Czech

What is it about Czech and German that appealed to you?

This Joint Honours course is perfect for me. I like the way that the German and Czech histories are intertwined, and how each language programme reinforces ideas learnt in the other.

George,
Third year, BA Czech and German

Bristol is one of very few UK universities to offer a full Czech linguistic and cultural degree, including literature, history, cinema and contemporary society, studied with another modern language. The modern Czech Republic is at the heart of the expanded European Union and a key strategic and trading partner of the UK. The Czech Republic has established itself as a centre for banking, finance, media, diplomacy and tourism, and Czech expertise, especially when combined with another European language, is a prized asset for numerous professions.

Czech courses

Joint honours

Why study Czech at Bristol?

At Bristol you study the language mainly in small groups, with close attention from expert teachers who are native speakers. Our students regularly achieve excellent, graduate-level fluency after four years of study. Our options programme is designed to allow you to explore the contemporary priorities and concerns of Czech society alongside Czech history and culture, with a strong focus on the modern period. Literature classes boost language learning with close reading of original texts in small groups. Final year students have the opportunity of writing an extended project on an aspect of Czech history, culture or society, and to take up the closely related Slovak language.

All applicants should demonstrate a proven capacity for language learning, usually including an A-level in one of the languages to be studied at grade B or higher.

What kind of student would this course suit?

Joint Honours Czech at Bristol will suit you if you are fascinated by the history, culture and contemporary society of another country, not only in isolation, but also in comparison to others, including your own. Unlike much modern language studies, however, Czech Studies focuses on a nation that has never been a major imperial power, but has shaped its identity and preserved its place at the centre of Europe’s political and religious conflicts over the past millennium and more. To study Czech is therefore to study the political, social and cultural history of a continent from the perspective of one of its liveliest and most tenacious outsiders.

The study of Czech will also suit you if you are interested in modern languages, as the westernmost entry point to the closely related family of Slavonic languages.

How is this course taught and assessed?

Most teaching takes place in small, informal tutorial- or seminar-style groups, where tutors and students quickly get to know each other well, there are regular opportunities to speak and receive feedback, and to participate and shape the direction of discussion. Choices of texts for study are frequently made in close consultation with students. Language assessment conforms to agreed practices throughout the School of Modern Languages, and involves testing of all skills, including speaking, writing, translating from and into the language and listening and reading comprehension. The department is regularly praised by external examiners for the variety of its methods of assessment in cultural and historical units, which include coursework and examination essays, commentaries and assessed presentations, designed to develop the key communication skills expected of excellent Arts graduates.

What are my career prospects?

A Czech degree will stand out as a sign of individuality, intellectual ability and a capacity to take on unusual challenges. Bristol Czech graduates develop skills which are essential to most graduate careers. The study of another culture including an extended stay in that culture, builds self-confidence, self-awareness and a capacity to understand and empathise.

Recent Czech graduates have entered careers as diverse as accounting and finance, industry, the media, publishing, law, travel and tourism, British and international civil services, non-governmental organisations, teaching, translating and interpreting and further study.

What do you particularly like about studying here?

Within Modern Languages we have a brilliant multimedia centre, and the teaching staff are very supportive. I feel that I can go to them with any problem I have related to the course and career prospects.

Stephanie Oliver
BA Czech and German