German and English Language

More people speak German as their first language than any other in Europe and, worldwide, it is the third most popular language to learn.

This flexible joint honours programme gives you the opportunity to study German in its cultural context while exploring how the English language has changed over time.

Combining the linguistic and cultural study of languages demonstrates that you are a good communicator, a resilient problem solver, and someone open to other cultures and new ideas.

Together with your core courses, the options you will take on this programme can help you gain skills in many areas of the arts, humanities and social sciences.

German

Across all four years of our programme, including a year abroad, your studies will give you the chance to gain professional skills in all aspects of German, including:

• reading and listening

• writing and translating

• speaking and presenting

As well as language learning, you will also explore German-language literature, film and theatre. You will study these in the context of historical and political developments, from the eighteenth century to contemporary times.

On joining us, beginners take our German 1A course. Students with more experience of learning the language typically take German 1B.

By your final year, you will have developed the linguistic, critical and analytical skills to the standard of completing a dissertation or long essay.

English Language

The English language has a well-recorded history of more than 1,000 years, and its changes can be traced through written materials ranging from medieval manuscripts to text messages, and more recently, through recordings of spoken English.

Your studies will develop your knowledge and understanding of:

• the principles of theoretical linguistics

• the way we learn language

• the regional and social variations of language, particularly the English language

• methods of communication

As part of the programme, you can opt to study the Scots language, which has its own rich linguistic and literary tradition.

English Language courses of particular interest to students of German cover:

• the speech sounds of the world's languages

• variation in the languages of the world

Why Edinburgh

As a world-leading festival and capital city, Edinburgh is a fantastic place to study a modern language in its cultural context.

German has been taught here since 1894, making it one of the first modern European languages to be offered at Edinburgh.

Studying over four years enables you to choose courses, including from other disciplines, that match your own interests, expertise and employability needs.

We are unique in Scotland in offering students a full academic year abroad within the four-year honours programme, regardless of whether you spend the year studying or working.