Czech and Romanian

Czech and Romanian are two of Europe's most culturally rich yet relatively underrepresented languages in British higher education, making the combination a genuinely distinctive choice with real professional value. Czech is a West Slavic language spoken primarily in the Czech Republic, a country with a dense literary tradition and a central position in Central European history and politics. Romanian, a Romance language descended from Latin, is the official language of Romania and Moldova and is spoken by communities across Europe.

Together, they open access to two entirely different language families, two sets of grammatical structures, and two national cultures that have rarely been simple to understand from outside.

At University College London, this four-year full-time programme gives you the linguistic tools to achieve real fluency in both languages while situating them within their historical, literary, and cultural contexts. You will work on grammar, translation, spoken proficiency, and written register across different levels, moving from foundational competence toward the kind of command that allows you to read literature, engage with media, and communicate confidently in professional situations. Alongside language classes you will engage with history, politics, film, and literary texts from the Czech and Romanian traditions, developing an understanding of how these societies have shaped themselves through periods of empire, occupation, communism, and post-communist transition.

UCL is one of very few institutions in the UK where this combination is possible, and the department brings research expertise in Slavonic and East European languages to your teaching.

The four-year duration gives sufficient space to take your language skills from scratch or near-scratch to an advanced level, and the programme is structured to support students who may be beginning one or both languages as a genuine beginner.

Graduates with expertise in Czech and Romanian are sought in diplomacy, international organisations, the European Union institutions, journalism, business development in Central and Eastern European markets, translation, interpreting, and academic research. The combination of two languages from different families also demonstrates exceptional linguistic ability, which is itself valued across many sectors.