Languages in Postgraduate studies

rubberhobbit

I'm looking into my options for doing a masters, and I'd really like to study languages/a language with it, be it part of the course or alongside the course - but my undergraduate degree was not in languages and I'm finding it hard to find courses that will admit applicants without prior degrees in languages. (My undergrad lured me in with the promise of language modules, which were subsequently scrapped once I started.)

So if anyone knows of any postgrad courses incorperating languages that where I don't have to have a prior degree in languages to apply, that would be great! Or any good language courses outside of university that I could look into doing alongside it? :cool:

gutenberg

rubberhobbit wrote: »

I'm looking into my options for doing a masters, and I'd really like to study languages/a language with it, be it part of the course or alongside the course - but my undergraduate degree was not in languages and I'm finding it hard to find courses that will admit applicants without prior degrees in languages. (My undergrad lured me in with the promise of language modules, which were subsequently scrapped once I started.)

So if anyone knows of any postgrad courses incorperating languages that where I don't have to have a prior degree in languages to apply, that would be great! Or any good language courses outside of university that I could look into doing alongside it? :cool:

I don't know whether you'll find many language postgrad courses that will accept you without prior knowledge of the language - the aim of postgraduate study is generally to become more specialised, so a lot of 'language' postgrad courses will focus on literature, for example, or linguistics. You might get lucky with a course like 'European culture' or 'Cultural studies' or somesuch, which might have language modules, but even these tend to have courses on literature, history etc rather than languages ab initio. I imagine most courses will assume a level of knowledge of relevant languages if you already have an undergraduate degree. The only ones I've come across that include language courses are ones with very 'unusual' languages, such as Latin or Ancient Greek for a classics/theology Master's, or for medieval history.

If you were interested in studying them alongside your course, I can think of a few options. One is that your university might have a Language Centre where you can study by yourself, or some might even offer extracurricular classes. Otherwise you could look at cultural institutions like the Alliance Francaise, the Goethe Institute, the Istituto Cervantes, or the Italian Cultural Institute, all of which offer language courses from beginner to advanced. One note of caution: a lot of postgrad courses are very demanding, so think carefully about taking on extra courses outside of it, to make sure you have the time