French and Portuguese

French and Portuguese is a combination that brings two of the world's most geographically extensive languages together. French is spoken by hundreds of millions of people across Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and Canada, and is an official language of major international organisations. Portuguese is the language of Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique, Angola and several other countries across three continents, making it one of the world's most globally distributed languages and one whose significance in international trade, culture and diplomacy is growing.

Studying both means engaging with two vast multilingual communities and the remarkable diversity of literatures, cultures and histories they encompass.

At the University of Oxford you will study across four years of full-time study, developing practical written and spoken fluency in both languages alongside an extensive engagement with the literature and thought written in them. You will have the opportunity to focus on literature across the full range of periods from the medieval to the present day, or to explore linguistics, philology, film studies or related disciplines depending on your interests. Oxford's approach to modern languages combines rigorous linguistic training with deep scholarly engagement with the texts and traditions that make French and Portuguese culture what they are.

French and Portuguese graduates are exceptionally well placed for careers in diplomacy, international organisations, translation and interpreting, international business, journalism, cultural institutions, the foreign office and academic research. The combination of two globally significant languages, both with substantial economic weight in their respective regions, is genuinely rare among UK graduates and highly valued in professional contexts that require sophisticated multilingual communication. Many graduates pursue postgraduate study in translation, French or Lusophone studies, international relations or linguistics, and the Oxford degree carries considerable weight in competitive professional and academic markets.