Baltic studies (field of study: Baltic Philology) are offered within the Faculty of Polish Philology at the University of Warsaw (the main campus). First enrolment for Baltic studies took place in 1995 and since then hundreds of specialists in Lithuanian and Latvian philology have graduated from our Department. We are among two academic entities in Poland to offer both first- and second-cycle Baltic studies.
The name of the field of study derives from the term “Baltic languages”, referring to a group of Indo-European languages spoken by tribes of Balts. To our times, only two languages of this group have survived: the Lithuanian and the Latvian. Formerly, also Old Prussian, Jatvingian, Kuronian and Semigallian were among them.
The programme of Baltic studies includes, above all, an intensive learning, starting with basics, of the Lithuanian and Latvian languages. The Lithuanian starts already at the first year of the first cycle, the Latvian – at the second year. During the firs-cycle studies, students achieve B2+ proficiency in Lithuanian and B1 proficiency in Latvian. During the second cycle, it is C2 and C1 respectively. Apart from learning those two interesting and rather rare languages, our students acquaint themselves with history, literature and culture of Lithuania and Latvia, attend translation classes and other courses in general humanities, so important to philologists, like anthropology of culture, history of philosophy, general linguistics or methodology of teaching foreign languages (a detailed study programme can be found on our website: the “Students/Study programme” tab).
Every year, a couple of our students part for scholarships and internships at universities in Vilnius and in Riga, thanks to governmental scholarships, as well as the Erasmus programme and other projects.
We are being visited on a regular basis by academic teachers from Lithuania and Latvia, who share their knowledge with our students during visiting lectures and seminars.
Typical first-year admittance rate is 25 students, which, divided into two lecture groups, guarantees rather a cosy atmosphere for studying.
Our graduates work as translators, interpreters and consultants in various institutions and businesses in Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Speaking two rather rare languages and being familiar with the social-cultural situation of Poland’s North-Eastern neighbours is a definitely an added value for our graduates on the job market.
The enrolment procedure is determined by the Central Enrolment Committee (Centralna Komisja Rekrutacyjna) of the University of Warsaw. For details go to: rekrutacja.uw.edu.pl/.
In case of any questions or doubts concerning our Baltic studies, do not hesitate to contact us: baltystyka@uw.edu.pl.