Modern Languages

French and Mandarin Chinese represent two of the most globally significant languages on earth. French is spoken across five continents and is an official language of major international organisations, while Mandarin is the most widely spoken first language in the world and the language of one of the most important economies and cultural traditions in human history. Combining them at degree level is demanding and intellectually rich, requiring you to operate across two very different linguistic systems while also engaging with the cultures, literatures, and societies each language opens up.

At the University of Bath, this four-year programme gives you the time and structure needed to develop real proficiency in both languages alongside serious cultural understanding. You will study French and Mandarin at an advanced level, working on grammar, reading, writing, speaking, and listening across both languages throughout your degree. Alongside language classes, you will engage with topics in French and Francophone culture, literature, history, and politics, and with Chinese history, society, and contemporary affairs.

The programme develops your capacity to think comparatively across cultures, to analyse texts and arguments in more than one language, and to communicate with precision and sensitivity in contexts where language carries significant cultural weight. The University of Bath has a strong reputation in languages with a professional orientation, and the programme reflects that practical focus.

This full-time programme includes a sandwich year, which involves a period of work placement. That professional exposure, gained in a linguistically demanding real-world setting, adds considerable value to your degree and to your CV. Graduates from modern languages programmes combining French and Mandarin are particularly well placed for careers in international business, diplomacy, translation and interpreting, international law, finance, journalism, and cultural roles.

Further study at postgraduate level, including interpreting, translation studies, and area studies, is also a natural route for graduates who want to develop their expertise further.