Linguistics and Modern Languages

I chose languages for my degree because I listened to a lot of Francophone and Hispanic music and wanted to explore these cultures more. I aim to be a global citizen, and knowing languages is a valuable skill. The MML course at Cambridge attracted me because it’s diverse - it’s not just about French and literature, but also film history, philosophy, art, and more. Along the way, I’ve learned Spanish and Portuguese, which has made me well-rounded and given me key life skills.

In my third year, I studied in Buenos Aires and then volunteered in Paris. The year abroad was incredible - it offers personal and academic growth that’s hard to match.

Cambridge is competitive and challenging, but in a positive way that pushes you to exceed expectations. There's an active MML Society at St John's that organises talks, parties and dinners and I've been the Co-President. I also have a radio show where I play international music from the languages I speak. It’s been a great passion project and helped me develop my public speaking skills.

Languages have always interested me, especially Spanish and the grammar and pattern aspects. Linguistics is about identifying specific features of languages and understanding how they work. The course gives a broad overview, covering sound, words, and society - so we study phonetics, maths, history, and psychology.

St John’s is a big College, with at least two linguists in each year and an active Linguistics Society. My Director of Studies is a renowned linguist who has written many books on syntax - she’s brilliant and very supportive. The travel grants available at St John’s are important for linguists because our degree involves languages from all over the world.

A Linguistics degree opens up so many career options. I’m considering becoming a speech and language therapist, but computational linguistics also fascinates me, so I might explore working in AI or for a tech company. Outside of academics, I’m helping to organise St John’s May Ball, which has been busy but really fun - I’ve learned lots of new skills. I’m also assistant director for a play written by another student.

I’m so happy I chose St John’s, it’s the perfect place for me – the academics, the community, the financial support.

I’ve been lucky enough to travel a lot for academic purposes, thanks to College funding. I do French and Spanish for my degree and was able to go to Italy to study Italian.

I learned Catalan in my second year and I also went to Brazil as a charity volunteer, now I hope to learn Portuguese. In my third year I’ve been on my year abroad in the Caribbean.

I have a great relationship with my Directors of Studies and Tutor at St John’s, they are very approachable.

There’s a big investment in our education at John’s and that goes way beyond good results – the academics want us to really enjoy our subject and flourish personally.

The Modern & Medieval Languages Society has a good sense of friendship and camaraderie among year groups – it was lovely to be welcomed when I returned from my year abroad.