MA Modern Languages (Arabic and Russian) and English
About this course
Modern Languages combining Arabic, Russian, and English is a rare and ambitious trilingual degree that develops serious competence in three languages from quite different linguistic traditions. Arabic is the most widely spoken language of the Middle East and North Africa, one of the six official languages of the United Nations, and a language of enormous geopolitical significance. Russian is the most widely spoken Slavic language, the official language of the Russian Federation and a major language of Central Asia and former Soviet states, and carries a literary and intellectual tradition of global stature. English literature brings close reading and interpretive skills alongside engagement with one of the world's richest literary traditions. St Andrews' four-year full-time programme carries a typical entry tariff of 200 points and includes a year abroad, giving you extended immersion in Arabic-speaking and Russian-speaking environments to develop your language competence to a high level. As St Andrews notes, Arabic offers the opportunity for comparative analyses between languages, literatures, cultures, histories, politics, and economics, and the same is true of Russian, making this a genuinely comparative and culturally wide-ranging degree. You will develop proficiency in both Arabic and Russian alongside English literary and linguistic study, building the breadth of language and cultural knowledge that very few degree programmes can offer. Graduates with Arabic, Russian, and English are in strong demand in diplomacy, foreign affairs, intelligence, international journalism, translation and interpreting, international organisations, and the private sector, particularly in organisations operating in the Middle East, Russia, or Central Asia. The combination is distinctive and rare, making graduates genuinely uncommon in a competitive jobs market. Postgraduate study in area studies, international relations, linguistics, or translation is a natural next step.
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