Your complete guide to studying Languages

Everything you need to know about studying Languages in 2023

part of Humanities

Language studies aim at preparing students to build a deep understanding of a culture based on its individual language and literature, using the spoken and written forms of expression. Gaining in-depth knowledge of a foreign language helps students understand and value cultural diversity, helps build connections between societies, and makes the world a smaller, more open place to live in.

Language courses explore a wide range of fields including: Literature, film, Critical Theory, Philosophy, Linguistics, Politics, Ethics, etc.

You can choose to study a popular international language such as English, French, German or Spanish, to use in international professional contexts. Alternatively, you may learn a less-known foreign language, or an old language gaining a good entry into a specialised field of work such as Translations, Interpreting, Business or Archaeology. Examples include Chinese, Arabic, Latin, Sanskrit or ancient Greek.

Students of Languages are able to speak, write, listen and read in one or more foreign languages at an advanced level. Speaking and learning a foreign language enhances creativity, memory and problem-solving skills, not to mention the clear career advantage.

Languages graduates can find jobs in many areas working as: translators, teachers, linguists, international relations consultant, historians, research and more.

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Interesting programmes for you

Best Universities for Languages on ShortCoursesPortal

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Universities Location TopUniversities Ranking (2018)
University of Oxford Oxford, United Kingdom 1
University of Cambridge Cambridge, United Kingdom 2
Harvard University Cambridge, United States 3
University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, United States 4
Yale University New Haven, United States 5
Stanford University Stanford, United States 6
University of Chicago Chicago, United States 7
Princeton University Princeton, United States 8
Columbia University New York City, United States 9
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Los Angeles, United States 9
The University of Edinburgh Edinburgh, United Kingdom 11
University of Toronto Pickering, Canada 12
New York University New York City, United States 13
University College London (UCL) London, United Kingdom 14
National University of Singapore Singapore, Singapore 15
Duke University Durham, United States 16
University of Warwick Coventry, United Kingdom 16
University of Sydney Sydney, Australia 18
Cornell University Ithaca, United States 19
University of Michigan Ann Arbor, United States 20
Melbourne Business School Melbourne, Australia 21
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, United States 22
University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada 23
University of York York, United Kingdom 24
King's College London London, United Kingdom 25
The University of Manchester Manchester, United Kingdom 26
Australian National University Canberra, Australia 27
The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) 27
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Cambridge, United States 29
University of Auckland Auckland, New Zealand 29
McGill University Montréal, Canada 31
Queen Mary University of London London, United Kingdom 32
University of Texas at Austin Austin, United States 33
Peking University Beijing, China 34
Durham University Durham, United Kingdom 35
Brown University Providence, United States 36
Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, United States 37
The University of Tokyo Tokyo, Japan 37
University of Virginia Charlottesville, United States 39
University of Leeds Leeds, United Kingdom 40
University of Birmingham Birmingham, United Kingdom 41
Monash University Notting Hill, Australia 42
University of Wisconsin Madison Madison, United States 42
University of Bristol Bristol, United Kingdom 44
University College Dublin Dublin, Ireland 45
University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands 46
The University of Exeter Exeter, United Kingdom 47
University of Glasgow Glasgow, United Kingdom 48
University of New South Wales Kingsford, Australia 49
University of Nottingham Nottingham, United Kingdom 49
Aarhus University Aarhus, Denmark 101
Charles University Prague, Czech Republic 101
Cyber Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Seoul, South Korea 101
Ghent University Ledeberg, Belgium 101
Lund University Lund, Sweden 101
National Sun Yat Sen University Kaohsiung City, Taiwan 101
University of Galway Galway, Ireland 101
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Villa Presidente Frei, Ñuñoa, Santiago, Chile, Chile 101
Purdue University West Lafayette, United States 101
Queen's University Kingston, Canada 101
Royal Holloway University of London London, United Kingdom 101
Sapienza University of Rome Roma, Italy 101
Simon Fraser University Burnaby, Canada 101
Stockholm University Bergshamra, Sweden 101
Sungkyunkwan University Seoul, South Korea 101
The City University of New York New York City, United States 101
Complutense University of Madrid Madrid, Spain 101
University Sains Malaysia George Town, Malaysia 101
University College Cork Cork, Ireland 101
University of Aberdeen Aberdeen, United Kingdom 101
University of Adelaide Adelaide, Australia 101
University of Canterbury Christchurch, New Zealand 101
University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, United States 101
University of Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark 101
University of East Anglia Norwich, United Kingdom 101
University of Groningen Groningen, Netherlands 101
Heidelberg University Heidelberg, Germany 101
University of Kent Canterbury, United Kingdom 101
University of Liverpool Liverpool, United Kingdom 101
University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst Center, United States 101
University of Montreal Montréal, Canada 101
University of Notre Dame South Bend, United States 101
University of Oslo Oslo, Norway 101
University of Otago Dunedin, New Zealand 101
University of Reading Reading, United Kingdom 101
University of Southampton Southampton, United Kingdom 101
University of Southern California Los Angeles, United States 101
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Johannesburg, South Africa 101
University of Tübingen Tübingen, Germany 101
University of Victoria Victoria, Canada 101
University of Vienna Vienna, Austria 101
University of Western Ontario London, Canada 101
University of Zurich Zürich (Kreis 1), Switzerland 101
University Putra Malaysia Kampong Baharu Balakong, Malaysia 101
Utrecht University Utrecht, Netherlands 101
Vanderbilt University Nashville, United States 101
Waseda University Nerima, Japan 101
Yonsei University Seoul, South Korea 101
York University Toronto, Canada 101
Autonomous University of Barcelona Barcelona, Spain 151
Beijing Normal University Beijing, China 151
Boston College Newton, United States 151
California Institute of Technology - Caltech Pasadena, United States 151
Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, United States 151
Concordia University Montréal Montreal West, Canada 151
Dalhousie University Halifax, Canada 151
Dartmouth College Hanover, United States 151
De La Salle University Port Area, Philippines 151
Flinders University Adelaide, Australia 151
Fordham University Manhattan, United States 151
Fudan University Shanghai, China 151
George Washington University Washington, D. C., United States 151
Griffith University Southport, Australia 151
Keio University International Center Shinagawa-ku, Japan 151
Maynooth University Maynooth, Ireland 151
McMaster University Hamilton, Canada 151
Michigan State University East Lansing, United States 151
Nanjing University Nanjing, China 151
Oxford Brookes University Oxford, United Kingdom 151
Paris Diderot University Paris, France 151
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai, China 151
Sogang University Seoul, South Korea 151
The University of Milan Sesto San Giovanni, Italy 151
University at Buffalo Buffalo, United States 151
The University of Arizona Tucson, United States 151
University of Barcelona Eixample, Spain 151
University of Bern Bern, Switzerland 151
University of Calgary Calgary, Canada 151
University of California, Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, United States 151
University of Chile Lo Prado, Chile 151
University of Essex Colchester, United Kingdom 151
University of Florida Gainesville, United States 151
University of Geneva Genève, Switzerland 151
University of Granada Granada, Spain 151
University of Lausanne Lausanne, Switzerland 151
University of Limerick Limerick, Ireland 151
University of Newcastle Newcastle, Australia 151
University of Oregon Eugene, United States 151
University of Ottawa Ottawa, Canada 151
University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, United States 151
University of Salamanca Salamanca, Spain 151
University of the Philippines Diliman Bagong Pagasa, Philippines 151
University of Wollongong Wollongong, Australia 151
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands 151
Washington University in St. Louis Saint Louis, United States 151
Zhejiang University Hangzhou, China 151
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Thessaloníki, Greece 201
Arizona State University Tempe Junction, United States 201
Aston University Birmingham, United Kingdom 201
Autonomous University of Madrid Alcobendas, Spain 201
Beijing Foreign Studies University Beijing, China 201
Brigham Young University Provo, United States 201
Dublin City University Dublin, Ireland 201
East China Normal University Shanghai, China 201
Florida State University Tallahassee, United States 201
University of Göttingen Göttingen, Germany 201
George Mason University Fairfax, United States 201
Hanyang University Seoul, South Korea 201
Hong Kong Baptist University Kowloon, Hong Kong (SAR) 201
Jagiellonian University Kraków, Poland 201
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Mainz, Germany 201
Justus Liebig University Giessen Gießen, Germany 201
Kyung Hee University Seoul, South Korea 201
Lingnan University Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong (SAR) 201
National Autonomous University of Mexico Coyoacán, Mexico 201
National Chengchi University Taipei, Taiwan 201
The Open University UK Undergraduate Programmes Milton Keynes, United Kingdom 201
Ohio University Athens, United States 201
Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands 201
Rhodes University Grahamstown, South Africa 201
Rice University Houston, United States 201
Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch, South Africa 201
Syracuse University Syracuse, United States 201
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Jerusalem, Israel 201
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) 201
The University of Iowa Iowa City, United States 201
University of Waikato Hamilton, New Zealand 201
University of Münster Münster, Germany 201
University of Alcalá Alcalá de Henares, Spain 201
University of Antwerp Antwerpen, Belgium 201
University of Bergen Bergen, Norway 201
University of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, Argentina 201
University of California, Riverside Riverside, United States 201
University of Connecticut Storrs, United States 201
University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, United States 201
University of Konstanz Konstanz, Germany 201
University of Leicester Leicester, United Kingdom 201
Leipzig University Leipzig, Germany 201
University of Lisbon Lisbon, Portugal 201
University of Massachusetts Boston South Boston, United States 201
University of Sao Paulo São Paulo, Brazil 201
University of Warsaw Warsaw, Poland 201
University of Waterloo Waterloo, Canada 201
University of Westminster London, United Kingdom 201
University of Zaragoza Delicias, Spain 201
Western Sydney University Paramatta, Australia 201
Binghamton University Johnson City, United States 251
Brandeis University Waltham, United States 251
College of William & Mary Williamsburg, United States 251
Eötvös Loránd University Budapest, Hungary 251
Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) Araranguá, Brazil 251
Friedrich Schiller University Jena Jena, Germany 251
University of Graz Graz, Austria 251
Kazan Federal University Kazan, Russia 251
Kingston University London Borough of Sutton, United Kingdom 251
La Trobe University Melbourne, Australia 251
Laval University Québec, Canada 251
North Carolina State University Raleigh, United States 251
Northeastern University Boston, United States 251
Toronto Metropolitan University Toronto, Canada 251
Stony Brook University Stony Brook, United States 251
Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv Yaffo, Israel 251
University of Georgia Athens, United States 251
Tufts University Medford, United States 251
Babes-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca, Romania 251
University of Bonn Bonn, Germany 251
University of Bucharest Bucharest, Romania 251
University of Canberra Canberra, Australia 251
University of Coimbra Coimbra, Portugal 251
University of Cologne Köln, Germany 251
University of Delaware Newark, United States 251
University of Haifa Haifa, Israel 251
University of Huddersfield Huddersfield, United Kingdom 251
University of Kansas Lawrence, United States 251
University of Kentucky Lexington, United States 251
University of Ljubljana Ljubljana, Slovenia 251
University of Lodz Lódz, Poland 251
University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Canada 251
University of Oklahoma Norman, United States 251
University of Pisa Pisa, Italy 251
University of Potsdam Potsdam, Germany 251
University of Pretoria Pretoria, South Africa 251
University of Seville Sevilla, Spain 251
University of South Carolina Columbia, United States 251
University of Stirling Stirling, United Kingdom 251
University of Stuttgart Stuttgart, Germany 251
University of Surrey Guildford, United Kingdom 251
University of Tampere Tampere, Finland 251
University of Tartu Tartu, Estonia 251
University of Tennessee Knoxville Knoxville, United States 251
University of Turin Turin, Italy 251
University Paris Nanterre Nanterre, France 251
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) Brussels, Belgium 251
Birkbeck, University of London London, United Kingdom 51
Boston University Boston, United States 51
Cardiff University Cardiff, United Kingdom 51
City University of Hong Kong Kowloon, Hong Kong (SAR) 51
Emory University Atlanta, United States 51
Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Steglitz, Germany 51
Georgetown University Washington, D. C., United States 51
Goldsmiths, University of London London, United Kingdom 51
Humboldt University Berlin Berlin, Germany 51
Indiana University Bloomington Bloomington, United States 51
Korea University Seoul, South Korea 51
KU Leuven Brussels, Belgium 51
Lancaster University Lancaster, United Kingdom 51
Leiden University Leiden, Netherlands 51
Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) Moscow, Russia 51
Macquarie University Sydney, Australia 51
Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Singapore 51
National Taiwan University Taipei, Taiwan 51
Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom 51
Northwestern University Evanston, United States 51
The Ohio State University Upper Arlington, United States 51
Pennsylvania State University State College, United States 51
Queen's University Belfast Belfast, United Kingdom 51
Rutgers University New Brunswick, United States 51
Seoul National University Anyang, South Korea 51
The Chinese University of Hong Kong Shatin, Hong Kong (SAR) 51
The University of Western Australia Perth, Australia 51
Trinity College Dublin Dublin, Ireland 51
Tsinghua University Beijing, China 51
Université Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV) Paris, France 51
University Kebangsaan Malaysia Semenyih, Malaysia 51
University of Alberta Edmonton, Canada 51
University of California, Davis Davis, United States 51
University of California, Irvine Extension Irvine, United States 51
University of California, San Diego San Diego, United States 51
University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, United States 51
University of Cape Town Cape Town, South Africa 51
University of Freiburg Freiburg, Germany 51
University of Helsinki Helsinki, Finland 51
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Urbana, United States 51
University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 51
University of Maryland College Park, United States 51
University of Minnesota Minneapolis, United States 51
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, United States 51
University of Queensland South Brisbane, Australia 51
University of Sheffield Sheffield, United Kingdom 51
University of St Andrews St Andrews, United Kingdom 51
University of Sussex Brighton, United Kingdom 51
University of Washington Seattle, United States 51
Uppsala University Uppsala, Sweden 51
Victoria University of Wellington Wellington, New Zealand 51
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