Learning a Foreign Language develops a wide range of vital employability skills and is a great way to support a work placement or study abroad. It’s also tremendous fun and a fantastic opportunity to meet new people – all students, members of staff, and members of the public learn together in these classes.
Speaking another language will give you an advantage in today’s competitive global employment market. Our courses are designed to increase your cultural awareness and communication skills, and build your confidence to travel, study and work abroad.
About our language courses
We offer courses in seven different languages, ranging from Beginners to Advanced: Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish. Where applicable, the course levels are based on the Common European Framework.
Most languages offer classes at all levels, from Beginner to Advanced, each semester. You don’t have to have enrolled in semester 1 to enrol in semester 2 (although some languages may not offer every level in semester 2).
All students and staff at the University are offered concessionary rates, and in Academic Year 2024-25 fully funded places are available for Bath Bursary recipients and Gold Scholars. If you are not in receipt of a Bath Bursary, or a Gold Scholar, and need to pay for your course, you will receive a heavily discounted concessionary rate:
- 10 week course, 110 minutes per week - £99 per semester
- 10 week course, 50 minutes per week - £49 per semester
Qualifications
You have the opportunity to study for a globally-recognised qualification, to officially accredit your language proficiency, and broaden your options for career progression. If you choose to enter for the exams, you can access exam preparation workshops in semester 2. (The cost of these is included in the course fee.) You will also need to pay an examination fee to the respective awarding organisation. Details are available from your teacher.
The qualifications available are:
- Arabic – Arabic Language Proficiency Test (ALPT)
- French – Diplôme d’Études en Langue Française (DELF )
- German – Goethe-Zertifikat (GZ)
- Italian – Projetto Lingua Italiana Dante Alighieri (PLIDA)
- Japanese – JLPT
- Mandarin Chinese – Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK)
- Spanish – Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera (DELE)
How our classes work
Most of our classes are in-person on campus, but some run remotely online. Lessons are generally 110 minutes long, but some may be 50 minutes long.
We keep our class sizes small with a maximum of 25 participants per class, so that we can give as much individual support as possible. All classes are inclusive, accessible and will develop your language learning in a supportive and structured way.
Each class involves taking part in interactive learning activities tailored to the level of the class. Activities may include role plays, quizzes, presentations, and informal group discussions.
Meet The Teacher sessions
If you're not sure which language to learn, or level to take, you can come along to a drop in session to meet the teacher and find out more. These are free to attend and there's no need to book - you can just turn up. Most classes will run a Meet the Teacher session during week commencing 3 February.
In addition to class-specific sessions, there will also be drop-ins running on Monday 3 February and Friday 7 February from 11:00 - 14:00.
You can view a full timetable of all Meet The Teacher sessions on MySkills.
How to enrol
Go to MySkills for more information about all courses, including timetables, links to placement tests and details on how to enrol.
Other ways to learn a language
As well as our Foreign Language courses, we also offer cultural events, student-led Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) sessions and Language Cafés. All members of staff and students at the University are welcome to join these; you don’t have to be enrolled on a Foreign Language course to participate in any of these activities, which are free.