German/Italian

German and Italian is a degree that develops fluency in two of Europe's most significant and culturally rich languages alongside deep engagement with the literatures, histories, and cultures of the German-speaking and Italian-speaking worlds. German is a key European language with a literary, philosophical, and scientific tradition of extraordinary depth, spanning from the Enlightenment and Romanticism through modernism to contemporary writing, and spoken in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and significant communities beyond. Italian is the language of one of the world's great civilisations, encompassing the Renaissance, the long tradition of opera and lyric poetry, the major currents of modern Italian fiction and cinema, and a contemporary culture of remarkable vitality.

At the University of Glasgow, the German strand provides a wide spectrum of teaching, from the eighteenth century to contemporary culture, developing your language skills and your critical engagement with German literature and cultural history. The Italian strand complements this with its own rich tradition, giving you the linguistic and cultural expertise to engage with Italian texts and life from the inside. Glasgow's modern languages programmes combine rigorous language teaching with serious engagement with cultural history, equipping you to move fluently between the demands of linguistic precision and critical interpretation.

The degree runs over five years and includes a placement year and a work placement, giving you substantial professional experience in German-speaking or Italian-speaking environments. This extended time abroad is essential for developing the fluency and cultural confidence that a five-year languages programme aims to cultivate.

Graduates from German and Italian degrees move into careers in translation and interpreting, education, international business, journalism, the civil service, cultural organisations, diplomacy, and publishing. The combination of two major European languages is genuinely distinctive and highly valued in organisations with European connections. Postgraduate study in modern languages, translation, comparative literature, or European studies is a natural route for those who wish to develop further.