Modern Languages (Italian and Russian) and Latin

Combining Italian, Russian and Latin in a single degree is an intellectually ambitious choice, one that brings together two of Europe's major living languages with the ancient tongue from which so much of European intellectual and literary life descends. Italian connects you to the Renaissance, to one of the world's great literary traditions and to contemporary European culture. Russian opens a vast literary and cultural world and a language spoken across one of the largest countries on earth.

Latin provides the grammatical and historical foundation that illuminates both, and that has shaped the vocabulary, forms and ideas of virtually every European language.

At the University of St Andrews this four-year MA (Hons) programme includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to develop linguistic fluency in an immersive environment. You will build high-level proficiency in Italian and Russian, developing the ability to read, write and communicate with confidence in both languages, while engaging with the literatures, cultures, histories and intellectual traditions they carry. The Latin strand deepens your understanding of the classical foundations of European culture and equips you to read ancient texts directly.

Working across three languages simultaneously is demanding, but it develops unusual analytical and comparative skills that transfer very effectively beyond the languages themselves.

Graduates of programmes combining multiple modern languages and Latin are well placed for careers in international organisations, translation and interpreting, publishing, journalism, diplomacy, cultural institutions, education and the civil service. The historical depth that Latin provides is particularly valued in academic research and in archival or heritage roles. Many graduates go on to postgraduate study in linguistics, literature, European studies or area studies, and the combination of skills developed across this degree is unusual enough to be genuinely distinctive in a competitive graduate labour market.