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Prospective Students

French and Japanese (BA)

UCAS Code:

  • TR21 BA/FJ

4 years (Full-time) / n/a (Part-time) / n/a (Distance / E-Learning)

Cardiff is in the heart of an area containing the highest concentration of Japanese manufacturing investment in Europe. The Cardiff Japanese Studies Centre was established in 1989 and is recognised as a leading centre for Japanese Studies in the United Kingdom.

If you pursue one of Cardiff’s innovative degree programmes involving Japanese, you will find yourself gaining a particularly worthwhile qualification in a period of increased internationalisation. Only a very small number of institutions in the UK offer Japanese at undergraduate level. In Cardiff you can combine the study of Japanese and Japan with either Business Studies or a European Language.

All the degree programmes with Japanese involve a period spent in Japan. To make the stay a more profitable one, the Centre has links with a number of leading universities in Japan which act as host to our students.

The Joint Honours BA degree programmes involve students in studying Japanese language and society and one European language from a choice of French, Italian and Spanish. These degree programmes have a similar structure to that of other Joint Honours BA language degree programmes. In the first year you will take 3 modules in Japanese, which are designed to introduce the language and its writing system, as well as key points from Japanese history, so that further study of the modern country can be pursued in later years. In the second year you will take 3 modules in Japanese, which are designed to increase the facility with which you can comprehend and use more advanced Japanese. At the same time, your knowledge of Japan and Japanese society is increased through lectures and seminars on modern Japanese society. In the third year of study, you will spend approximately half the year in the relevant European country and half in Japan. You will then return to Cardiff for the final year to take a further 3 modules in Japanese. More advanced study of the Japanese language during this year is accompanied by option modules chosen from a number of aspects relating to modern Japan.

Typical Offers

ABB, excluding General Studies

Entry Requirements

Three A-levels, including an A in French and excluding General Studies, Citizenship and Critical Thinking.

Alternative Entry Requirements

Applications from those offering alternative/vocational/overseas qualifications are welcome as are those who may have combinations of qualifications or other relevant work/life experience.

Next intake: September each year

School Contact

Name: Dr Christopher Hood (Japanese) 

Telephone: +44 (0)29 2087 4515 

Fax: +44 (0)29 2087 4419 

Email: HoodCP@cardiff.ac.uk  

School Website: www.cardiff.ac.uk/carbs

School Contact

Name: Mrs Marie-Laure Jones (French) 

Telephone: 029 2087 5405 

Fax:  

Email: JonesML3@cf.ac.uk  

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Student Views

I chose Cardiff as it is such a beautiful city and there are lots of things going on. I relish the opportunity on my course to explore French history in depth, and the mix of lectures and seminars is really positive as it gives variety on the course. In my first year I am studying Spanish and English Language as subsidiary subjects. Alongside my studies I am an active member of the French and Spanish Society.

Meg is also a member of Dance sport where she is learning the waltz and the salsa.


Meg Titmas (French)

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