To study German is to set out on an exciting journey. Here at Royal Holloway you will be part of a stimulating and supportive community, led by a small team of enthusiastic and experienced lecturers. You can study German with us as a complete beginner, an advanced learner, or as a native speaker.
We are proud of the high levels of satisfaction our students report. The courses we teach give you the chance to engage with a society that is undergoing rapid change, as well as with film, history and literature. As a student of German, beginner or advanced, you will discover the Germany behind the - positive and negative - stereotypes.
Discover, too, a multicultural society at the heart of modern Europe, engaged in lively debates about history, memory and identity. Experience a vibrant and dynamic culture at the forefront of the latest trends in film, art and design. And get to know a nation that plays a crucial role in global politics, economics and business.
Why study German at Royal Holloway?
Degree combinations
You can study German as a beginner or as an advanced learner, as part of BA Modern Languages or as an element of Comparative Literature and Culture (CLC), or Liberal Arts. German can also be studied as part of a Joint Honours course alongside subjects including CLC, Drama, English, History, History of Art and Visual Culture, Music, and Management, and Politics and International Relations. We also offer German as a minor subject with Law or Music.
Course units
Studying German means engaging not only with the language, but also with German-language culture more broadly. Alongside your language classes, you will have the chance to deepen your knowledge of German film, history and literature. In your German modules you will have the chance to study literature by authors including Goethe, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Schnitzler, Kafka, Thomas Mann, and Ingeborg Bachmann. You will explore themes such as childhood and youth in German culture and the legacy of National Socialism. And you will learn about German film from the Weimar Republic to the present day.
Your year abroad: work, study, teach
Ask our graduates what they enjoyed most about their degree programme, and they will say: ‘das Auslandsjahr!’ Whether you decide to work in a large company in Berlin, study in Munich or teach English in a small village school in the Austrian Alps, the year abroad will not only give you the opportunity rapidly to improve and hone your language, it will also help you develop valuable personal and professional skills.
