Modern and Medieval Languages

Course overview

In Modern and Medieval Languages (MML), you can expect to become proficient in (at least!) two languages between French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, and Russian. You’ll also become an expert in the literature, film, and history that has been produced in that language (which, for languages like Spanish and French, means also outside of Europe!). The MML degree aims to give you a key to the outside world. From reading a medieval manuscript to watching a neo-realist film to developing your skills in historical linguistics, you can pretty much specialise in anything you want. 

The course is four years long. In this first year (Part IA), you take up the study of two languages, one of which can be “ab initio” (from scratch), along with two courses in the literature and culture of your chosen languages of study. From the second year (Part 1B), you can start specialising in the literature/film/culture of your choosing and take comparative papers across different languages. The crowning jewel of the MML course is certainly your year abroad (third year). You can go anywhere your target languages are spoken to study in university or work and soak up the culture! In the fourth and final year, you can further specialise still, with almost complete freedom over the papers that will make up your year. You can also pick up another language along the way!

For more information about the course and its modules, visit the University website.

What is it like to study MML at King’s?

The King’s MML community is strong and tightly knit: your average day will be spent with your College group moving from language classes and literature courses in the Faculty to supervisions in King’s with our Fellows. We usually have seven students in MML per year, but the group is always a little bigger since MML also includes students studying History & Modern Languages and those Asian & Middle Eastern Studies students who chose to take up the option of a European language. In a supervision, you learn to workshop your ideas, but also question them (along with those of your supervision partner, and even your supervisor!). You learn to look at culture through a critical eye and understand the forces that have shaped our way of thinking today – your supervisor will guide you from analysing the smallest portions of text to the most minute level to looking at big concepts through time.

What do we look for in an applicant to MMLL

A great MML applicant is one that doesn’t take things for granted, but is intellectually curious, and shows critical skills. Does a text always say what it seems to be saying?

Requirements

A Level:  A*AA

IB: 41-42 points overall with 7, 7, 6 at Higher Level

Subject requirements: At least one of the languages you want to study

Admissions assessment: To be confirmed

Written work: To be confirmed

Admissions assessment

Candidates for MML who are invited to interview will sit a language assessment. Candidates do not need to register for this course but will be registered by their colleges automatically. The assessment is conducted online.

Written work

Further details about written work will be provided in due course.

Careers and graduate opportunities

The great thing about MML is its flexibility. Graduates will be prepared for a wide range of sectors, from a career as a spy to international law, government, advertising, teaching, publishing, or academia.

What is the best thing about studying MML at King’s?

The people. There’s a great history of MML at King’s, and from our Fellows to our students, we’re a strong, vibrant, and tightly knit community. Our fellows are world experts in German, Spanish, French and Russian, and you get to learn from them – and them from you.

A top tip for applicants to MML at King’s 

Be intellectually curious, be yourself, and show us what you love and why about the literature, media, culture of your target language.