Summer school

When you take one of our Modern Languages courses, you'll have the opportunity to attend one of our partly-funded two-week summer schools during the summer vacation at the end of your first year.

Whether you study in Montpellier (France), Mondavio (Italy), or Santiago de Compostela (Spain), you will live with selected local families and hosts and enjoy language tuition in small groups each morning. In the afternoons, and some evenings and weekends, you'll take part in cultural and social activities for a complete immersion in the heart of the society, country and region you are visiting.

The benefits you'll gain are invaluable - you'll build your confidence in your chosen spoken and written language, gain crucial transferable skills (on completion of the summer school you will receive a HEAR certificate), discover new cultures, and build life-long friendships. 

Teaching: Modern Languages

Each week, you can expect to receive 3-4 hours of language teaching for each of your languages, and 2 hours of contact time for each optional module. 

Language skills are taught in small groups, predominantly by native speakers. Our courses stress the importance of communicative ability as well as linguistic accuracy, and oral skills are highly valued.

Cultural studies modules are taught through a mix of lectures and seminars, which encourage discussion and debate around prepared topics and texts.

The use of online tutorials and exercises on Blackboard, the University’s virtual learning environment, allows us to include interactive training in our courses and to facilitate learning in specific areas such as essay writing and grammatical terminology.

You will be assessed throughout each year by a combination of continuous assessment, seminar presentations, essays, scenario-based assessments and formal exams at the end of each semester. While final year work is most heavily weighted in determining the degree class, your achievements during your second year and your year abroad are also taken into account.

You will have regular meetings with your personal tutor to discuss progress in your studies. Your personal tutor will also provide a sympathetic ear for all matters of personal concern, whether academic, financial, housing, career, or social.

Teaching: Management

Lectures will provide you with the framework and foundational knowledge for each subject, whilst seminars, held in smaller groups, provide you with the opportunity to discuss key ideas with your tutor and peers. A variety of teaching methods are used with the aim of creating a stimulating environment in which you are encouraged to develop your learning skills and to actively engage and participate in your learning process.

Assessment methods varied to allow you to develop a range of academic and transferable skills throughout your programme and these include individual essays, examinations, presentations and group activities.

Independent learning

When not attending lectures, seminars or other timetabled sessions you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. Typically, this will involve reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, undertaking research in the library, preparing coursework assignments and presentations, and preparing for exams. To help with your independent learning, you can access the Library and our social study spaces in halls of residence.

Your contact hours will depend on the option modules you select. You can see details of the contact hours on individual module pages.

Academic support

Our Centre for Academic Achievement provides help in the following areas:

• study and exam skills
• academic writing
• presentations
• dissertations
• numerical data skills
• referencing sources

Our AccessAbility Centre offers support and practical help for students with dyslexia or other specific learning difficulties, including physical, mental health or mobility difficulties, deafness, or visual impairment.

Teaching staff

You will be taught by an experienced teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. PhD research students who have undertaken teacher training may also contribute to the teaching of seminars under the supervision of the module leader. Our teaching is informed by the research we do. You can learn more about our staff by visiting our staff profiles.