BA Modern Languages (3 languages: Chinese, French, German, Portuguese or Spanish)
About this course
Bachelor of Arts in Modern Languages (3 languages: Chinese, French, German, Portuguese or Spanish), a Modern Languages degree centred on linguistic proficiency and cultural studies across multiple global traditions. Core topics include Statistics, Research Methods, and Human Behaviour. The curriculum includes a compulsory residence abroad period in the third year, culminating in independent portfolio work. The first year establishes fundamental competencies through modules such as Academic Skills for Modern languages and Linguistics Students, Chinese Language Stage 1A, French Language Stage 4, and Introduction to French and Francophone Studies, alongside introductory options in linguistics and society. Moving into the second year, students prepare for international placement through Preparation for your Third Year (Abroad) while choosing from diverse specialized topics like Corpus Linguistics: Working with Large-scale Text Data, Discourse Analysis, and Gender, Race and Nation in Modern Latin America. The third year is spent abroad completing a Residence Abroad Portfolio. The final year involves re-entry support via Seeing and Being Seen. Period Abroad Re-entry alongside advanced options including Audiovisual Translation, Public Service Interpreting, Second Language Acquisition, and the Languages, Cultures and Linguistics Dissertation.
Written by AI from the university's course page and module list. It can get details wrong, so check the official course page before you rely on it.
Entry requirements
A level: BBB including one named language. IB: Pass, with 30 points overall with 15 points at Higher Level, including 5 at Higher Level in one named language
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What students say
Based on about 7 final-year students who answered, across similar courses at this university (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Teaching on my course: 98%
- Learning opportunities: 88%
- Assessment and feedback: 84%
- Academic support: 95%
- Organisation and management: 95%
- Learning resources: 93%
- Student voice: 83%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 10 students who started, across similar courses at this university (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Continued on course: 85%
- Left higher education: 15%
What graduates do next
Based on about 13 graduates who answered, across similar courses at this university (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Working: 50%
- Working and studying: 15%
- Further study: 10%
- Unemployed: 10%
Most common jobs
- Business and public service associate professionals: 20%
- Leisure, travel and related personal service occupations: 15%
- Artistic, literary and media occupations: 15%
- Sales occupations: 10%
- Managers, directors and senior officials: 10%
- Find their work meaningful: 70%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 60%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 50%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 155 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- North West: 2%
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 1%
- East Midlands: 1%
- West Midlands: 2%
- East of England: 10%
- London: 27%
- South East: 38%
- South West: 13%
- Wales: 5%
- Scotland: 1%
- Northern Ireland: 1%
Who gets in
Based on about 10 students who started, across similar courses at this university (a small group: a rough guide only)
- A levels: 100%
Accreditation & quality ratings
TEF 2023 (whole university): Silver overall, Silver for student experience, Silver for student outcomes.
Modules
- Academic Skills for Modern languages and Linguistics Students
- Chinese Language Stage 1A
- French Language Stage 4
- German Language Stage 4
- Introduction to French and Francophone Studies
- Introduction to German Studies
- Introduction to Spain, Latin America and the Portuguese-Speaking World
- Spanish Language Stage 4
- Applications of Linguistics
- Elements of Linguistics: Sound, Structure and Meaning
- Understanding History and Society
- Preparation for your Third Year (Abroad)
- Culture, Power and Resistance in the Portuguese-Speaking World
- Gender, Race and Nation in Modern Latin America
- Corpus Linguistics: Working with Large-scale Text Data
- Discourse Analysis
- Exploring French Linguistics
- Exploring Spanish Linguistics
- Ghosts on Screen
- Globalisation: Culture, Language and the Nation State
- Health, Culture, and Discrimination
- High, Popular, Mass Culture: Cultural Hybridity and Globalization in Latin America and Spain
- Jews in Germany before the Holocaust
- Language and Society in the German-Speaking World
- Language, Power and Institutions: How Linguistic Practices Can Shape Our Lives
- Learning about Culture: Introduction to Ethnography
- Multilingualism
- Post-War French Thought and Culture
- Psycholinguistics
- Researching Language, Culture and Communication in the Global World
- Sound and Voice
- Syntax: Studying Language Structure
- Teaching English as a Foreign Language
- The EU and European Identity
- Variation and Change in English
- Vienna and Berlin: Society, Politics and Culture from 1890 to the Present
- Residence Abroad Portfolio
- Seeing and Being Seen. Period Abroad Re-entry
- English as a Global Language
- Exiles, Migrants and Citizens: Narrating and Documenting Displacement in Contemporary Spain
- Audiovisual Translation
- Digital Media, Language and Communication
- Encounters with Bodies in Lusophone Cultural Narrative
- Fragmented France: Cultures and Identities in Transition
- French Sociolinguistics: Challenges to Francophonie
- German-Jewish Writing Across the Twentieth Century
- Historical Memory in Modern Latin America
- Language and Speech Disorders
- Language and the City
- Languages, Cultures and Linguistics Dissertation
- Minorities and Migrants: Exploring Multicultural Germany
- Public Service Interpreting
- Second Language Acquisition
- Sex, Gender and Desire
- Sex, Soap Operas and Female Dissidents: Representations of Women in the Hispanic World
- Sociophonetic Project Module
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA Modern Languages (3 languages: Chinese, French, German, Portuguese or Spanish) at University of Southampton earn?
The median salary is £29,000 after 15 months, £26,000 after 3 years, £32,000 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £26,000 and £38,500. The £32,000 median after five years is £1,000 less than the UK median for Language and area studies (other).
What do graduates of BA Modern Languages (3 languages: Chinese, French, German, Portuguese or Spanish) at University of Southampton do next?
75% were in work or further study 15 months after finishing (Graduate Outcomes 2023-24).
Are students happy with the teaching on BA Modern Languages (3 languages: Chinese, French, German, Portuguese or Spanish) at University of Southampton?
98% of final-year students were positive about the teaching in the National Student Survey 2025-26.
What grades do I need for BA Modern Languages (3 languages: Chinese, French, German, Portuguese or Spanish) at University of Southampton?
The typical offer is BBB at A level, or 30 points in the IB. The average entrant had 131 UCAS points.
Does BA Modern Languages (3 languages: Chinese, French, German, Portuguese or Spanish) at University of Southampton include a placement year or year abroad?
The course has a compulsory year abroad.
How many students continue on BA Modern Languages (3 languages: Chinese, French, German, Portuguese or Spanish) at University of Southampton?
85% of students continued into their second year, and 15% left higher education.