History and Modern Languages with a Year Abroad

At King’s, we offer you a lively and intellectually stimulating home in the heart of London, where you will learn from leading experts and explore the past and present through an interconnected lens.

In History, you will investigate themes ranging from the medieval period to the modern world, taking a comparative approach that reveals the links, contrasts, and continuities between different times and places.

In Modern Languages, you will develop advanced skills in speaking, writing, and reading your chosen language, alongside a deep understanding of its culture, politics, and history. Whether you join as an experienced linguist or as a beginner on our specially designed ‘ab initio’ pathway, you will explore literature, film, and cultural history from the medieval period to the present day.

Studying these subjects together allows you to place historical events within their linguistic and cultural contexts, and to see how language both shapes and reflects the world’s histories. Your third year abroad in a French-, German-, Portuguese- or Spanish-speaking country will give you the chance to apply your historical knowledge in real-world contexts, experiencing first-hand the societies you have studied.

Key benefits

• Our graduates get top jobs in a wide range of sectors, including law, business, government, heritage, finance and teaching.

• Study an unparalleled breadth of historical periods and regions, from medieval Europe to modern India, alongside specialist modules in French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American literature, politics, history, film, and culture.

• Our language departments are consistently ranked among the best in the UK and offer our graduates excellent career prospects.

• You can study French, German, Spanish or Portuguese language either post A-level (or equivalent) or with no previous knowledge of the language (ab initio).

• Based in the heart of London, King’s location offers access to a variety of cinemas, galleries, theatres, world-class museums, collections, specialist libraries and resources, including the Goethe-Institut and Austrian Cultural Forum, the Institut français, Canning House, Camões Centre for Portuguese Language and Culture, and the Instituto Cervantes, as well as events organised by embassies and other related cultural institutions.

• The Year abroad in a French, German, Portuguese or Spanish-speaking country offers the opportunity to immerse yourself in culture and society and attain language fluency. We have exchanges with a wide variety of partner universities across Europe, in Martinique and Quebec, and in Middle and South American countries such as Mexico, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil.

• Benefit from small-group teaching, personal attention from expert academics, and a friendly, stimulating atmosphere reflected in excellent student satisfaction ratings.

Please see our online prospectus for further details on this programme: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/history-and-modern-languages-with-a-year-abroad-ba