Czech (with Slovak) and Beginners' Russian
Czech with Slovak and Beginners' Russian is an intellectually demanding programme for students who wish to engage deeply with the Slavonic language family, studying two closely related central European languages alongside one of the world's most widely spoken tongues. Czech and Slovak share a remarkable degree of mutual intelligibility and common cultural history, rooted in the Bohemian, Moravian and Slovak traditions, while also diverging in significant ways that reward careful linguistic study. Russian, one of the official languages of the United Nations, opens access to a vast literary tradition and to one of the most geopolitically significant parts of the world.
At the University of Oxford, this three-year full-time programme is taught at one of the most academically demanding universities in the world, within a strong tradition of Slavonic and East European studies. You will develop proficiency in Czech and Slovak through intensive language tuition while also building your Russian from beginner level, engaging with the grammar, phonology, literature and culture of all three languages. Oxford's tutorial system means you will receive close individual supervision of your academic work, developing the capacity to analyse texts, construct arguments and engage with scholarship in each of the languages you study.
Graduates with Slavonic language skills occupy an unusual position in the graduate market, as the combination of less commonly studied languages with the rigorous analytical training of an Oxford degree is genuinely rare. Careers in diplomacy, international organisations, journalism, translation and interpreting, central and eastern European business, academia, the intelligence services and the cultural sector are all accessible pathways. Many graduates proceed to postgraduate study in Slavonic languages, Russian studies, European history, translation or international relations, developing specialist expertise that is in demand in a range of professional and academic contexts.