Modern Languages and English

Modern languages and English is a joint honours degree that develops two related but distinct intellectual capabilities: the ability to engage with literature in a second language at a high level of proficiency, and the ability to read and analyse English literature with critical depth. At Royal Holloway, University of London, the BA Modern Languages and English is a four-year full-time programme that includes a sandwich year and work placement, giving you professional experience alongside your academic development. You will study English literature alongside fluency in the language of your choice from French, German, Italian, or Spanish.

The modern languages strand takes you from your current level of proficiency towards genuine fluency, developing your ability to communicate in speech and writing in the target language while also engaging with its literature, culture, history, and contemporary society. The English literature strand develops your skills in close reading, critical analysis, and literary history across a range of periods and genres, building the capacity to situate texts in their cultural and historical contexts and to engage with major critical debates. The two strands complement each other: studying literature in two languages simultaneously develops a comparative awareness of how literary traditions interact and diverge, and how translation and influence shape what writers can do.

The sandwich year provides professional experience in a context relevant to your skills, strengthening your employability alongside your academic development.

Graduates of modern languages and English programmes carry a combination of linguistic fluency, cultural literacy, and analytical rigour that is genuinely valuable across a range of careers. Publishing, journalism, translation, teaching, communications, arts administration, and work in European institutions are among the most direct career paths. The critical reading and writing skills developed in English literature are applicable in law, the civil service, consulting, and the media, while proficiency in French, German, Italian, or Spanish adds substantial value in any professional context involving those language communities.

Some graduates go on to postgraduate study in literature, translation, European studies, or professional programmes. The professional experience gained during the sandwich year strengthens career prospects directly.