Modern and Medieval Languages

The Cambridge Modern and Medieval Languages (MML) course is wide-ranging and flexible. It requires the study of two languages chosen from French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian.

Any one of these languages may, alternatively, be combined with Classical Latin or Classical Greek; and it is possible to combine one of the modern languages listed with certain Middle Eastern languages (e.g. Arabic and Hebrew) from the Asian and Middle Eastern Studies course. Both languages may be studied from A-level standard, or one language from A-level standard may be combined with a language you have not previously studied (or have studied to a lower level, such as GCSE).

Students wishing to pick up an additional new language may do so from the second year of the course. Choices include Catalan, Modern Greek, Polish, Portuguese, and Ukrainian, subject to availability.

In the third year (the ‘year abroad’), you’ll spend at least 8 months studying or working in countries where the languages you have studied during your first 2 years are spoken. During this time you will prepare a project that counts as one sixth of your final mark, normally a dissertation (research project), translation project, or linguistics project. There is further information about the year abroad here.

MML at Magdalene has a diverse group of students, at times offering up to 20 different languages between them! Our selection of candidates is based on a simple principle – we want to see bright and passionate students with enthusiasm for the languages and cultures of their choice studying together. This can mean French poetry, German philosophy, Italian dialects, Portuguese literature, Spanish film or Russian history, to name but a few.

We would like every MML student at Magdalene to feel part of a community of linguists and to encourage this, we have a party at the beginning of the year to say hello to the new students and to say welcome back to students starting on their 4th year, back from their Year Abroad. We then have a Christmas party to make sure everybody has settled in properly. In the Easter Term, we treat our students to an annual linguists’ dinner in the College Parlour.

We want dedicated and committed students, and in return we offer individual support, huge chunks of encouragement and a friendly atmosphere.

We normally aim to admit four or five undergraduates for MML a year. The College welcomes applications for any of the languages available in the Modern and Medieval Languages course.

At Magdalene, we are fortunate to be able to support our students financially on their Year Abroad through the Carne Fund. A student’s Director of Studies and Tutor will be ready to advise about this.

More details of the course and the optional papers available can be found on the University’s Undergraduate Study pages and the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics website.

Interviews are an important part of the selection process. We are looking for the most academically promising candidates (those able and willing to think for themselves, and well-motivated towards our course), whatever the languages they propose to study, and there is no quota for any language. We are not looking for people who are simply 'good at being interviewed'.

Candidates will be expected to demonstrate an interest in learning any language being taken from scratch (ab initio) in Cambridge, but no substantive knowledge of the language will be required at that stage.

At least one modern foreign language at A-level (or equivalent) is essential and this will be one of the two languages you apply to study. You do not necessarily need an A-level in your second study language. French is the only language that may not be taken from a standard lower than A-level in the MML course: in other words, if you want one of the languages you study to be French then you must be taking French at A-level or equivalent.

We are very open concerning other A-level subjects: other languages and English are obviously particularly relevant, but we are perfectly happy with other arts or social science subjects and/or Mathematics and the sciences. The quality of the student's mind and keenness for the course are more important than the precise subjects studied for A-level.

Minimum Offer 

A-level: A*AA 

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

We do not normally require the A*/7 to be in a modern foreign language.

Other qualifications: Check which other qualifications we accept 

Candidates will normally have two interviews of around 20-25 minutes each.

The interview process aims to assess your intellectual ability, potential, and commitment to the subject.

We also usually ask for two samples of written work (such as school essays) to be submitted with the application, one of which should be in one of the languages you intend to study at university. 

Candidates invited for interview will need to take a written assessment. The assessment for MML is a Cambridge College registered assessment. This means you will not need to register for this assessment in advance and the College will provide details directly to you.

More information is available on the Interviews, Written Work and Assessments page.