BA Arabic and French

• Perfect your expertise in two languages and extend your knowledge of a wide range of countries and cultures.
• Spend your third year studying or working abroad in Arabic and French-speaking countries.
• Top 10 in the UK for Middle Eastern and African Studies (Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023).

Book your place on our October and November taster webinars to learn more about your subject areas!

BA Arabic and French is a four-year degree with a year of study abroad divided between a Middle Eastern country and French-speaking country.

The course combines compulsory language elements on both sides, delivered by native-speaker staff and with the possibility of pathways in business language, translation and interpreting.

Alongside this, you will study the culture, politics, history, literature, popular culture, linguistics and religion of the areas in question.

Arabic

• You have the opportunity to achieve near-native proficiency in modern Arabic while studying the language within its cultural and historical context.
• You will also look more widely at Arab culture and literature from the medieval period to the present day, and be introduced to social and cultural trends in the Arab Middle East and beyond.
• The range of culture units offered across all years of the programme combine the study of the history, politics, literary, and visual culture of the Arab world and are taught by a range of specialists within these fields.
• The course is carefully structured so you can measure your progress step by step. Learning modern Arabic also opens the door to the vast literature of classical Arabic, including religious and secular texts, and provides a perfect platform from which to learn one or more of the colloquial dialects.
• You will become proficient enough to live and work effectively in both environments.

French

• Over 70% of our staff are native speakers, teaching you in French in 'language' classes as well as most 'culture' classes.
• You will experience 3 hours of French grammar and conversation every week in order to reach near-native precision and fluency. This will run in parallel with optional course units on French and Francophone history, politics, literature, popular culture and/or linguistics, from the Early Modern period to the present.
• You will benefit from our long-established partnership with the Alliance Francaise de Manchester with cultural events throughout the year, such as film screenings, talks, plays, concerts, exhibitions and intensive language classes.
• You will also benefit from our collaboration with the Institut de Touraine in the Loire Valley, which hosts Easter and Summer French language classes that are appropriate for anyone from beginners to finalists.
• Our range and quality of courses are regularly cited for praise by external examiners and three colleagues have won University Teaching Excellence Awards.

Although language units may show here as optional, they are a mandatory part of your modern languages degree and you will take the units relevant to your level of language in each year of study.

It Is compulsory to study language at all levels of your modern languages degree.

34 points overall. 6,5,5 in Higher Level subjects including French

All applicants to the University (from the UK and Overseas) are required to show evidence of English Language proficiency.

The minimum English Language requirement for this course is either:

• GCSE/iGCSE English Language grade C/4 or;
• IELTS 7.0 overall with no less than 6.5 in any one component or;
• An acceptable equivalent qualification.

Please note that if you hold English as a second language iGCSE qualification, we may also require you to offer one of our acceptable equivalent English Language qualifications or achieve a higher grade in your iGCSE than the one stated above. Please contact the academic School for clarification.

The UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) requires that every student from outside the UK and the EU must show evidence of a minimum level of English Language in order to be granted a UK visa (Tier 4 visa) to study at undergraduate or postgraduate level. This level is often referred to as the 'B2 level'.

Additionally, our individual Schools may ask for specific English Language proficiency levels that are necessary for their academic programmes. In most cases these requirements are likely to be higher than the B2 level.

Further information about our English Language policy, including a list of some of the English Language qualifications we accept, can be found on our English Language requirements page.

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