above the minimum offer level. Find out more on our qualifications page.

Admission assessment

There is an admissions assessment at some Colleges for this course. You do not need to register in advance.

Check the College admissions assessments page for more information.

Submitted work

Some of our Colleges will ask you to submit written work.

The following Colleges require one piece of written work:

The following Colleges require 2 pieces of written work:

Hughes Hall (TBC)

St John's

Next steps

Discover your department or faculty

Visit the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics website

- The Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics website has more information about this course, facilities, people and research.

Explore our Colleges

Find out how Colleges work

- A College is where you’ll live, eat and socialise. You may also have some small group teaching there, known as supervisions.

How to choose the Cambridge College that's right for you

- If you think you know which course you’d like to study, it’s time to choose a College.

Visit us on an open day

Book an open day

- Get a feel for the city and the University.

Find an event

- We offer a range of events where you can find out more about Cambridge, Colleges, and your course. Many of our events are online so you can join us virtually.

Find out how to apply

Find out how to apply and how our admissions processes work

- Our admissions process is slightly different to other universities. We’ve put together a handy guide to help you apply to Cambridge.

Improve your application

- Supercurricular activities are a great way to engage with your chosen subject outside of school or college.

Discover Uni

Discover Uni data

Contextual information

Discover Uni allows you to compare information about individual courses at different higher education institutions. This can be a useful method of considering your options and what course may suit you best.

However, please note that superficially similar courses often have very different structures and objectives, and that the teaching, support and learning environment that best suits you can only be determined by identifying your own interests, needs, expectations and goals, and comparing them with detailed institution- and course-specific information.

We recommend that you look thoroughly at the course and University information contained on these webpages and consider coming to visit us on an Open Day, rather than relying solely on statistical comparison.

You may find the following notes helpful when considering information presented by Discover Uni.

Discover Uni relies on superficially similar courses being coded in the same way. Whilst this works on one level, it may lead to some anomalies. For example, Music courses and Music Technology courses can have exactly the same code despite being very different programmes with quite distinct educational and career outcomes.

Any course which combines several disciplines (as many courses at Cambridge do) tends to be compared nationally with courses in just one of those disciplines, and in such cases the Discover Uni comparison may not be an accurate or fair reflection of the reality of either. For example, you may find that when considering a degree which embraces a range of disciplines such as biology, physics, chemistry and geology (for instance, Natural Sciences at Cambridge), the comparison provided is with courses at other institutions that primarily focus on just one (or a smaller combination) of those subjects.You may therefore find that not all elements of the Cambridge degree are represented in the Discover Uni data.

Some contextual data linked from other surveys, such as the National Student Survey (NSS) or the Destination of Leavers in Higher Education (DLHE), may not be available or may be aggregated across several courses or several years due to small sample sizes. When using the data to inform your course choice, it is important to ensure you understand how it has been processed prior to its presentation. Discover Uni offers some explanatory information about how the contextual data is collated, and how it may be used, which you can view here: https://discoveruni.gov.uk/about-our-data/.

Discover Uni draws on national data to provide average salaries and employment/continuation data. Whilst starting salaries can be a useful measure, they do not give any sense of career trajectory or take account of the voluntary/low paid work that many graduates undertake initially in order to gain valuable experience necessary/advantageous for later career progression. Discover Uni is currently piloting use of the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) data to demonstrate possible career progression; it is important to note that this is experimental and its use may be modified as it embeds.

The above list is not exhaustive and there may be other important factors that are relevant to the choices that you are making, but we hope that this will be a useful starting point to help you delve deeper than the face value of the Discover Uni data.

Key information

UCAS code

Course length

BA (Hons) 4 years, full-time including a year abroad

Start date

October 2027

Study at

All Colleges, except Churchill, Peterhouse, and St Catharine's

Department website

www.mmll.cam.ac.uk/

Contact email

facultyoffice@mmll.cam.ac.uk

Contact telephone

Related courses

Linguistics, BA (Hons)

Modern and Medieval Languages, BA (Hons)

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