Sanju Banerjee (3rd Year, History and Spanish)
What does a typical day studying History and Modern Languages at Keble look like?
Like a lot of humanities degrees, HML varies from year to year depending on what papers you choose! So, here’s a small breakdown of more or less what to expect:
In first year, you study two history papers and two language literature papers, whilst also having weekly translation and grammar classes (all of which will be tested at the end of the year during prelims). It sounds like a lot, but in my experience, the work is distributed fairly and tutors are very understanding if you need a bit of allowance! You will study the two disciplines simultaneously, alternating essays each week so you’re not overwhelmed!
A typical week studying HML at Keble involves a couple of hours of grammar/language classes, a translation class, a tutorial for which you will submit an essay, and a few hours of optional lectures. This leaves you with a lot of spare time to be spent however you want! This will most likely involve lots of reading and research for your essays, but it also means you have the opportunity to pursue basically any society or sport you’re interested in. Dividing my spare time properly took me a while to get used to, but you will quickly pick up a routine that works well for you.
In second year, your weekly routine will more or less be the same, except that you will study one paper a term out of a massive selection of topics to choose from, which you won’t be tested on until fourth year after your year abroad! A typical day would involve a few hours of reading/work for any classes, with the rest of the day usually spent with friends or just enjoying the lovely Keble vibes!
Why do you like studying History and Modern Languages at Keble?
So many reasons! The degree is super varied, you won’t have the same routine as any other HML student! Your degree feels like it’s truly yours; you get to choose topics that you’re interested in from the get-go, and in second year there are even more options.
HML students will have a distinct timetable to the students who study just history or just modern languages, meaning that often, your tutorials will be 1-on-1 or 2-o1 with a tutor who is an expert on your paper. This is nothing to be scared about and is actually such a good thing! I’ve found my tutorials super interesting and it’s a great opportunity to discuss all your thoughts and questions with so much individual attention.
The tutors at Keble are always at your disposal for any help that you need, and in my experience have been really supportive if you need additional academic support. I personally found the translation component of Spanish quite challenging in first year, and when I gave this feedback to the tutors, they organized for individual translation classes which really helped me through. You get the feeling that your tutors genuinely want you to do well and it’s nice to know that that support is available.
Lastly, Keble as a college is a dream. It’s the perfect size and the people are the best.
Personal statement advice
The personal statement is about proving your interest and enthusiasm for a subject, showing the tutor why you want to study it at university. So, make sure you balance this more or less equally between History and the language you’re applying for! Two departments will be looking at your application and you need to convince both of them that your interests and abilities are genuine.
Think above your degree: why do you actually want to study two disciplines together? Why do you think a combination of the two is important? What does studying foreign literature add to your understanding and interpretation of history? And equally what does your perspective as a historian add to the significance of literature?
Talk about how you have gone beyond your curriculum to affirm your interests. e.g.: If you’re applying for History and Spanish, do you find Spanish history interesting? What other parts of history do you enjoy learning about? What aspects of Spanish culture interest you? Consider the scope of your interests and extra-curricular research.
Admissions Test Advice
For the MLAT: there are past papers available online to familiarize yourself with the format. Do them, see where you need extra practice. The main focus of this test is grammar and translation. So, revise whatever grammar you’ve learnt up until now and practice translating more complex sentences (most grammar books will have exercises for you to revise this and otherwise there are plenty of resources online).
It’s difficult to be prepared for vocabulary, but the only way you can prepare for that is to engage with the language outside of school by watching TV or reading. Note down new words, but don’t worry if your faced with one that you haven’t seen before.
In the case that there’s a sentence in the test where the vocabulary is unknown, use as much context as you can to make an educated guess. The Oxford tutors are looking to see how you handle a situation where there are unknowns that you’re not prepared for.
Remember, the aptitude test is to see how your brain works when it’s being stretched beyond what you’ve learnt. Do not be disheartened if you don’t know the answer or think you’ve got it wrong! The aim is to show how you apply yourself to adjust to a difficult situation, not to score the highest marks.
Interview Advice
As with the aptitude test, the interview is meant to challenge you. You will find that you may feel out of your comfort zone, don’t let this throw you! Take the Oxford interviews as an experience and an opportunity to learn. You’ve already done so well to get so far!
Joint honours applicants tend to have more interviews than most, I had 3! Two for History and one for Spanish. Your interviews at Keble will simulate a tutorial and are testing to see whether you would benefit by learning through the tutorial system.
You will have one history interview that focuses around your submitted written work, an essay that you will have written at school. This is ideal! You have a chance to talk about a topic you have studied and an essay you have written. Make sure you know your essay and your arguments well but be open to being challenged on your ideas. The tutor may offer points of view that you hadn’t considered, and this may or may not change your stance. Be authentic! Be flexible to change your opinions if you think it’s necessary, but equally if you are not convinced you can take the opportunity to show confidence in your ideas and clarify/pick apart any rebuttal.
The second history interview will be based on a source that you will be given time to read beforehand. Read it multiple times through and make annotations to deduce the key points and arguments. It will be about a topic you haven’t seen before, in order to see your learning process and your ability to make sense of new information. Everyone has their own way of doing it, but it’s useful to make a bullet-point list during your reading time to summarize the piece in your own words, sieving the key points. This source will be discussed during the interview, and the sorts of themes that will arise may include disciplines to history, historiography, historical methods, and limitations.
Your languages interview will also be based on an unseen passage (most likely in the target language but some people are given a piece in English), either an extract or a poem. Use your reading time to make note of what the passage is talking about and narrative techniques you can identify. These may then lead to a bigger discussion in the interview about author’s intention, what the piece can tell us about society, key themes and why they’re significant contextually (the way you’d analyze a book or poem at sixth form essentially!). There may even be a small conversation at the end in the target language – but this part is not usually too challenging.
As with any subject, make sure you know your personal statement well so you can confidently answer questions about it. And feel free to ask tutors questions if there’s something you want to clarify! It’s the tutor’s job to show that you can learn well in that environment too.
You will hear everyone say this, but of course the most important thing is to just be yourself: drop any ideas of what sort of person you think the tutors want to see! You will perform best if you are relaxed and authentically you. Think through your thoughts out loud and don’t hold yourself back from showing the tutor your enthusiasm to learn.
Make sure to also head to our YouTube channel for more advice on the interview stage of the admissions process:
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