English and Modern Languages

Message from a Student

Hiya, I’m Lexi (she/her), a 2nd year studying English and French at Jesus, and apparently the English and Modern Languages subject rep! Lucky you… Anyway, as you’ve probably gathered, English and Modern Languages is considered a more ‘niche’ joint honours degree – I’m the only one in my year at Jesus! Don’t worry though, the average intake across the university is around 23 people a year, so there’s plenty to go around. On the plus side, doing joint honours also means that you automatically meet more people as you technically belong to two faculties. Not only that, but you’ll find that people do different languages to you (case in point – I’m doing French). Regardless of which language you do though, the course is 4 years long, with the 3rd year spent abroad in a country that speaks your modern language. You’ll have lots of different classes all over Oxford, as many of the grammar or translation classes for your modern language may be taught at other colleges. Don’t stress about getting lost, you’ll be told about these in advance, but if you’re still worried – just ask me and I can direct you. The mix of English and Modern Languages is truly a fantastic one, allowing you to understand the development of language, culture and literature (my favourite) across all sorts of places. Whilst it may seem overwhelming looking at your schedule, the tutors at Jesus (and the ones outside Jesus!) are super understanding about clashes, so don’t hesitate to speak up if you feel that there’s too much going on. Believe me, it’s much better to speak up, and if you’re scared about talking to your tutors, you can come have a chat with me first, and I’ll help sort you out. Speaking of schedules, you get to choose which period paper you study for the English side of your course in the first year: Old English (paper 2), Victorian (paper 3), or modern (paper 4). I chose Victorian (paper 3) which you’ll study in Michaelmas (the first term), which I absolutely loved – but take a look at the syllabus for each paper and see what appeals to you. Each week you’ll generally have a mixture of classes, tutorials and lectures, with quite a few contact hours for the modern language side, so you certainly won’t be bored. The course is super fun, and the workload is perfectly manageable. Hope you have a wonderful first term with us at Jesus College!