Hungarian and Serbian/Croatian

Hungarian and Serbian/Croatian is a combination that opens two quite distinct linguistic traditions in Central and South-Eastern Europe. Hungarian is a Finno-Ugric language of remarkable individuality, unrelated to any of its Indo-European neighbours, the official language of Hungary and the mother tongue of Hungarian-speaking communities across Romania, Slovakia, Serbia and beyond. Serbian and Croatian are South Slavic languages that share a very high degree of mutual intelligibility while carrying distinct cultural and political identities in the countries of the former Yugoslavia.

Together these two languages give you access to a region of Europe whose twentieth-century history is among the most turbulent and consequential anywhere in the world.

At University College London this four-year programme develops your proficiency in both languages to an advanced level, building your abilities in reading, writing, speaking and listening alongside engagement with the literatures, histories, cultures and contemporary politics of Hungary and the South Slavic world. The region encompasses some of the most significant events of recent European history, including the Hungarian uprising of 1956, the complex transitions from communism after 1989, and the violent disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, all of which are illuminated by linguistic and cultural study of the kind this degree provides. UCL's expertise in Central and Eastern European languages and cultures provides a scholarly environment of considerable depth.

Graduates go on to careers in diplomacy, international organisations, journalism, translation and interpreting, academic research, the civil service, cultural organisations and international business with a focus on Central and South-Eastern Europe. The combination of Hungarian and Serbian/Croatian is genuinely unusual, and the expertise it represents is valued wherever understanding of this region matters. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in area studies, comparative literature, history, translation or international relations.