Arabic - By choosing to study Arabic, you will learn the language of the Arabic media as well as classical and modern Arabic languages and literature. All Arabic modules prioritise the building of a high level of competence in language skills, and after completing the first two years of your course, you will be able to read, write and converse in basic Modern Standard Arabic. If you take Arabic with another language, you will have the opportunity to take an integrated year abroad between second and third year in a country where your other chosen language is spoken.

Russian - Russian teaches you to use Russian with sound grammatical accuracy and a high level of oral aptitude. In addition to language teaching, you will also be given a deeper and more diverse understanding and appreciation of different aspects of Russian culture through modules dedicated to literature, history and Russian society. Russian at St Andrews uses a specially designed language teaching programme that caters both for students who have already studied Russian as a main subject at school and for absolute beginners. Upon completing the degree, you will have an excellent command of the Russian language and have gained an invaluable understanding and appreciation of the Russian-speaking world. During your degree, you have the opportunity to spend time studying abroad in Russia. Time in Russia is not compulsory, but is strongly recommended as the best way to master the language and to better know the country.

Latin - Knowledge of Latin is the key both to an enormously rich body of literature and to in-depth understanding of a complex and influential culture. The MA (Hons) in Latin will develop your Latin language skills. It will also develop skills of literary and cultural analysis which are important for understanding of complex texts, arguments and problems in our own culture too. The course will require you to engage in depth with a wide range of texts from classical antiquity. It involves study of the many different genres of ancient Latin literature from epic poetry and elegy to historiography and letter-writing. You will be required to develop skills of reading and understanding these texts in the original language. In the process you will also gain a broad understanding of ancient social, cultural and political history.