Modern Languages (Persian and Spanish) and Latin

Studying three languages in combination is an ambitious intellectual undertaking that pays dividends across every dimension of linguistic and cultural understanding. Persian, one of the world's oldest literary languages, is spoken by tens of millions of people across Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, and carries a literary tradition of extraordinary richness, from the medieval poetry of Hafez and Rumi to contemporary fiction and film. Spanish, one of the most widely spoken languages on earth, opens access to twenty or more countries across Europe and the Americas.

Latin, the foundation of all the Romance languages and the vehicle of European thought for over a thousand years, deepens your understanding of both and sharpens your capacity to analyse language structurally and historically.

At the University of St Andrews you will study all three languages within a rigorous four-year programme that includes a year abroad. You will engage with Persian and Spanish texts in their original forms, building reading and speaking competence alongside the scholarly and critical skills required to interpret literature, film, politics and society. Your Latin studies will take you through the classical tradition, developing textual analysis and a historical perspective on how the modern languages you are studying emerged from a shared root.

The combination of Persian, Spanish and Latin reflects St Andrews' strength in less commonly taught languages and gives you a genuinely distinctive profile at graduation. Careers for graduates with these skills include translation and interpreting, diplomacy and international relations, journalism and broadcasting, academic research, and roles in global businesses, NGOs and international organisations operating in the regions where these languages are spoken. Postgraduate study in linguistics, translation, area studies, Middle Eastern or Latin American studies is a natural extension for those who wish to develop specialist expertise.