Language of Instruction: Dutch
Nobody knows how many languages are spoken on our planet: 5000 perhaps? What we do know is that they can be divided into language families. Dutch, German and English, for instance, are closely related; together with languages such as Greek, Latin and Sanskrit they belong to the large Indo-European language family. Other languages, such as Vietnamese or the Indian Nahuatl, have a completely different structure and origin.
The differences between languages are enormous, but common systems lie at the basis of all languages, as well as the human talent for speech. Linguists research how these systems work and how they can be used in relation to new communication media, such as talking computers. One of the prerequisites for linguistics is therefore a talent and a taste for the exact sciences.
In addition, linguistics students learn to make comparisons between the known European languages and completely different languages, of which many are taught in Leiden. Last but not least, students are taught to work at the interface of linguistics with many other fields, such as logic, neurology and psychology. An example of such an interdisciplinary discipline is the study of how children acquire their native language. Such a broad interdisciplinary approach leads to the study of human language from a number of different angles.
Practical Studies
Following the basic programme, the Linguistics programme can be combined with one of the ‘practical studies’ or PraktijkStudies (Management, European Union Studies or Journalism and New Media) or with other options and, possibly, an internship.