Undergraduate offer holders

Students in central Cambridge

So, you’ve been offered a place to study one of our degree courses at Cambridge. Congratulations! Find out how you can best prepare before you arrive.

A brief overview of academic life in Cambridge

Tripos is the name of the undergraduate system at Cambridge, and it is divided into different parts based on year group. It begins with broad introductory courses and allows for specialisation as you progress.

In your first year, the papers (i.e. courses or modules) you take will equip you with core skills for your degree. You will have a combination of lecture, classes and small-group sessions known as supervisions. The courses are designed to be challenging but also introductory and supportive.

The Director of Studies (DoS) for your College will provide guidance should you meet your offer. Your College is always your first point of contact.

Preparatory reading for offer holders

Don’t worry if you have little experience in certain aspects of the course. Make a start where you feel most comfortable and you’ll soon find that you’re making progress.

Cambridge terms are relatively short (the year is made up of three eight-week terms), so the pace of study is rapid. You will enjoy classes and lectures far more if you arrive well-prepared! So do read the further guidance for your course, and get going on suggested exercises and reading over the summer.

See below for preparatory reading for offer holders

Your summer preparation should focus on both aspects of your future course in French: the study of language and the study of literature, linguistics, film and thought.

Language preparation

It is vital that you work actively on your language skills in the summer before you arrive. It would be great to make a commitment to watch French TV or films, listen to French radio, and read French newspapers online every day for at least 30 minutes. You should also revise French grammar, especially if you will have taken a gap year since your A levels. Your goal is to enlarge your vocabulary, improve your listening skills, and increase the accuracy and complexity of both your written and spoken French, preferably while looking at media that you enjoy.

Students will be asked to use the following grammar book:

Margaret Jubb and Annie Rouxeville, French Grammar in Context (Routledge)

Preparatory reading

In order to be ready for FR1: Introduction to French literature, linguistics, film and thought, please take note of the reading list on the course page. It is essential that students purchase the texts in the prescribed editions. (Other editions vary considerably.) ISBN codes have been provided for the avoidance of confusion:The most important preparation for the course is looking at the set texts themselves.

Do not worry if you are unaccustomed to reading books in French or if you find these works difficult to understand, the course is designed to help you with this. However, you should dive in and do the best you can to read all the primary texts (and watch the film) over the summer before you arrive.

Students may also wish to consult the following accessible overviews of French literary history: 

John D. Lyons, French Literature: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010)

The Cambridge Introduction to French Literature, ed. Brian Nelson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015)

Once students are in Cambridge, they will have free online access to two further extremely useful background texts:

The Cambridge History of French Literature, ed. B. Burgwinkle, N. Hammond, E. Wilson (Cambridge University Press, 2011)

A Short History of French Literature, ed. S. Kay, T. Cave and M. Bowie (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003)

Additional resources for French students

Obtaining French books

A good source for French books in the UK is Grant & Cutler at Foyles, 107 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0DT, but it is often easy to order online from www.blackwells.co.uk, www.fnac.fr, or www.amazon.co.uk or www.amazon.fr. Secondhand copies of the set texts are sometimes also  available through the above websites or at  www.abebooks.com.

Ab initio GermanStructure of the course

All beginners will spend one year preparing for the Part IA examination in German, whether they are total beginners, have some basic familiarity with the language or have done GCSE German. The first year course will concentrate heavily on acquiring the basic elements of the language, with an introduction to a variety of authentic texts; in the second year beginners are able to take part in more advanced language classes.

Introduction to German Culture: Paper GEA3

Teaching provision for paper GEA3 consists of seven lectures in Michaelmas Term (October-December), and a further four lectures in Lent Term (January-March). Alongside these lectures, there will be four supervisions in Lent (on four of the paper’s topics), and two revision supervisions in the third term. Supervisions for paper GEA3 are organised centrally by the paper coordinator on behalf of your college. For details of this paper, and on how to prepare, see GEA3: Introduction to German 3: German culture.

Language work: Papers GEA1 and GEA2

The course we use is DaF Kompakt neu (Klett 2016), by Ilse Sander et al and consists of a course book, a practice book and a grammar. There are 3 books which you need to buy:

  • DaF kompakt neu A1-B1 Kursbuch mit MP3-CD (ISBN 978-3-12-676310-3)
  • DaF kompakt neu A1-B1 Übungsbuch mit MP3-CD (ISBN 978-3-12-676311-0)
  • DaF kompakt A1-B1 Grammatik (ISBN 978-3-12-676193-2)

You should work through the first 4 chapters before you come to Cambridge to start your degree course. You will be sent a glossary to help you with this by the course teachers. In your first 2 weeks we will go through these 4 chapters together. For information on the course book see here.

In your first year at Cambridge, you will increase your fluency in German, deepen your understanding of the cultures of German speaking countries, and develop essential skills in analysis and argumentation.

The first-year course consists of a combination of lectures and classes arranged by the Section and mostly taking place at the Sidgwick Site, and of supervisions arranged by the colleges.

GE1 – Introduction to German Studies

For information on how to prepare, please see here.

GEB1 – Use of German

For information on how to prepare, please see here.

GEB2 – Translation from German and Oral Examination

For information on how to prepare, please see here.

In late August, you will receive a brief questionnaire via email about your past Italian language learning experience. Students arrive with different levels of basic Italian, so the aim of the questionnaire is to assess how much grammar and vocab you know and allocate you to the right group.

The first year of the ab initio Italian course will introduce you to the basics of the Italian language (in papers ITA1 and ITA2), as well as to the interdisciplinary study of Italian culture (paper ITA3).

At the end of the first year of study, you will have reached A-level standard in all areas of your language. You will also have read a range of literary texts in Italian and will have studied key events and issues in Italian cultural history from the 14th through the 21st centuries, as well as visual works.

During the Easter break, ab-initio students are invited to attend a specially designed language course at the British Institute of Florence, with whom there is a longstanding link.

In late August, you will receive a brief questionnaire via email about your past Italian language learning experience. The aim of this exercise is to assess your level of Italian and allocate you to the right group.

The Post-A-Level course is intensive: it develops students' language skills in the use of Italian (ITB1), translation (ITB2) and oral practice through a series of weekly classes and lectures. Paper IT1 ‘Texts and Contexts’ offers students the possibility to study wide variety of different kinds of ‘texts’ from the entire tradition of Italian culture and language from the 14th century to the 21st century. 

Language learning at this level focuses on developing the fluency, accuracy, and scope of your written and oral Italian and aims to enhance your understanding of Italian and your appreciation of the expressive possibilities of the language through a wide range of language exercises both for written and spoken language.

https://www.mmll.cam.ac.uk/offer-holders/information-offer-holders-portuguese/beginners-course-portuguese

What will your first-year Portuguese studies look like?

The first year of the ab initio Portuguese course is intended to introduce you to the basics of the Portuguese language (in papers PGA1 and PGA2), as well as to the interdisciplinary study of Lusophone Literature (paper PGA3).

The ab initio course is designed to take you from scratch (or GCSE) to A-level standard in the space of eight months (October-May). This is roughly the equivalent of level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The course is, therefore, very intensive. As well as language skills, the course also aims to offer you an introduction to Portuguese Speaking Countries literature and to help you develop the close-reading and translation skills you will need in the course of your studies here.

You will attend classes and small-group supervisions for language work as well as lectures and supervisions for your work on cultural and literary topics.

Language work

You will be attending three weekly classes in Michaelmas Term:

  • Use of Portuguese (2 hours)
  • Grammar Supervision (1 hour)
  • Oral supervision (1 hour)

Teaching provision for paper PGA3 consists of 8 weekly lectures in Lent and 4 supervisions overall in either Lent or Easter.

Textbook:

Ponto de Encontro, Second Edition - Portuguese As a World Language, Clemence Jouet-Pastre, Pearson

Recommended reference works:

  • Modern Brazilian Portuguese Grammar – A Practical Guide, John Whitlam, Routledge
  • Vamos lá começar, Leonel Melo Rosa, Edições Técnicas Lidel (European Portuguese)
  • Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa - http://www.priberam.pt/dlpo/
  • Introduction to Lusophone Literature: Paper PGA3

Post A-Level Course in the first year (Part IA, Option B)

The Post-A-Level course is an intensive course: it develops students' language skills in the use of Portuguese, translation and oral practice through a series of classes and supervisions. It also offers students a challenging Introduction to the Language, Literatures and Cultures of Portuguese-speaking Countries.

Language work

This paper aims to help you consolidate and develop your command of Portuguese in all four skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening), with a particular focus on advanced grammar and writing skills.

Aims and objectives: 

If you attend all classes and complete all the set work, by the end of the course you will be able to:

  • Write in Portuguese with a very high level of accuracy, both in simple and more complex structures.
  • Have the vocabulary to discuss topics of general (non-specialised) nature with a good level of precision.
  • Have an awareness of register, even though you may not always reflect this aspect adequately in your linguistic choices.
  • Understand intermediate and advanced level texts of a general (non-specialised) nature.
  • Translate authentic non-specialist texts from English into Portuguese showing some sensitivity to the natural flow of the language, even though certain difficult words may need to be paraphrased.
  • Have familiarity with some aspects of the culture of the Portuguese-speaking world.
  • Meet the standards of Level B2 (and some of Level C1) of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages

You will be attending three two weekly classes organized by the Spanish and Portuguese Section:

PGB1: Use of Portuguese 

PGB2: Translation from Portuguese

In addition, you will attend a weekly language supervision​.

Literature, History, Culture

In addition to your language classes, you will also take paper PG1: Introduction to the Language, Literatures and Cultures of Portuguese-speaking Countries. 

Teaching for this paper will be through:

  • 16 lectures organized by the Department
  • fortnightly supervisions arranged by the Department on behalf of the Colleges.

The first year of the ab initio Russian course is intended to introduce you to the basics of the Russian language (in papers SLA1 and SLA2), as well as to the interdisciplinary study of Russian culture (paper SLA3). You will attend classes and small-group supervisions for language work, as well as lectures and supervisions for your work on cultural and literary topics.

By the end of the year, you should be able to use elementary grammar and syntax with a reasonable degree of confidence and accuracy, and should have sufficient vocabulary to be able to engage in simple conversation, tell a story, and translate simple texts. You will also have read a range of short 19th and 20th-century texts in Russian and will have studied key events and issues in Russian cultural history from the medieval period to the present.

Russian belongs to the group of Slavonic languages, and although there are many similarities between Russian and Romance and Germanic languages, there are many differences too, so the learning curve in the first year is very steep. You are strongly advised to study as much basic Russian grammar as possible before you arrive in Cambridge.

Summer Preparation

The ab initio course is designed to take you from scratch to A-level standard in the space of eight months (October-May). This is roughly the equivalent of level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The course is, therefore, very intensive.

In order to be ready for the rapid pace of the course, you should complete the following minimal preparatory work by the start of the Michaelmas term:

  • learn the Russian alphabet and practice reading in Russian.
  • work through at least the first six lessons of the ab initio textbook, Colloquial Russian by Susan E. Kay and Svetlana Le Fleming (Routledge, 5th edition, 2023). The following links will take you to Quizlet, which contains exercises to help you learn vocabulary from the first six units.
  • Practice Russian handwriting; please see recommended sites with instructions on how to form Russian letters here. 

Note that you will be asked to complete a short questionnaire and a diagnostic test on Moodle (our digital learning platform) prior to coming to Cambridge so that we can allocate you to the correct level group. 

Literature and Culture: Preparatory Reading

Please see the SLA3 paper description for a list of the recommended preparatory reading.

Additional resources

In addition to working through the first 6 chapters of Colloquial Russian before starting your course, you may find it helpful to explore the aspects of the Russian language on some of the available websites:

Youtube is an excellent source of authentic Russian language material. You can find Russian films and cartoons (also with subtitles), Russian television, Russian music and many other entertaining Russian materials there with just a little creative searching.

Obtaining books

Heffers Bookshop in Cambridge will have copies of some set texts by the beginning of the Michaelmas Term. You may also order books online from amazon.co.uk or abebooks.co.uk. Many Russian books are available for downloading free on the web. The Colloquial Russian course book can be purchased from the Waterstone's or Blackwell's online shops or from amazon.co.uk.

The Post-A-Level course is an intensive course: it develops students' language skills in the use of Russian, translation and oral practice through a series of three weekly classes. It also offers students a challenging interdisciplinary introduction to Russian and East European cultures from the ninth century through the present.

Language Work

Language work aims to train students to use all elements of Russian grammar and syntax correctly and to acquire a sound knowledge of modern standard Russian. Russian is a highly inflected language, so grammatical accuracy is essential both to understanding and to communication. Every area of grammar has therefore to be mastered. The course is designed to provide a comprehensive training system, covering grammar rules, exceptions and subtleties, syntax, idioms and set phrases, equivalents and non-equivalents in English and Russian, register, style, formulation of ideas, and argument.

You will be attending three weekly classes organised by the Slavonic Studies Section:

  • SLB1: Use of Russian
  • SLB2: Translation from Russian
  • Oral Practice in preparation for Russian Oral B (NB: though they are organised by the Department, these sessions are formally classified as supervisions, supported by the Colleges)

All incoming post-A-level students must take the Diagnostic Test that will be offered via Moodle in late August/beginning of September before the Michaelmas teaching term begins. The aim of this exercise is to assess your level of Russian and allocate you to the right group.

Assignments to language classes for Use of Russian and Translation will be announced on the Wednesday afternoon before classes begin. Your supervisors for the oral practice sessions will also be contacting you that Wednesday to arrange weekly supervision times. It is essential that you check your email and bring your diary to the briefing meetings for papers SLB1 and SL1 on Wednesday.

For grammar revision use:

  • James S. Levine, Schaum’s Outline of Russian Grammar. McGraw-Hill Education.
  • Terence Wade, A Comprehensive Russian Grammar (Blackwell)

Literature, History, Culture

In addition to your language classes, you will also take paper SL1: Introduction to Russian culture. Teaching for this paper will be through:

  • a series of 16 lectures organised by the Section
  • fortnightly supervisions arranged by the Section on behalf of the Colleges

What will your first-year Spanish studies look like?

The first year of the ab initio Spanish course is intended to introduce you to the basics of the Spanish language (in papers SPA1 and SPA2), as well as to the interdisciplinary study of Hispanic culture (paper SPA3). You will attend classes and small-group supervisions for language work, as well as lectures and supervisions for your work on cultural and literary topics. Teaching provision for paper SPA3 consists of 7 lectures (3 introductory lectures and four lectures on the set texts) and three supervisions in the Michaelmas and 4 lectures (on the set texts) and 3 supervisions in Lent and 2 revision supervisions in Easter. Supervisions for paper SPA3 are organized by your college. For details of this paper, see Introduction to Spanish Culture (SPA3) .

The ab initio course is designed to take you from scratch (or GCSE) to A-level standard in the space of eight months (October-May). This is roughly the equivalent of level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The course is, therefore, very intensive. As well as language skills, it also aims to offer you an introduction to Spanish and Latin American literature and culture, and to help you develop the close-reading and translation skills you will need in the course of your degree studies here.

These are exciting and ambitious goals, but do not be daunted – we see our students achieve them year after year. Your teachers and supervisors will be there to offer you all the support and encouragement you may need.

Summer Preparation

Please follow the link above for more information.

Language work

In 2021-22 you will be attending four weekly classes:

  • Use of Spanish (one 2-hour class and one 1-hour class per week). Faculty-based language classes, which will take you through all the basic grammar of Spanish, always placing language in a communicative and cultural context.
  • Oral supervision (1 hour, weekly).
  • Language supervision (1 hour, fortnightly).
  • LENT term only: four Translation into English supervisions in preparation for paper SPA2.

Textbooks

  • Coursebook: Campus Sur. Curso intensivo de español A1-B1. Libro del alumno (Barcelona: Difusión, 2017 or 2019 edition). ISBN: 9788418032448. N.B. You do NOT need a copy of the Cuaderno de ejercicios (workbook). It is VERY IMPORTANT that you get this coursebook in time for your first class.
  • Grammar practice: Uso de la gramática española by Francisca Castro (Madrid: Edelsa, revised new edition 2010): elemental (Michaelmas) and intermedio (Lent). N.B. You do NOT need to get a copy of the answer key (Clave).

Recommended reference works

  • Pilar Muñoz and Mike Thacker, A Spanish Learning Grammar (London: Routledge, latest edition) [For beginners and intermediate level]
  • Gramática básica del estudiante de español (Barcelona: Difusión, latest edition) [For beginners and intermediate level. This grammar is also available in English from the same publisher: Students’ Basic Grammar of Spanish]
  • A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish, John Butt and Carmen Benjamin (London: Arnold) [Advanced level. All you will ever want to know about Spanish grammar]
  • The Collins Spanish-English Dictionary (Glasgow: HarperCollins)
  • Oxford Spanish Dictionary (Spanish-English, English-Spanish) (Oxford: OUP)
  • Wordreference: https://www.wordreference.com/English_Spanish_Dictionary.asp
  • Diccionario de la lengua española (Real Academia Española). Available online on: http://www.rae.es/rae.html

In the first year (Part IA, Option B)

The Post-A-Level course is an intensive course: it develops students' language skills in the use of Spanish, translation and oral practice through a combination of weekly and fortnightly classes, and supervisions. It also offers students a challenging interdisciplinary introduction to Spanish and Latin American literature, culture and linguistics from the 15th century through to the present.

Language Work

Language work aims to help you acquire a sound knowledge of modern standard Spanish. You will consolidate and develop your command of Spanish in all four skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening), with a particular focus on advanced grammar and writing. The practice of translation from Spanish into English will hone your close-reading skills and acquaint you with the stylistic subtleties of literary texts, as well as with issues of cultural transfer.

You will be attending three classes:

  • SPB1: Use of Spanish (weekly class)
  • SPB2: Translation from Spanish (fortnightly class)
  • Oral practice in preparation for Spanish Oral B (weekly supervision)

It is essential that you check your email regularly (at least twice a day) during the first few days of term as the class lists and supervision groups will be published/arranged then.

Textbooks

You will not have a textbook for papers SPB2 and the Oral. For SPB1, most of the material will be provided by your teacher, but we do use a grammar practice book we ask you to own a copy of: Uso de la gramática española (nivel avanzado), Francisca Castro (Ed. Edelsa, Spain, latest edition), ISBN 978-84-7711-7148.

Although it is not compulsory that you own a copy, we highly recommend the following grammar: A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish, John Butt and Carmen Benjamin (London: Arnold, latest edition), ISBN 0-340-81033-5.

Literature, History, Culture

In addition to your language classes, you will also take paper SP1: Introduction to the Language, Literatures and Cultures of the Spanish-speaking World. Teaching for this paper will consist of lectures, reading classes and supervisions focused upon each of the primary texts and linguistic topics covered in the paper. For the Linguistics topic, you will have one supervision per term. With your literature supervisor, you will normally have three supervisions in Michaelmas and Lent Terms.

Resources for Spanish students

There is a wealth of resources for language learning and Hispanic culture preparation on the web – feel free to explore them. You will greatly benefit from reading, listening and, if possible, speaking as much Spanish as you can before you arrive in Cambridge. Here is a list of useful resources to get you started:

Grammar

Working through some of the following resources will help you consolidate your knowledge of Spanish grammar and give you a head start in the Post A Level course:

  • Spanish Language & Culture (Barbara Kuczun Nelson): an excellent collection of grammar exercises classified by grammar topic, including some video and audio.
  • Conjuguemos: A useful site to practise your verb conjugations – a must!

Video and audio

  • Corpus de conversaciones en español: a wide collection of short clips featuring everyday conversations with speakers from various Spanish-speaking countries. Clips are classified by level and come with transcripts.
  • Catálogo de voces hispánicas (Instituto Cervantes): again, a collection of short clips featuring examples of Spanish from different parts of Spain and Latin America, with transcripts.
  • Spanish podcasts: podcasts of Spanish speakers in a variety of situations, discussing a range of topics. With transcripts.
  • Lyricstraining: listen to your favourite music while listening to Spanish and improving your listening skills and vocabulary.

Vocabulary learning

You probably have your own tried-and-tested system for learning vocabulary by now. Any method that works for you is good, but if you are not yet familiar with the following resources you may want to give them a try. Both allow you to record and systematize any new words, and include an element of gamification to make it all more fun:

Dictionaries and other reference resources

  • Wordreference: you are probably already very familiar with this resource containing many dictionaries and fora where you can discuss your language queries with native speakers or other fellow learners. As well as the monolingual and bilingual dictionaries for Spanish, we recommend you begin to get familiar with the use of the thesaurus (Diccionario de sinónimos y antónimos) – this will help you expand your vocabulary and range of registers.
  • Diccionarios de la Real Academia de la Lengua Española: here you will find the famous Diccionario de la Lengua Española, as well as the Diccionario panhispánico de dudas, which will contain the answer to some of your language queries.
  • Linguee: a dictionary that offers numerous examples in context of the word you want to find.
  • Diccionarios de la página del español: a selection of dictionaries curated by La página del español.

Press

Most newspaper sites also contain video and audio material, so you can practice both your reading and listening comprehension while keeping abreast with the news:

Film and TV

There are few more enjoyable ways to improve your language skills than watching films in Spanish. Do have a browse on any platform you have access to (e.g. YouTube, Netflix). If you find a series that grabs your fancy, try and set up a routine of watching perhaps one episode a day, or every few days:

RTVE Televisión española: this is the site of Spanish public TV. It contains a broad collection of documentaries and other TV productions.

VerCanalesTV.com: links to many TV channels across Latin America and Spain.

Language and culture

Centro Virtual Cervantes (Instituto Cervantes): here you will find many resources and information relating to the Spanish language and culture. You may find the following particularly useful/interesting:

La página del idioma español: contains articles and information relating to the Spanish Language. You can subscribe to “la palabra del día” and receive every day the definition and etymology of a word in your inbox.

Español con arte: includes material for those interested in learning Spanish while learning about art.

General introduction to studying Spanish at Cambridge

My HE+ Modern Languages: here you will find a range of resources (for Spanish as well as other languages) aimed at giving sixth-form students a taste for the kinds of topics they will encounter if they apply to study Modern Languages at Cambridge.