BA Vietnamese and... (2019 entry)

Venue: Russell Square: College Buildings

Start of programme: September

Mode of Attendance: Full-time

Vietnam claims an unbroken history of at least 4000 years, though an earlier part is recorded in myth, legend and archaeological evidence rather than in, and has maintained intact its own linguistic and cultural identity as a nation to the present day despite a millennium of Chinese rule, although there is no written record of the language prior to the 11th century AD. With the ending of Chinese rule in the early part of the 10th century AD, Vietnamese culture developed independently. While literary forms based on Chinese models survived, and continued to be much practised and admired, indigenous forms were added, making the literature of Vietnam one of the richest in the region. 

In the 17th century, Christian missionaries devised a romanised script which eventually displaced the older character-based writing completely. With the arrival of French colonial rule in the 19th century, the Vietnamese encountered Western civilisation for the 1st time; an encounter which added yet another dimension to Vietnamese civilisation and literature. The wars which ravaged Vietnam after 1940 produced an immense wealth of prose, poetry and song, as yet undiscovered by the outside world. 

SOAS has the highest percentage of research-active academics in the field of Asian Studies of any British university. The range of research interests, expertise and resources in SOAS, not only in Vietnamese and South East Asian Studies, but also with regard to the languages and literatures of other regions, religious studies, anthropology, history, art and archaeology is unique in UK institutions and this gives you an unparalleled choice in choosing a second subject of study.

May be combined with:

• Development Studies, TLJ9 BA/DVSSEA
• Economics, TLJC BA/ECSEA
• History, VTCJ BA/HSEA
• History of Art/Archaeology, VTJ3 BA/HAASEAS
• International Relations, LT2K BA/IRV
• Law, TMJC BA/LWSEA
• Linguistics, TQJD BA/LGSEA
• Music, WTHH BA/MSSEA
• Politics, TLH2 BA/POLSEA
• Social Anthropology, TLHP BA/SASEA
• Study of Religions, VTPJ BA/SEASR

Students wishing to combine this subject with Management Studies should contact the Head of Department or Undergraduate Tutor for information.  See Department Staff page for contact details.

Key Information Set data

Click on a combined programme to load KIS data

Year 1: 3 & 4 Year Degree

Core Module

Compulsory Modules

Students must complete the following modules:

Other Subject

The remaining 60 credits are taken in the other subject or as open options depending on the requirements of the other subject.

Year 2: 3 & 4 Year Degree

Core Module

Compulsory Modules

Compulsory Module

Choose a 15 credit module from List A.

Other Subject

The remaining 60 credits are taken in the other subject or as open options depending on the requirements of the other subject.

Year 3: 3 Year Degree

Compulsory Module

Choose one of the following two modules:

Compulsory Module

Choose modules to the value of 30 credits from List A

Other Subject

The remaining 60 credits are taken in the other subject or as open options depending on the requirements of the other subject.

Year 3: 4 Year Degree

Students spend their 3rd year abroad in Vietnam before returning to SOAS to sit examinations in the modules below.

Year 4: 4 Year Degree

Compulsory Module

Choose one of the following two modules:

Compulsory Modules

Choose modules to the value of 30 credits from List A

Other Subject

The remaining 60 credits are taken in the other subject or as open options depending on the requirements of the other subject.

List A

South East Asian Language Modules

List A (Final Year only)

Programme Specification

• BA Vietnamese and... Programme Specifications 2018/19 (pdf; 184kb)

Important notice

Year abroad

Students on their Vietnamese Year Abroad have the option of spending their year at either Vietnam National University in Hanoi, or the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ho Chi Minh City.

Students are required to take the following classes:

• Vietnamese Language 1
• Vietnamese Language 2: Texts
• Vietnamese History and Culture

In order to proceed to Year 3, students will be assessed by two written exams and one oral exam at SOAS in September. Students are also required to submit an Independent Study Project (ISP) to their teachers at SOAS, consisting of 10,000 words on a subject relating to Vietnamese language or culture and should involve speaking to Vietnamese informants and consulting Vietnamese written materials. The proposed topic and procedure for collecting data should be emailed to teachers by the end of November, and the completed ISP submitted before the exams in September.  

Students should budget to spend around £500 per month on accommodation and food.

Teaching & Learning

Contact Hours

All full-time undergraduate programmes consist of 120 credits per year, taught in modules of 30 credits (taught over 20 weeks) or 15 credits (taught over 10 weeks). The programme structure shows which modules are compulsory and which optional.

As a rough guide, 1 credit equals approximately 10 hours of work. Most of this will be independent study (see Approaches to teaching and learning at SOAS). It will also include class time, which may include lectures, seminars and other classes. Some subjects, such as learning a language, have more class time than others.

In the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, undergraduate modules take various forms. Modules may be taught through 1 or 2 hours of lectures a week, and some may have an additional 1-2 hours of weekly seminars. Languages classes may be 4-5 hours per week in the first and second year, typically less at higher levels.

More information is on the page for each module.

Language teaching is mostly in small tutorial groups; tapes and language laboratory facilities are available for formal teaching and self-study. Non-language modules are taught by lecture and seminar. Students are assessed by a combination of written examination (and oral for language modules) and coursework, including essays and translations.

Pre Entry Reading

• D. Healy Studies on Vietnamese language and literature in South East Asian languages and literatures, edited by E. Ulrich Kratz. London:Tauris, 1996
• Nguyen Du The tale of Kieu (translated and annotated by Huynh Sanh Thong) Yale UP, 1983
• N. Jamieson Understanding Vietnam Berkeley 1993
• Huynh Sanh Thong The heritage of Vietnamese Poetry Yale UP, 1979

Tuition Fees

Full details of undergraduate tuition fees can be found on the Registry's Undergraduate Tuition Fees page.

Fees for 2019/20 entrants. The fees below are per academic year. Please note that fees go up each year. 

Scholarships

For further details and information on external scholarships visit the Scholarships section

As a graduate who specialised in Vietnamese, you will have gained competency in language skills and intercultural awareness and understanding. Familiarity with the region will have been developed through a study of language in combination with literature, development studies, economics, geography, history, history of art and archaeology, law, linguistics, music, politics, social anthropology or religion.

Graduates leave SOAS not only with linguistic and cultural expertise, but also with a portfolio of widely transferable skills which employers seek in many professional and management careers, both in business and in the public sector. These include written and oral communication skills, attention to detail, analytical and problem-solving skills, and the ability to research, amass and order information from a variety of sources. Choosing to study a joint degree programme will increase the breadth of your knowledge, and will develop additional skills with which to further your studies of the region, or to make comparative study with other areas. The study of Vietnamese may be combined with a huge range of other disciplines. For more information on the extra skills you will gain from your second subject, please see the relevant departmental page.

For more information about Graduate Destinations from this department, please visit the Careers Service website.

• How to Apply
• UCAS website
• Request a prospectus
• Got a question - use our enquiry form (opens a new window)
• Funding options
• English language requirements
• Tuition Fees
• Admissions Contacts