Swedish and Yiddish

Swedish and Yiddish is a language combination that appears unlikely on the surface but reveals, on closer examination, a deep and historically charged relationship. Swedish is the official language of Sweden and one of Finland's two official languages, a North Germanic tongue with a literary tradition stretching from the medieval sagas to the modernist experimentation of August Strindberg, the social realism of Astrid Lindgren, and the contemporary crime fiction that has brought Scandinavian literature to a global audience. Yiddish is a West Germanic language, closely related to German, written in the Hebrew alphabet and spoken for centuries as the primary vernacular of Ashkenazi Jewish communities across Central and Eastern Europe.

The connection between Scandinavian countries and Yiddish-speaking communities is not incidental. During the Holocaust, Denmark and Sweden provided refuge for thousands of Jews fleeing Nazi persecution, and Scandinavian countries have played a role in both the destruction and the survival of Yiddish-speaking communities. Studying Swedish alongside Yiddish therefore brings you into contact not just with two languages but with two traditions whose histories intersect around some of the most significant events of the twentieth century.

At University College London, this four-year full-time programme draws on UCL's exceptional strength in Yiddish studies through its Hebrew and Jewish Studies department, combined with its modern European languages provision. You will develop advanced proficiency in both languages, study literature and culture from both traditions, and engage with the historical, social, and cultural contexts that give each language its particular significance.

Graduates with expertise in Swedish and Yiddish move into careers in translation and interpreting, academia and research, Jewish cultural institutions, archives and libraries, journalism, international organisations, and education. The combination is rare, and its rarity is itself professionally distinctive.