Beginners' Portuguese and Czech

Studying Portuguese and Czech with Slovak at degree level is a genuinely distinctive intellectual undertaking, connecting a major Romance language with languages from the West Slavic family and their associated cultures. Portuguese, spoken by around 250 million people across Brazil, Portugal and Lusophone Africa, opens access to a vast and culturally rich tradition spanning literature, music, history and politics. Czech and Slovak, while distinct languages, share deep linguistic roots and give access to the cultures, histories and contemporary societies of Central Europe, including the remarkable twentieth-century experiences of Czechoslovakia through Nazi occupation, communist rule and the peaceful division of the two states.

At the University of Oxford, this four-year full-time degree offers both practical training in written and spoken languages and an extensive engagement with the literature, culture and intellectual traditions of the relevant language communities. You will develop fluency in all three languages, working across the full range of skills: speaking, listening, reading, writing and translation. Alongside the language learning, you will be able to study literature across historical periods from the medieval to the present, and to explore areas including linguistics, philology, film or gender studies, allowing you to tailor your degree to your intellectual interests.

With a typical entry tariff of 184 UCAS points, this is a highly demanding programme at one of the world's leading universities.

Graduates from modern languages programmes at Oxford go on to careers in the diplomatic service, international organisations, journalism, translation and interpreting, academia, publishing, law, international business, the civil service and the cultural sector. The combination of Portuguese with Czech and Slovak is particularly distinctive and valued in contexts that connect Lusophone and Central European affairs. Postgraduate study in modern languages, linguistics, comparative literature or area studies is a natural next step.