Russian and Arabic vs. Chinese and Russian

Russian and Arabic:

- St Andrews (potentially both from scratch or Russian A-Level + Arabic from scratch)
- Edinburgh (potentially both from scratch or potentially Russian A-Level + Arabic from scratch)
- Durham (Russian A-Level + Arabic from scratch)
- Leeds (both from scratch or Russian A-Level + Arabic from scratch)
- Manchester (both from scratch or Russian A-Level + Arabic from scratch)
- Oxford (Russian A-Level + Arabic from scratch)
- Cambridge (Russian A-Level + Arabic from scratch)
- Exeter (Russian A-Level + Arabic from scratch)

As for either with IR, see the post I posted before.

No, hence my indicating "potentially". They do both separately, and because Scottish degrees generally allow you to pick other subjects in your first year (and I think that's also the case at Edinburgh?), you might be able to do Russian and Arabic and IR. This might not be the case at Edinburgh, I didn't do more research than, tbh

If you can't do Russian and Arabic as joint honours, you'll almost certainly be able to do one of them and the other on the side (language centre, etc. all explained above.)

No, hence my indicating "potentially". They do both separately, and because Scottish degrees generally allow you to pick other subjects in your first year (and I think that's also the case at Edinburgh?), you might be able to do Russian and Arabic and IR. This might not be the case at Edinburgh, I didn't do more research than, tbh

If you can't do Russian and Arabic as joint honours, you'll almost certainly be able to do one of them and the other on the side (language centre, etc. all explained above.)

I had problems adapting to Manchester at first, mainly because I moved countries and was living in a much smaller place before, so for a year, I really didn't like Manchester (I say that, I've moved to London recently and spent a good 4 months hating it deeply, haha).

Now that I've changed universities, I was able to compare what I had with what I have now, and I can honestly say I didn't realise how lucky I was at Manchester. Both departments are rather small, meaning you get to know all your lecturers very well (I've got a couple on FB now), and you also get to know students from all levels, which I don't think you'd really have the chance to at Exeter or SOAS where they don't even know their entire cohort. Having such a close-knit department means the staff is very keen on taking good care of the students, and when I had problems in both languages, teachers offered me private classes outside of the usual contact hours so that I wouldn't fall behind.

There's also a peer support system where students from 2nd and 4th years will dedicate a couple of hours a week to helping 1st or 2nd year students with problematic modules. I'm still quite close to some of the students I mentored, and they did admit that it helped them greatly as the jump from A-Levels to degree-level is quite important, and being mentored by people who've already been through what you're currently going through is not only helpful, it keeps you motivated because you know if they've done it, you can do it too.

In terms of resources, Manchester has one of the largest libraries in the country, and their online resources collection (journals, etc.) is the best in the country (Oxford is just behind, but Manchester wins this hands down.) The main library has tonnes of resources for both languages, be it grammar books, dictionaries, random stuff you didn't expect, and there's also a language centre library which has lots of other textbooks not used on the course but that can help. There's also lots of DVDs and children's books that you can use to work on your language, and there's a language lab where you can go watch TV, and record programmes in whatever language you want.

In terms of the city itself, it took me some time but I did eventually grow to love it. Most of my friends actually stayed on after their degrees because there's lots of jobs in the area if you don't want to move to London. The city centre is fantastic and has everything you might want, and there's also a strong Russian community (the Russian restaurant is absolutely brilliant for entertainement, haha), and with Manchester being so international, it's very easy to find Arabic and Russian speakers, they've got their own societies and they're more than happy to help out!

As for proficiency, wherever you go, you will not achieve mastery in either language. Four years is just not long enough and it will take you many more years before reaching a really great level. That said, you can achieve a very decent intermediate/advanced level in either language if you put the efforts in, but there's only so much you can achieve at university, and this won't change no matter where you apply and end up. I spent a semester in Damascus and there were people from Durham, Edinburgh, St Andrews, Manchester, Exeter and SOAS in the class for the lowest level of Arabic, and same thing for the highest level. It's all down to how much you work, really, there's not telling how well you'll do, I'm afraid!

I applied to Cambridge, Durham, Manchester, Leeds and Exeter (got offers from the last three, rejections from the first two), but I'm afraid I can't compare the actual departments given that I haven't studied at either SOAS or Exeter, I was in class with them in Damascus but that's it. I think they're more intensive than Manchester in some aspects, but the Russian side of your degree will suffer greatly if you go to Exeter (unlike Manchester, you can't split your year equally between each language), and would be non-existent at SOAS as they just don't offer Russian at all.

I haven't heard much from Leeds, it always seemed to me like a bit of a Manchester wannabe and I preferred Manchester, haha, but they offer a 5 years programme that includes two years abroad, and I think it's a brilliant idea for a degree like Russian and Arabic because a semester isn't enough at all. Regarding textbooks, I used Al-Kitaab at Manchester, but we got it changed because it's not the most user-friendly textbook around for Arabic. They now use Ahlan Wa Sahlan which looks nicer, and the topics aren't as depressing. I think Cambridge, Oxford and Exeter also use it, but SOAS have their own material.