BA German and Beginners' Italian
About this course
German and Italian is a degree that gives you access to two of the most significant literary, cultural and intellectual traditions in European history. German is the most widely spoken first language in the European Union and the language of an extraordinary range of intellectual achievement in philosophy, science, music and literature. Italian is the language of Dante, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, Galileo and a centuries-long tradition of artistic and cultural achievement that runs from the Renaissance through the Baroque and Risorgimento to the present. Studying both, with Italian at beginners' level, gives you a progressively expanding linguistic repertoire alongside deep engagement with the cultures they unlock. At the University of Oxford, this four-year full-time programme provides both practical training in written and spoken language and an extensive introduction to the literature, philosophy and thought written in German and Italian. As well as learning to write and speak both languages fluently, you can study a broad range of literature from the medieval period to the present day, or choose from a wide range of other options including linguistics, philology, film studies, gender studies and advanced translation in German. The programme is intellectually ambitious and linguistically demanding, setting the highest standards in both language acquisition and critical analysis. Graduates from German and Italian joint honours programmes go on to careers in translation and interpreting, international business, diplomacy, journalism, the European institutions, academia, publishing, broadcasting, law and the cultural sector. The combination of two European languages is particularly valued by international organisations and by organisations operating across European markets. Many graduates go on to postgraduate study in German, Italian, comparative literature, translation studies or linguistics, and the degree provides an excellent foundation for doctoral research in the humanities.
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