Welcome to The School of Modern Languages and Cultures

Congratulations on your results! We look forward to welcoming you to Warwick soon!

We can't wait for you to join our thriving community! On this webpage, you can find out a little bit more about our School, as well as what you can expect when you arrive at the end of September.

As a student of languages at the University of Warwick, you are part of a vibrant and globally minded School. Our staff and students are passionate about language learning, intellectually curious, and sensitive to diverse cultural contexts. These shared values and aspirations underpin our approach to teaching and learning. They also underpin our commitment to inclusivity in everything that we do.

We are strongly committed to working in partnership with our students, listening to your feedback, and helping you get the most out of your time at Warwick. We are consistently recognised for putting students at the heart of what we do. In fact, we are often amongst the top-ranked UK universities for languages when it comes to teaching quality, student experience, and graduate employment. Our curriculum is designed to extend and challenge you, supporting you to develop advanced language skills and intercultural awareness, excellent communication and research skills, and a capacity for critical, evidence-based, and analytical thinking. These transferable skills will be invaluable no matter which career path you choose after Warwick.

We hope that your first year at Warwick is enriching and opens up a whole range of new knowledge and opportunities. There may well be a few challenges along the way, but in SMLC you are surrounded by people who want to support you. Below, you can find out a little bit about some of the key people you will meet during your first weeks at Warwick, as well as whom to contact if you have any questions. Please never hesitate to reach out! After all, asking questions is part of what it means to think like a linguist.

Please review the information below before you arrive in Welcome Week. We’ve highlighted the most important things you need to know and do over the next month or so, in particular:

preparing to arrive at Warwick and enrol.
starting to think about your module choices.
suggested reading and preparatory activities before you arrive.
where to go if you have any questions.

You can also start to explore life as an SMLC student through the brilliant student blogs linked below.

Preparing for your arrival

By now, you will have received a wealth of information from the University's central induction team. Please make sure that you have worked through the information on the webpages linked below. Doing so will ensure that you can get yourself set up as quickly as possible once you have arrived on campus!

Welcome to Warwick

Before you leave: Enrolling, Accommodation, Funding and Finance
Your personalised Welcome Week timetable
What to do when you get to campus
Information for international students
IT induction

Welcome Week

Getting started
Events
Top tips

Checklist for new students

Collecting your University ID card

Starting to think about module choices

On our virtual learning platform, Moodle, you can start to learn a little bit more about the modules that we offer in first year. You may need to register your student user account before you can access the Moodle site.

Language Modules

Have a look at the Moodle page for some brief information about how we will ascertain your language level when you arrive. If you have any questions or concerns, you are more than welcome to reach out to the language tutor named on Moodle. There will also be plenty of opportunity to ask questions in Welcome Week.

Culture Modules

Students on nearly all of our degrees will take a culture module in their first year of study. In some cases, you may also have a choice of modules.

On Moodle, you will be able to find out more about enrolling on modules, where relevant.

Our culture modules are designed to introduce you to the key cultural, political, and historical developments in the countries that you are studying, and to help you understand the values and ideas that shape the target culture today. Our module convenors have created short videos to give you a taste of what you will be learning in first year.

Once you arrive on campus

We know that you will get a lot of information during Welcome Week. We will keep the Moodle page updated with the presentations from our different sessions. That way, you can refer back to the slides for key information.

Start exploring your subjects

There is no need to do extensive reading and preparation before you start your course, but some of our students like to get a head start and read around their subject before beginning their studies. You might want to sample some of the set texts on our “culture” modules and take the opportunity to read in both your chosen language(s) and English. Please click the appropriate link below to view suggested materials and activities. You can also browse the relevant pages of the departments with which we run joint programmes:

Please click the appropriate link below to view suggested materials and activities. You can also browse the relevant pages of the departments with which we run joint programmes (e.g. Economics, History, English, Politics and International Studies ...).

Reference books (such as dictionaries) are things that you can buy before coming to Warwick or acquire once you get here.

Students whose degree combination includes Arabic/Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Russian/Portuguese will be asked to complete an online pre-sessional course. We will send further information about how to access this course in September.

Life as an SMLC Student

Any questions?

If you have any questions, please email smlcoffice@warwick.ac.uk and one of our friendly professional services team will be back in touch as soon as possible.

We're looking forward to meeting you all in welcome week. In the meantime, have a great summer!

Best wishes,

Professor Elisabeth Herrmann and Dr Joanne Lee

Co-Heads of the School of Modern Languages and Cultures

Connect with us on social media!

Instagram (@warwick_smlc)

LinkedIn (University of Warwick Languages Students and Alumni Association)