MA studies in General linguistics are a unique opportunity to combine theoretical knowledge about languages with the practical dimension of learning a foreign language. It is unique, as no other university in Poland offers studies in the field of theoretical linguistics.
Language is one of the most astonishing features of human nature, one of those which radically distinguish humans from other animals.
Rather than asking how many cases there are in Polish, it is more interesting to ask how we know that it is exactly seven. Should we place an article before names of countries? – that is a good question (we say l’Italia but not *the England), but a better question would be: what is in essence the difference between a definite and indefinite article? And how do Poles, Finns, or ancient Romans knew what was being talked about when their languages do not have articles?
Our studies are devoted to such fundamental problems of natural language. Simultaneously, the programme features a 270-hour practical course of a selected language. Depending on students’ skills, this can be continuation, or a beginners’ course. In the first case, graduates level is comparable to that of philology students; in the second, the target level is B2+ according to the European Language Portfolio.
The programme includes such subjects as: theory of language, grammar, semantics, pragmatics, historical-comparative linguistics, empirical methods in linguistics, semiotics, practical course of a selected language.
In addition to thourough theoretical and linguistic education, our graduates have the chance to gain computer skills on a considerably higher level than is typically the case in humanities. The subject "Empirical methods in linguistics" is largely devoted to computer-aided research in linguistics.