French and Linguistics

French is a major world language, spoken in many parts of Europe, Africa and the Americas.

This flexible programme gives you the opportunity to study French while developing your social scientific understanding of language.

French and Linguistics make an excellent joint honours choice by combining the study of:

• a modern language in its global cultural context

• the expression and creation of meaning

On our programme, Linguistics options of particular relevance to language students cover:

• sociolinguistics - the relationship between language and society

• variation in the languages of the world

• first and second languages acquisition

• Global Englishes

French

You will have the opportunity to acquire near-native fluency in this widely-spoken modern language, while gaining the broad cultural education valued by graduate employers.

We will introduce you to the extraordinary richness and variety of the Francophone world through the study of:

• literature and cinema

• political history and social movements

• philosophical ideas

Our courses cover material from the Middle Ages to the 21st century and include specialist options in key disciplines such as decolonial, gender and film studies, all taught by leading experts.

Linguistics

Linguistics examines how language works, describing how sounds, words, sentences and conversations combine to express and create meaning.

You will also study different aspects of language, including:

• its uses in everyday life

• how its use varies across society and evolves over time

• how it is mastered by children

As you progress through the programme, you will have the opportunity to plan and test scientific hypotheses about linguistic phenomena using specialist linguistics and phonetics equipment.

Why Edinburgh

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

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

We are also 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.

How long it takes to complete this degree programme

This programme is studied over 4 years, including a year abroad. This enables us to build choice and flexibility into your studies, giving you time to explore options, find what you like and build your skills.

Your first two years will be your pre-honours years. They will give you a good grounding in your subjects. In addition to studying core courses, you will broaden your education and skill set by choosing option courses. This may enable you to change the focus of your programme.

Your final two years will be your honours years. You will spend Year 3 abroad, gaining a lived experience of Francophone culture. Year 4 will be tailored to your interests in specific topics or approaches to French and Linguistics.

Programme benefits

• Learn in an historic, capital city where French has been taught for over a century.

• Study over four years, including one abroad.

• Become fluent in one of the UN's six official languages.

• Try out different subjects in your first two years.

• Join societies related to what you are studying.

• Delve into fantastic libraries and collections.