Finnish and Serbian/Croatian

Finnish and Serbian-Croatian is an unusually distinctive combination, bringing together two languages from entirely different families, one Finno-Ugric and the other South Slavic, each with its own rich literary, cultural, and historical traditions. Finnish is one of the most structurally distinctive languages in Europe, belonging to the same family as Estonian and Hungarian rather than the Indo-European languages that surround it, and it gives access to a literary and cultural tradition that includes the Kalevala, a national epic of enormous cultural significance, alongside a vigorous contemporary literature. Serbian and Croatian, while closely related, open up the cultures of the western Balkans, a region whose twentieth-century history has been among the most dramatic in Europe.

At University College London, this four-year, full-time joint honours BA divides equally between your two languages. You will study all aspects of each language, including speaking, listening, reading, writing, and translation, alongside cultural topics including literature, history, film, linguistics, and politics in both traditions. The wide range of modules available allows you to tailor the degree to your developing interests.

Your third year is a year abroad, divided between countries where each of your languages is spoken, providing immersive linguistic and cultural experience that extends well beyond what classroom study can offer. The typical entry tariff is 168 UCAS points.

Graduates from Finnish and Serbian-Croatian programmes bring a rare and genuinely distinctive combination of linguistic competence to the job market. Translation and interpreting, journalism, the foreign office and diplomatic service, international organisations, academia, publishing, cultural institutions, and roles in Finnish and Balkan diaspora communities or international organisations engaged with these regions are all natural destinations. Many graduates pursue postgraduate study in Slavic languages, Finno-Ugric studies, linguistics, translation, or area studies.