Czech and Polish

Czech and Polish together give you access to two of the Slavic world's most important literary and intellectual traditions, as well as to countries that have undergone some of the most dramatic transformations in twentieth-century European history. Czech is the language of Kafka, Kundera, and Havel, of a culture that survived Habsburg rule, Nazi occupation, and Communist dictatorship while maintaining a distinctive intellectual life. Polish is spoken by one of Europe's most populous nations, a country with a complex relationship to its neighbours and a literary tradition that includes Nobel Prize-winning writers and a philosophical heritage of considerable depth.

Studying both deepens your understanding of Central Europe as a region.

At University College London, this four-year full-time programme takes you to an advanced level in both languages. You will study their grammar, structure, and phonology systematically, while also engaging with the literature, cinema, history, and contemporary politics of the Czech Republic and Poland. UCL's Slavonic and East European Studies programme is one of the strongest in the country, and you benefit from scholars with deep expertise in both languages and their cultural contexts.

Translation and critical reading are central to the degree, and you will develop the analytical skills to engage with texts in both languages at a sophisticated level.

Graduates with Czech and Polish are genuinely rare, and that rarity has real value. International business, diplomacy, journalism, intelligence, and the civil service all recruit people with this profile. The European Union and international organisations working in Central and Eastern Europe are also notable employers.

Translation and interpreting are established career paths. Many graduates go on to postgraduate study in Slavonic studies, area studies, or translation, and UCL's academic environment makes it a strong base for those considering research careers.