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Serbian/Croatian Testimonials

Hear from some of our students about their experience of learning our BA in Serbian/Croatian!

Dr Rosa Weber, Researcher, Stockholm University 

The BA in Serbian/Croatian prepared me for a diverse career path. In my Bachelor thesis, I used media analysis to study the English, French and German reporting of student led protests in Serbia in 1996-97 and started reading sociological literature. After finishing my BA, I continued to do an MSC in Sociology at the LSE. From the MSC, I went on to do a PhD at Stockholm University. Last spring, I received a postdoc grant to go to Paris to study the socioeconomic integration of the children of immigrants in France and Sweden at the French Institute for Demographic Studies. I believe that I acquired innumerable skills in my BA that made this career path possible. We were trained to read widely and critically, to write, to present and had direct contact with leading scholars in the field. We went to public lectures across London, had the chance to attend summer schools in Dubrovnik and Belgrade, among others, and to do a year abroad. This allowed me to develop both professionally and personally. I also enjoyed the BA immensely. I became friends with people from different backgrounds and with varied interests and grew from the experiencing of living in London and Belgrade. 
“I began learning Finnish at SSEES in 2019 after marrying my Finnish husband. I'm not naturally great at languages, but I immediately felt confident and relaxed in the informal atmosphere. We began by exchanging very basic Finnish greetings and questions, and finding out why everyone was studying Finnish - for most people it was because of Finnish family or partner, though for a few others it was for something they were studying. Kristina is an incredibly calm, compassionate teacher who immediately recognises what we need, or what we need to work on. We work from a book and the course is not examined, which is great for avoiding stress. When Covid hit, we switched to learning on Teams and we started to work really well together online. I've now had to stop my lessons because of moving abroad and needing to focus on another language, but I feel really encouraged and I rather miss everybody. Finnish is an extremely difficult language, but you'll be taken through slowly, gently and with really nice support.I began learning Finnish at SSEES in 2019 after marrying my Finnish husband. I'm not naturally great at languages, but I immediately felt confident and relaxed in the informal atmosphere. We began by exchanging very basic Finnish greetings and questions, and finding out why everyone was studying Finnish - for most people it was because of Finnish family or partner, though for a few others it was for something they were studying. Kristina is an incredibly calm, compassionate teacher who immediately recognises what we need, or what we need to work on. We work from a book and the course is not examined, which is great for avoiding stress. When Covid hit, we switched to learning on Teams and we started to work really well together online. I've now had to stop my lessons because of moving abroad and needing to focus on another language, but I feel really encouraged and I rather miss everybody. Finnish is an extremely difficult language, but you'll be taken through slowly, gently and with really nice support.I began learning Finnish at SSEES in 2019 after marrying my Finnish husband. I'm not naturally great at languages, but I immediately felt confident and relaxed in the informal atmosphere. We began by exchanging very basic Finnish greetings and questions, and finding out why everyone was studying Finnish - for most people it was because of Finnish family or partner, though for a few others it was for something they were studying. Kristina is an incredibly calm, compassionate teacher who immediately recognises what we need, or what we need to work on. We work from a book and the course is not examined, which is great for avoiding stress. When Covid hit, we switched to learning on Teams and we started to work really well together online. I've now had to stop my lessons because of moving abroad and needing to focus on another language, but I feel really encouraged and I rather miss everybody. Finnish is an extremely difficult language, but you'll be taken through slowly, gently and with really nice support.I began learning Finnish at SSEES in 2019 after marrying my Finnish husband. I'm not naturally great at languages, but I immediately felt confident and relaxed in the informal atmosphere. We began by exchanging very basic Finnish greetings and questions, and finding out why everyone was studying Finnish - for most people it was because of Finnish family or partner, though for a few others it was for something they were studying. Kristina is an incredibly calm, compassionate teacher who immediately recognises what we need, or what we need to work on. We work from a book and the course is not examined, which is great for avoiding stress. When Covid hit, we switched to learning on Teams and we started to work really well together online. I've now had to stop my lessons because of moving abroad and needing to focus on another language, but I feel really encouraged and I rather miss everybody. Finnish is an extremely difficult language, but you'll be taken through slowly, gently and with really nice support.I began learning Finnish at SSEES in 2019 after marrying my Finnish husband. I'm not naturally great at languages, but I immediately felt confident and relaxed in the informal atmosphere. We began by exchanging very basic Finnish greetings and questions, and finding out why everyone was studying Finnish - for most people it was because of Finnish family or partner, though for a few others it was for something they were studying. Kristina is an incredibly calm, compassionate teacher who immediately recognises what we need, or what we need to work on. We work from a book and the course is not examined, which is great for avoiding stress. When Covid hit, we switched to learning on Teams and we started to work really well together online. I've now had to stop my lessons because of moving abroad and needing to focus on another language, but I feel really encouraged and I rather miss everybody. Finnish is an extremely difficult language, but you'll be taken through slowly, gently and with really nice support.

 

Anon, Corporate Investigator

Shortly after submitting my dissertation in June 2020, I had to face the inevitable question: "what next?" I looked for options in the UK, in my home country and also in the countries of the region I got closely acquainted with during my studies at SSEES - the Balkans, specifically Serbia. I had the luxury of having more choices for my potential career path by virtue of knowing the language, also having spent one of the best years of my life in Serbia during studies. As soon as I knew I could travel safely in August 2020, I went to Serbia to explore my options: a local think tank, a respected NGO, an international production company or event management for a world-renowned director. My degree, and therefore my proactive interest as well as close contact with (native) experts in their respective fields, gave me a wider perspective and even a deeper understanding of what interests me from a professional point of view. Choosing a variety of modules that were essential for my self-development and using my free time wisely during my studies had positive consequences; in the end, I even got a job offer from a London-based company focusing on corporate intelligence, so the language skills I acquired and the knowledge of cultural intricacies I gained are now my tools on a regular basis. 

 

Louisa Sanfey, Theatre Director & Dramaturg

I decided to study Serbian/Croatian & East European Studies at UCL already having a clear career path in mind: to follow up my BA with an MFA in Theatre Directing. Although it might seem a more obvious choice to study English Literature or Drama if you want to work in theatre, I felt instinctively that it would be more interesting and rewarding to approach my studies from a fresh angle. My BA was rigorous and pushed me to develop self-discipline, analysis and communication skills, all of which have proved invaluable working as a professional theatre director. The contacts that I made on my year abroad have led me to direct shows in Serbia and Kosovo as well as the UK and Ireland, including a commission for the Belgrade Irish Festival called The Balkan Sessions which was a collaboration in English, Serbian and Irish languages. Having a degree in Serbian/Croatian has led me to interesting and rewarding work, such as a recent project supporting a writer to develop a script about the Kosovo War.  

 

Fabian Helmrich, MA Student, Oxford University

After graduating from UCL SSEES with a BA in Russian and Serbian/Croatian, I went on to do an MPhil in Linguistics at the University of Oxford, a two-year programme with a significant research component geared towards students keen to go into academia. My time at SSEES really prepared me well for the task at hand. Firstly, competence and knowledge of a ‘smaller’ language such as SerBoCroatian provides a linguist with intuitions and insights not shared by many colleagues who have no knowledge of your language of expertise. I am for example working on a project about script choice in SerBoCroatian at the moment, where I can apply my language skills and sociocultural knowledge gained at SSEES and combine it with research methods and sociolinguistic paradigms from the MPhil Second, the course at SSEES offered many great opportunities to develop research interests and to pursue them accordingly. Time and again we were encouraged to formulate our own research questions, a skill which is extraordinarily handy not only now but also thinking about PhD positions and postdocs in the future. With the first round of assessment done and dusted, I have been encouraged that the knowledge and skills I acquired at SSEES and the opportunities it has given me in terms of research, travel and exposure to a wealth of ideas and experiences have well prepared me for my dream career in research generally and in linguistics specifically.

 

Dr Ed Alexander, Company Manager

I cannot recommend taking a degree in Serbian/Croatian enough. The teaching that I received was truly special and something I shall never forget. To this day, I remember my time at SSEES with so much warmth: relatively small class sizes meant that it was possible for professors and students to engage with each other as individuals, with a more personal touch than my peers on better-attended programs received. Besides being a fantastic experience for the four-year duration of the degree, my undergraduate studies set me up well to subsequently transition into a Master’s degree and then receive a scholarship for a PhD.The foremost element of my degree upon graduation was being able to fluently speak and write in Croatian/Serbian. I have now lived in Croatia for a number of years and being able to communicate on the same level as a local is essential to my happiness and integration into my local community. I work in a training role for the Croatian subsidiary of an international company, where I earn a respectable salary for a job I enjoy. Speaking Croatian was not crucial in me getting this job, although it has certainly helped me, but rather having a humanities degree from UCL was looked upon very positively.
 

 

Betony Granville, Legal Adviser

My BA in Serbian/Croatian prepared me to succeed in different environments, produce high quality research, and provided a wealth of highly transferable skills. The teaching quality and content of the seminars was excellent, and I developed key skills such as critical analysis, research skills, and cultural understanding, which had a lasting influence on me. The smaller class sizes meant that the teaching was more tailored and personal. The selection of elective modules complemented and widened my interests. Living and studying in Belgrade in my third year was a formative experience. It was a surprisingly multicultural city, which informed my Year Abroad Project research. I did a Masters in Sweden, in International Migration and Ethnic Relations, during which I was asked to present lectures on my independent research from my BA to first-year International Relations undergraduates. Following my MA, I was awarded a funded placement to train to provide specialist, bi-lingual support to women who had experienced gendered violence - my BA was essential. I now work in a phenomenal community law service, facilitating those who cannot afford representation to access free legal advice regarding child contact, domestic abuse, and immigration advice. I love my job and intend to undertake a law conversion course in the next few years, which my BA will enable me to do. 

Ten years on, I continue to value my undergraduate degree immensely, and would strongly recommend it to others considering studying this: follow your interests and choose this exceptional degree - it can lead to great opportunities!
 

 

Dr Amelia Abercrombie, Postdoctoral Researcher

I completed a degree in Serbian/Croatian in 2008 and went on to study MRes East European Studies at SSEES (with Romanian language). I then completed a PhD in social anthropology at Manchester in 2017. My PhD was about the social and political context of multilingualism in Kosovo, and focused on a Romani community who speak Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Albanian, Turkish and Romani. From this I went on to publish work on language standardisation, and a book with the title 'Unmixing Languages'. As well as these languages I have also learnt some Russian and Polish with the help of my prior knowledge of Serbian. In between studying I have also work in various social care roles. My social care work with homeless people, coupled with my knowledge of East European languages and cultures led me to conduct postdoctoral research on language learning among homeless East Europeans. 

 

Dr Noëmie Duhaut, Research Associate, Leibniz Institute of European History in Mainz

I am a historian of nineteenth-century Europe and currently work as a research associate at the Leibniz Institute of European History in Mainz. My journey began with a combined degree at the SSEES and Hebrew and Jewish studies at UCL. I was interested in Balkan history and could not conceive of studying it without learning one of the region's languages, so I picked Serbo-Croatian. Language learning at SSEES takes place in small groups, with exceptionally engaged teachers who go the extra mile to teach you not only the language but also the culture, history and politics of the region. Thanks to these ideal conditions, I quickly became fluent in Serbian, which allowed me to volunteer for the Belgrade-based feminist and pacifist civil society organisation Women in Black. This experience was highly formative for the career path I later chose. After an MA in history at SSEES (during which I also studied Russian), I obtained a PhD in history at UCL, with a thesis on French Jewish international advocacy on behalf of Jews in the Balkans. The first-hand experience of political activism I gained whilst volunteering in Belgrade encouraged me to look at political praxis, lobbying mechanisms, and how non-governmental actors overcome their lack of political leverage in the networks I examined in my PhD thesis. My choice of bachelor's degree turned out to be an excellent one. Thanks to a less trodden and perhaps unusual path, I landed postdoctoral positions at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and then at the Central European University in Budapest. Going full circle, I now have the privilege to share what I am passionate about and convinced me to study at SSEES in the first place. This autumn, I will offer courses in Balkan Jewish history as a guest professor at the University of Graz.