Russian and Beginners' Czech

Russian and Czech with Slovak is a combination that gives you access to three of the most significant Slavic languages, opening up a broad swathe of Central and Eastern European culture, literature, and history. Russian is the most widely spoken Slavic language, with around 150 million native speakers, and a literary tradition of extraordinary richness, from Pushkin and Dostoevsky through Chekhov and Akhmatova to the dissident literature of the Soviet period. Czech is the language of Bohemia, a Central European culture that produced Kafka, Kundera, and Havel, and Slovak, closely related to Czech, is the national language of Slovakia.

Together, the three languages give you linguistic access to a region of immense historical and contemporary significance.

At the University of Oxford, this four-year programme is designed for students beginning Czech and Slovak from scratch, alongside the development of Russian at an advanced level. Oxford's tutorial system provides the intensive and personalised engagement with language learning that allows students to progress rapidly in two related but distinct linguistic systems simultaneously. You will read literature in the original languages, engage with the histories and cultures of Russia, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, and develop the linguistic precision that marks genuine competence in these complex inflected languages.

Oxford has particular research strengths in Slavonic studies, and the programme connects to a faculty engaged in active scholarship.

Graduates with this combination of Slavic languages are unusual and valued in contexts where expertise in the region is needed. Diplomatic and foreign policy roles in the FCDO and other government departments, journalism focused on Central and Eastern Europe, translation and interpreting, international business, and roles in international organisations working in the region are all natural destinations. Academic research in Slavonic languages, comparative literature, or the history of the region attracts graduates who wish to pursue the scholarship further.

The analytical and linguistic rigour developed through Oxford's programme is valued well beyond Slavic studies itself.