Modern and Medieval Languages

Modern and Medieval Languages at Cambridge offers one of the most intellectually ambitious language degrees in the world, with the scope to study the languages and cultures of most European and many non-European countries. The degree is built on the conviction that to understand a language deeply you must also understand the literature, history, and culture it carries, and it develops linguistic competence, close reading, and historical and cultural analysis in equal measure.

This four-year full-time programme includes a sandwich placement year and a work placement component, giving you structured professional experience alongside the intense academic training the degree provides. You will develop very high levels of linguistic proficiency in your chosen languages, reading and engaging with literary texts, cultural documents, and contemporary media in the original, and building the critical and interpretive skills to analyse them in depth. The historical dimension means you can move between medieval and modern periods, tracing how languages and cultures have developed over centuries, and the comparative perspective that working across multiple languages provides is a distinctive intellectual asset.

Cambridge's resources, its teaching culture, and the calibre of its academic community make this one of the most demanding and rewarding language degrees available in the UK. The supervised dissertation work and seminar-based teaching develop your capacity for independent, original thinking at a high level.

Graduates from Modern and Medieval Languages at Cambridge move into careers in diplomacy, international business, law, publishing, journalism, academia, translation and interpreting, cultural institutions, the civil service, and international organisations. The linguistic competence, cultural breadth, and analytical rigour of the degree open doors across virtually every professional sector that operates internationally. Postgraduate study in languages, literature, translation, or related fields is also a natural next step for many graduates.