French and Portuguese

Our programme equips you with a robust set of academic, professional, and cultural benefits. Whether your focus is literary, cultural and political studies or global business, diplomacy and international relations, this combination of languages equips you with a strategic knowledge and skill set that is highly valued in many international fields.

French is the official language in 29 countries, and Portuguese is the sixth largest language in the world, spoken by over 270 million people in over 10 countries. Combine your study in these two languages and open a range of global graduate possibilities, from marketing, business and translation to teaching and the arts and cultural sector.

During your time at Birmingham, you’ll also experience an unforgettable year studying, working or teaching on your Year Abroad at one of our partner institutions.

Choose from a diverse range of modules, which may include:

Conflict, Identity and Absurdity in 20th-century French Theatre

Behind the Camera: introduction to women's cinema from the 1960s to the present

Rebels and Restless: Turmoil and Transgression in French Texts

Memory and Public Space in the Portuguese-speaking World

Roots of Inequality: Race, Gender and the Legacies of Colonialism

And cross-departmental modules such as:

Constructions of gender, sexuality and race  

Cross-cultural Cinema: Migration and Displacement

Thinking Otherwise: Decolonial approaches to contemporary thought and culture

Introduction to linguistics

From Text to Tech: Digital Approaches to Languages and Cultures

The Romance languages: structure, variation and change

There's an extensive range of language combinations available to you within our Modern Languages department.

Why study this course?

Increase your skillset – choose to combine your chosen languages with Translation studies or Business Management.

Study differently with our CLIL (Content Language Integrated Learning) teaching method - a blended approach to language learning where you also study topics of real cultural significance in your chosen language.

Broaden your horizons and develop great transferable skills with a year abroad in a country of your choice.

Get involved with producing Birmingham’s on-campus magazine – The UoB Linguist – for students interested in culture and languages.

16th for Iberian Languages in the Complete University Guide by subject (2024)

Top 100 for Modern Languages in the QS World Subject Rankings (2024)