7. Students’ English language skills

A total of 28 languages are mentioned in official documents related to degree programmes at the University of Copenhagen. Programmes in which languages play an explicit role range from full language programmes (typically carrying the name of the language in its title) to area-based studies (with a specified geopolitical region in the title) to classical languages. The language focus in the teaching across these programmes varies according to curricular goals and objectives.

The full language programmes are often referred to as modern languages or as language & literature. Such programmes are currently offered in English, French, German, Greenlandic, Hindi, Italian, and Spanish. In addition to the focus on language proficiency and linguistics, the programmes also tend to include a literary and cultural focus and/or a social science dimension connected to the language region in question.

The area-based programmes typically have a combined focus that includes the history and geopolitics of the region in question and language proficiency in the language spoken there. A number of area-based studies are currently offered at the university: African studies (with Swahili), Asian studies (with Chinese, Japanese and Korean), Eastern European studies (with Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin/Serbian, Polish and Russian), Languages and Societies of the Middle East (with Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and Turkish), and Portuguese and Brazilian studies (with Portuguese).

The programmes in classical languages are restricted to the written language, which is studied to gain access to classical texts or to provide material for language comparison. The following classical language studies are offered at the university: Gothic, Greek, Hebrew, Hittite, Latin, and Vedic Sanskrit.

In addition, while the programme in Danish combines a full language programme with area-based studies, as it includes elements of Norwegian and Swedish language and literature, the programmes in Assyriology, Egyptology, and Indian languages and cultures combine area studies or archaeology with the reading of ancient scripts.

Courses from most of the programmes mentioned here are also open as electives to students from non-language programmes. Many of them also appear as an additional competence for students in non-language programmes who may wish to supplement their education with a language profile to be able to carry out fieldwork or access source material in a given language or for reasons of mobility or following a specific career path. See more in section 10 of the language policy.

Students in language programmes target a wide repertoire of job functions. For some, a high level command of the language in spoken and written form is essential; for others, a more modest level of proficiency or a narrower skills profile is sufficient (e.g., reading or translating). Likewise, the command of subject-related terminology or specific genres may be key in some job functions, whereas a broader vocabulary and a wider repertoire of genres is required in other jobs. Students are often recommended to combine their studies at the University of Copenhagen with a stay abroad, i.e. in a context where the language is used as a means of communication and often also as a medium of instruction. Taking part in a language tandem activity online or with a fellow student in Copenhagen may support the student´s interactive skills.

Full language programmes and area-based studies are offered by language departments at Humanities or by Theology. CIP´s role is restricted to offering pre-exchange courses in French or German and developing language elements for non-language students on content courses (see Principle 10.3).

Learn more about our pre-exchange courses in French and German.

Learn more about our content courses for non-language students.