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School of Languages, Linguistics and Film

About us

The decision to learn a foreign language is to me an act of friendship. It is indeed a holding out of the hand. It’s not just a route to negotiation. It’s also to get to know you better, to draw closer to you and your culture, your social manners and your way of thinking. And the decision to teach a foreign language is an act of commitment, generosity and mediation.
— John le Carré, July 2017

The Department of Modern Languages and Cultures puts into practice the generosity and friendship that underpin language learning and teaching at all levels.

We cover six languages:

in ways that integrate language teaching into a rich programme of social, philosophical, cultural, political, and linguistic enquiry.

Highly ranked 

  • French – ranked joint top in the UK, with 100 per cent overall student satisfaction (National Student Survey, NSS, 2017)
  • German – ranked 1st in London (Complete Universty Guide 2018)
  • Spanish, Portuguese, and Catalan – ranked joint top in the UK, with 100 per cent overall student satisfaction (National Student Survey, NSS, 2017)
  • Russian - ranked third in the country for research quality (behind Manchester and Cambridge, but above Oxford and UCL), (Complete University Guide 2019)
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