Bulgarian and Italian

Bulgarian and Italian are two languages that open onto very different but equally rich European cultures. Italian is one of the most widely spoken Romance languages, with around 65 million native speakers and a literary, musical, and artistic tradition that has shaped European culture profoundly since the medieval period. It is a language of significance in diplomacy, business, fashion, and the arts, as well as a gateway to one of Europe's largest economies.

Bulgarian is a South Slavic language spoken by around eight million people, primarily in Bulgaria, and is one of the oldest written languages in the Slavic family, written in the Cyrillic alphabet and with a rich medieval and modern literary tradition of its own. Together, the two languages give you a linguistically diverse profile and access to two quite different regions and cultural traditions within Europe.

At University College London, this four-year programme allows you to develop proficiency in both languages alongside the literary, cultural, and historical knowledge to understand the societies in which they are spoken. UCL's School of Slavonic and East European Studies is one of the leading centres for the study of Central and Eastern Europe in the world, providing exceptional resources for your Bulgarian studies, while the Italian programme draws on the university's long tradition in Romance languages. You will read literature in both languages in the original, engage with the histories of Italy and Bulgaria across different periods, and develop the linguistic skills to work in both languages at an advanced level.

Graduates with this language combination are unusual and valued in contexts where expertise in both a major Western European language and a less commonly taught Slavic language is an asset. Translation, interpreting, diplomacy, journalism, international business, NGO work, and roles in European institutions are all potential directions. The analytical and communication skills developed through studying two languages at advanced level are widely transferable, and many graduates pursue careers in education, publishing, the cultural sector, or postgraduate study in linguistics, comparative literature, or area studies.