Program Overview

Many students find studying a joint honours stimulating and rewarding as they are able to observe both similarities and differences between the two subjects. By combining Welsh and Italian, you will gain a wealth of transferable skills and knowledge beneficial to the world of employment, making you competitive and attractive in an increasingly global workforce and opening the doors to a variety of career paths.

WELSH

The Welsh course is relevant to contemporary Wales and delivered by a school noted for its research quality and impact. The course aims to produce graduates with a thorough academic and practical understanding of the Welsh language, its literature and culture, a high level of skill in written and spoken Welsh and well-developed employability and creative skills relevant to modern Wales.

It offers core and optional modules to give you a grounding in language and literature as well as the opportunity to specialise in areas of personal or career interest.

ITALIAN

Since Roman times, the Italian contribution to world culture has been enormous as it is obvious to anyone who steps foot in the country, however briefly. But Italy is not just a country of singular cultural importance. It is a major political partner in the European Union, and it is a leading force in fields such as engineering and architecture. It is the home of the design and fashion industries.

Italian at Cardiff University enables you to access, analyse and evaluate current developments across the Italian speaking world as well as the cultures and values of the past. Having studied Italian, you will be ready to take advantage of the wide-ranging opportunities open to language graduates today  

You will develop high-level language skills with the aim of achieving near-native competency along with in-depth knowledge of aspects of the culture, history, politics and society of Italy. You will spend your third year in Italy, practising and developing your language skills.

We offer Italian for both advanced students and beginners. In terms of language acquisition, this course will enable you to develop your writing, oral and aural skills through a range of learning activities, and using a variety of audio-visual materials. In your first year, in addition to your language tuition, an introduction to history and culture seeks to provide a solid foundation for more specialised studies as you progress through your course.  

It is important to remember that studying languages is not just about the language itself. It involves examining many aspects of a country and its culture, its social structures and institutions, politics, history, literature and cinema. Through the study of such areas you are able to gain a better understanding of Italian culture and of how it has evolved over the centuries, becoming what it is today.

As a joint honours student, you will find that often there are complementary issues and perspectives that link subjects, be they critical analysis, historical contexts or recent research.

Each school involved in delivering the degree offers a challenging course of modules, supported by a friendly atmosphere and excellent staff-student relationships.

On completion of this four-year programme, you will have a high level of language proficiency, as well as a critical understanding of key aspects of Welsh and Italian history, culture, literature, politics and contemporary society.