Hebrew and Hungarian

Hebrew and Hungarian represent a pairing of remarkable linguistic and cultural distinctiveness. Hebrew is one of the oldest languages still in use, with a written tradition spanning more than three thousand years, a foundational religious significance that extends across three world faiths, and a modern form that was revived as a spoken vernacular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and is now the primary language of the State of Israel. Hungarian, or Magyar, is one of the most structurally unusual languages in Europe, a member of the Finno-Ugric family entirely unrelated to the surrounding Slavic and Germanic tongues, carrying a literary and cultural tradition of considerable depth and a history interwoven with some of the most dramatic episodes in modern European history.

At University College London, this four-year, full-time programme gives you the opportunity to develop real competence in both languages while engaging with the civilisations they carry. UCL's School of European Languages, Culture and Society has long-standing strengths in both Hebrew and Hungarian studies, and you will be taught by specialists in both areas. The programme covers Biblical and Modern Hebrew alongside Hungarian language, literature, and culture, and it situates both languages in their historical, religious, and cultural contexts.

The combination is unusual and reflects UCL's exceptional range in less commonly taught European and Middle Eastern languages.

Graduates from this programme have highly distinctive and rare language skills. They work in diplomacy, the cultural sector, journalism, translation and interpreting, religious organisations, academic research, and international business. Postgraduate study in Jewish studies, Central European studies, Hebrew literature, linguistics, or area studies is a natural option, and graduates are genuinely competitive in a small but significant set of professional contexts where these languages are directly relevant.