english language and linguistics personal statement

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Linguistics (and english language) personal statement.

Unlike most people who are indifferent towards language, I am fascinated by it. Though still uncertain of what exactly it is, a tool, an instinct, or phenomenon, I recognise its power to persuade, manipulate, disgust, bewilder, excite, and create observable change in people and the world around them.

My passion for language gradually developed after I started writing poetry and discovered the power of owning a poetic license. I had the power to create words, twist sentence structures and ignore the rules which I had been ingrained with from birth. My most recent piece of writing, titled 'Liana', revolves around the themes of what it means to be human, femininity, sexuality and sex vs. gender. What I love the most about writing is how limitless it is; I am free to put anything down on my paper. My play has now won first place in a creative writing competition, been published in a local Shanghai magazine, and is currently being made into a drama production at my school. I am assisting with the directing process in the drama production, and it is an incomparable feeling to have others interpreting and reading something that you have created. Although it is my text and I had my own intention for the overall message of the text, it is incredible to see how others can create their own, perfectly justifiable meaning for it.

My insightful nature lead me to see through the generally accepted belief that subjects are separate and intended to be studied in isolation from one another. When joining the IBDP program, I carefully selected subjects that interested me and would cultivate my passion for Linguistics. I have been able to study the relationship and connections between Linguistics and Psychology, Philosophy, Computer Science, Theory of Knowledge and even Mathematics. Reading Nietzsche's On The Genealogy of Morals and finding that he used etymology to trace the origin of morality showed me just how much information we can gather from diachronic linguistics. After first moving to China and not being fluent in Mandarin, I was heavily reliant on translation software. Despite the shortcomings of machine translation, the lack of direct translations for words and lack of succinctness, it still facilitates basic communication. But when communicating through these applications, I could still feel the disconnect between myself and the other party. Shortly after, I began independently learning Mandarin. Learning a language so different from English has allowed me to compare and contrast the two, and take a critical look at the nature of languages and how we use them. I started to immerse myself in linguistics through online linguistics courses offered by Leiden University, through reading of Steven Pinker, Chomsky and Clark, and conducting my own interdisciplinary investigations.

Thus far, I've done my IB extended essay on word prediction within computational linguistics, looking at the capabilities of modern computers and their ineptness for language has lead me to further consolidate my understanding of how exceptional and unpredictable language can be. In mathematics I've tested Zipf's Law within some of my favourite books, and discovered the objectivity within that which I thought was wholly subjective. My favorite investigation was on the effect of language on recall in psychology. I conducted my own experiment that involved leading questions and how memory can be reconstructed based on the language we use. Outside of my studies, I volunteer at an international hospital where I assist with translating between English and Mandarin for patients, take care of young children and tell stories to senior citizens. I am a tenacious, inquisitive and creative student and am confident that I have the capacity and determination to be successful at university

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There is no profile associated with this personal statement, as the writer has requested to remain anonymous.

Author's Comments

I was quite happy with the outcome of this personal statement. I wrote it a few days before the deadline, but it still turned out quite strong.

Offers: University of Cambridge UCL University of Edinburgh University of Sheffield Warwick

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How to Write an English Personal Statement Worthy of Oxbridge!

Are you dreaming of pursuing English at Oxford, Cambridge or a top Russell Group University? This comprehensive guide equips you with top tips for crafting an English personal statement that truly stands out. Learn how to showcase your diverse literary interests, structure your personal statement or tailor your statement for Oxbridge. To bring these concepts to life, we provide an example Oxbridge English personal statement for your reference.

When applying to university, your personal statement is your best opportunity to showcase what motivates you to study the subject you are applying for and why you are suited to study it.  You can do this by providing evidence of your interest: how have you gone beyond the curriculum to satisfy questions which reach past the subject at A Level?  

Interviewers for English at university will be looking for students who have an insatiable curiosity for learning and developed interests in various areas of the subject. They will also be looking for candidates who have the analytical skills and academic rigour required for success at university. And, of course, you’ll be expected to demonstrate evidence of substantial reading; a successful English personal statement will provide a starting point for an interview discussion, so gesture towards a range of different texts which you are prepared to discuss at length. Don’t shy away from making a provocative statement, as long as you are prepared to support any claim you make: independent, fresh responses to texts will generate a positive response.

Tips for your English Literature Personal Statement

The key tips to bear in mind when writing a personal statement are: be truthful, be ambitious and don’t undersell yourself.  This is an opportunity to show off what you’re good at! Don’t hold back from writing about times when you have excelled (for example, winning an English essay competition) but don’t distort what you’ve done either. 

Don’t mention books which you haven’t read all the way through . If you feel like your breadth of reading might be lacking, it’s a good idea to do some extension reading in the months leading up to applying for university, so that when it comes to writing your personal statement, you’ll have a wide variety of texts to choose from.

Showcase your literary diversity : Make your personal statement stand out by referencing a range of text forms, from classic novels to contemporary poetry, thought-provoking essays, iconic plays, and compelling prose. This demonstrates your passion for English literature across different mediums and eras.

Embrace the breadth of English literature: Convey your enthusiasm for the subject by including references to works from various eras. Showcase your appreciation for not only contemporary literature but also texts from older periods, like the Medieval age, the Renaissance, and beyond (whilst staying true to your interests). This illustrates your readiness to explore and engage with the rich tapestry of English literature throughout history. This is particularly important when applying for a course like Oxford English Language Literature as the course modules are chronological, spanning Old English (e.g. Beowulf) through to contemporary texts. An admissions tutor is likely to be impressed if you therefore have some appreciation for a range of literary eras.

Craft a narrative with a few (e.g. 3) focused areas of interest: Instead of providing a superficial overview of various topics that interest you, choose say three specific areas of English literature that genuinely intrigue you. These could be thematic, like postcolonial literature, feminist literature, or gothic literature. For each area, go in-depth by referencing a key book or text you've read, a relevant piece of literary criticism (this isn’t required, but can be good to include!), and your thoughtful analysis of the text or critic's perspective. Then, connect these three areas to create a compelling narrative thread that showcases your passion, analytical skills, and the trajectory of your literary exploration. This approach not only demonstrates your commitment but also provides a captivating structure for your personal statement (See the English personal statement posted below as an example of this!)

How to Structure Your English Personal Statement

The word count for personal statements is quite limited, so it’s important to use every sentence effectively. Don’t repeat yourself and don’t include information which isn’t relevant to your application. When applying for English, there are certain areas which should be addressed in your personal statement, so here is a guideline of how one might structure the personal statement to ensure that all of these areas are mentioned.

Introductory paragraph:

What is your motivation to study English?  Be specific: what do you want to explore at university? What is distinctive about studying literature that makes it worthwhile? Ensure you talk about what motivates your study of the subject now, not a catalyst from your childhood as, even if it may be true, the interviewer will find it clichéd and less relevant.

Main body of the personal statement:

Devote at least a paragraph to talking about specific areas of interest within the subject.  What excites you most? For example, do you have a particular fascination with performance studies or postcolonial theory? Indicate that you have opinions and preoccupations within the discipline.

Mention a range of texts which have interested you: ensure that you’ve mentioned at least one play, prose text and piece of poetry (ideally).  It’s also a good idea to show that you’ve engaged with secondary texts, for example a work of literary criticism or a book covering the historical background of a period of literature you’ve studied.

Show that you have an active interest in the subject: Have you sought out performances of plays, special lectures or essay competitions? These will all reveal that you’ve gone out of your way to immerse yourself in your subject already, and this is a very appealing trait in a prospective university candidate.

Showcase your skills: Don’t just name-drop texts but say something incisive and persuasive about them. This could involve discussing what links together works by authors of the same period or what defines the work of a single author.  Demonstrate your ability to analyse texts effectively, because this is the most important skill which you will use studying English at university level.

Concluding your personal statement:

The personal statement isn’t long enough to talk at length about extracurricular hobbies and activities, so don’t let these take up too much space (a few lines maximum). However, it is a good idea to mention what you do outside your subject to present yourself as a well-rounded candidate. Therefore:

You could mention one or two of your other A Level subjects, perhaps describing how they have enhanced your study of English. This will be particularly convincing if you have studied History or a foreign language at A Level.

Mention any extracurricular activities which make you stand out. Do you play a musical instrument, and if so, to what level? If you’re involved in sport, do you play in a team?  Don’t write at length about this: try to contain this information within one sentence.

Mention any prizes or roles of responsibility which you have had at school, including any clubs that you might organise, such as the school newspaper or student council.

Conclude your personal statement by returning to your aptitude for studying the subject . Which core skills do you possess which will equip you to excel at degree level? It’s important to strike a balance between enthusiasm for the subject and evidence of skills.

Applying to Oxford or Cambridge (Oxbridge)? Here's What You Should Also Do

Difference Between Oxford English Language and Literature BA & Cambridge English BA

The University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, collectively referred to as Oxbridge, are globally renowned for their exceptional academic courses. In the domain of English studies, both universities offer distinct programmes: Oxford's English Language and Literature and Cambridge's English course. In this section, we will precisely explore the key differences between these programmes, highlighting their unique approaches and focus, to ensure you cater your Oxbridge English personal statement to your Number 1 choice of university.

Writing an Oxford English Language and Literature Personal Statement

Oxford's English Language and Literature course is renowned for its extensive scope, offering a comprehensive exploration of English writing from its origins in Anglo-Saxon England to contemporary works. It provides the unique opportunity to examine literature in English on a global scale, encompassing texts from various parts of the world and originally penned in different languages. The course allows students to tailor their studies to match their interests through core papers, dissertation topics, and special options. Some past options include delving into Literature and revolution, Postcolonial literature, Writing lives, Old Norse, Tragedy, and Film criticism, fostering a dynamic and diverse learning experience.

At the University of Oxford, the course titled "English Language and Literature" is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of both the language and literary aspects of the English discipline . It is therefore important that you ideally reference both aspects in your Oxford English personal statement. Even if the other courses you are applying for do not have the Language element, anything you include will still be relevant to the study of Literature (you can entwine the two).

1. Integration of Language and Literature:

Oxford's course integrates the study of the English language with a deep exploration of literary works. Students examine the language's structure, history, and linguistic components while also engaging with a wide array of literary genres and periods.

2. Language Analysis and Literary Critique:

The curriculum at Oxford hones students skills in language analysis, gives them exposure to linguistic theories, and literary critique. Students learn to analyse the nuances of language and its application in literature, fostering critical thinking and analytical skills.

3. Historical and Cultural Context:

Oxford places significant importance on studying literature within its historical and cultural contexts. Students gain insights into the societal influences that shaped literary works, providing a holistic understanding of the subject.

Writing a Cambridge English Personal Statement

Cambridge's English degree course offers a well-rounded curriculum that combines a strong foundation in English literary works with an opportunity to explore various art forms, including music and film in relation to literature . Furthermore, it delves into literature's connections with intellectual traditions such as philosophy, art history, and politics . In Year 1 (Part IA), students undertake compulsory papers in Practical Criticism and Critical Practice, along with an assessment of Shakespeare through a portfolio of essays. Year 2 (Part IB) introduces compulsory and optional papers spanning different literary periods from Early Medieval Literature to the 20th century. In Year 3 (Part II), students engage with compulsory papers in Practical Criticism and Critical Practice II, explore Tragedy across ages, and undertake a dissertation. Additionally, they can choose from a wide array of optional papers that evolve yearly, covering diverse topics such as Chaucer, American Literature, Visual Culture, and more.

Here’s how to tailor your personal statement to align with these features:

Interdisciplinary Approach : Cambridge's English course places a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary connections. In your personal statement, you could showcase your readiness to explore literature's intersections with other fields such as philosophy, art history, and politics. Mention any relevant experiences or readings that demonstrate your interest in these areas and how they relate to literature.

Exploration of Other Art Forms : Cambridge offers the opportunity to delve into other art forms, including music and film, in relation to literature. Highlight your passion for these art forms and their connections to literature. You could discuss a specific instance where you've analysed how music or film enhances the understanding of a literary work, for example, or how these art forms can provide fresh perspectives on literature.

Critical Thinking and Intellectual Traditions : Cambridge's English course encourages critical thinking and engagement with intellectual traditions. In your personal statement, you could emphasise your analytical abilities by discussing a piece of literature or a critical theory that challenged your thinking. Show how your engagement with intellectual traditions has shaped your approach to literature.

Broad Range of Literature : Mention your fascination with the diverse range of literary works in the Cambridge curriculum, spanning different eras and cultures. Highlight any books or authors that have particularly resonated with you, and explain how they have influenced your literary interests.

How is the Personal Statement Used in Oxbridge English Interviews?

Your personal statement offers admissions tutors a glimpse into your academic journey, showcasing your passion for English Literature or English Language. It acts as a crucial tool for them to assess your commitment to the subject and your ability to articulate your thoughts coherently and persuasively.

Through your personal statement, you have the opportunity to exhibit your enthusiasm for the subject. Your engagement with literary works, language theories, and academic experiences should shine through, portraying a genuine and dedicated interest in the field. Highlighting specific books, theories, or authors you admire and discussing how they have influenced your academic pursuits adds depth to your statement.

Admissions tutors use your personal statement to evaluate how well your academic goals align with the structure and ethos of the course you're applying for. Articulate why you believe the particular course at the university is the right fit for you. Demonstrating an understanding of the curriculum and emphasising how it will help you achieve your academic and career aspirations is key.

During the interview, the personal statement often serves as a starting point for discussion . The interviewers may delve into topics you've mentioned in your statement, seeking deeper insights into your thought processes and motivations. Therefore, it is essential to be well-prepared to expand on the ideas presented in your personal statement, providing a more comprehensive understanding of your perspective.

Looking for ideas for English personal statement content?

We have built out an entire co-curricular platform, Minds Underground, for university applicants to use as evidence for their wider subject exploration. A few ideas:

Our English Literature Summer School allows students to broaden their horizons in literature, to consider authors and theorists from across the globe. classes are hosted by our Oxbridge-educated tutors, from a Fellow at all Soul’s College, Oxford, to published authors and Master’s and PhD researchers specialising in English Lang & Lit

Research Projects: E.g. ““Ways of Seeing": Exploring Word, Image and Ideology with a Cambridge Master's English Researcher and Multidisciplinary Artist” (Typically 1 month, 5 project tutorial sessions)

Exemplar Personal Statement for Oxford Language and Literature

Below is a sample English Language and Literature personal statement from U2 Tuition co-founder Camille, that was accepted for Oriel College, Oxford:

The importance of literature in society first became apparent to me when reading Milton’s polemical tract Areopagitica. I was intrigued by the way he used language’s potential not only to liberate, ‘give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely’, but also to manipulate. It is fascinating that this idea of a ‘Janus’ faced’ side to words could have been promoted over 300 years ago. Today, in our progressively plural world and with language’s increasing flexibility, I can see that Milton’s ideas have developed still further. In a culture where we are constantly bombarded with messages, it is all the more important to discern meaning. Here, Saussure’s theories in semiotics have particular resonance. I believe an in-depth study of literature will teach me to deconstruct and question these uses of language. It was for this reason I undertook work as a research assistant on an Oxford University project, Examining the OED. Tracing how language changed over time demonstrated its fluidity and the nuances of the way words are actually used. Considering how literary writers have shaped and influenced the lexicon also showed me how literature constantly interacts with everyday life. This capacity for narrative to be an active force both in the shaping of the lexicon and also upon the reader, became evident to me during my Gap Year travels on the professional tennis tour. During this period of intense training and competition I drew inspiration, both as a tennis player and aspiring novelist, from travel writing such as Robert McFarlane’s Mountains of the Mind and Old Ways and McDougall’s Born to Run. Upon my return I came across Robin Lydenberg’s essay Freud’s Uncanny Narratives. His discussion of the uncanny effect of Freud’s constant shift into autobiographical narrative and complex relation to Italy in The Uncanny, was particularly relevant to a study of a personal and travel narrative. I realised part of the attraction of these texts was their dealings with both the familiar and the foreign. I am also curious about the more typical territory of the uncanny in Gothic fiction, where terror is derived from something, at once strange and intrinsic, in the supernatural. I found the skeleton that reproaches Frederic for his lust in Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto horrific in the truest Gothic sense - an instrument of man’s own secret fears, denials and desires. In a less overt manner (and as a possible reaction to Lewis’s The Monk) Radcliffe interweaves supernatural ‘mysteries’ and human psychology in her rational explanations. I love how she shows the mind itself to almost be a supernatural entity. When reading Radcliffe’s work I was struck by her portrayal of her heroines as paradigms of innocence who cannot function in the active adult world. I recognised this as a recurring theme in Victorian texts like Gaskell’s Ruth, Rossetti’s Goblin Market and Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance. I thought it illuminating that despite Wilde’s feminist tendencies he sends Mrs. Arbuthnot into exile whilst Lord Illingworth is assimilated back into society. The conflict between the way writers depict the private ethics of their female protagonists and the realities of public life is also found in earlier works. In Shakespeare’s The Rape of Lucrece, Lucrece is only given some form of rhetorical political power by committing suicide. Likewise, in Titus Andronicus, Lavinia’s sacrifice and perhaps even her rape are necessary to reestablish purity in Rome, and in Medea, Medea only gains power over Jason by killing her own children. Her revenge is limited. The development of language, the influence of literature in everyday life and the way in which writers treat gender and the supernatural are just some of the literary ideas that intrigue me. I would relish the opportunity to deepen my understanding of these concepts and explore other periods and styles at University level.

Use this personal statement for inspiration and ideas, and to see how to structure an exemplar English personal statement for Oxford or Cambridge. We wish you all the best on your onward journey and encourage you to look at our Personal Statement page for more information, and the ways in which U2 can help.

Looking for an English Personal Statement Writing Tutor or Support For Your Wider Oxbridge English Application?

English Personal Statement Tutoring

U2 Tuition’s Oxbridge-educated tutors have a close insight into what admissions tutors like to see in an English personal statement, and can help students to convey their skills, motivations, and long term goals, in order to stand out from other applicants. The statement should be the candidates own work, but our mentors will provide direction and guide you through the process of content building and writing. We offer offline drafting as well as tuition sessions.

Oxbridge English Tutoring

We have a large team of Oxbridge-educated English mentors including 1st Class, Master’s and PhD level graduates, who support students through each stage of the application process, including personal statement, ELAT and interview preparation.

The Process:

1) We suggest an Oxbridge English graduate as a mentor and send their full CV for review. Our mentors are deeply familiar with the admissions process to study English at the University of Oxford, Cambridge, as well as top UK Universities such as UCL, and are well-placed to guide you through personal statement curation, the entrance exam and interview process. We may suggest a range of application tutors to choose from with slightly differing rates depending on qualifications and level of experience.

2) We typically suggest beginning with a 1.5 hour diagnostic session , where the mentor will informally assess the student’s current performance level for application, including test and interview. Following this, we issue a report with feedback, and structure a plan to best prepare.

3) U2’s approach for regular English application sessions: The main focus of tutorial sessions will be to explore material that can be discussed in the personal statement and at interview - this may sometimes stretch from A-Level standard to First Year Undergraduate. Mentors ensure each student refines their literary interests, and is exposed to a range of literary eras, approaches and new concepts, guiding students in their reading and wider subject exploration. Together, we build a case for the student, solidifying the stance and direction they will take during interview and honing skills for the ELAT if applicable.

Frequency of sessions can be decided between student and mentor. Students can take either ad hoc sessions, or we structure a full programme for preparation, which may include further co-curricular opportunities such as our research projects , English Literature summer school and Oxbridge mock interview days. Honing the skills necessary to succeed for Oxbridge ideally requires long-term preparation and mentoring presents a wonderful opportunity to learn from some of the very best Oxbridge has produced.

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Successful Personal Statement For Modern Languages At Oxford

Last Updated: 10th August 2020

Author: Adi Sen

• Modern Languages

Table of Contents

Welcome to our popular Personal Statement series where we present a successful Personal Statement, and our Oxbridge Tutors provide their feedback on it. 

Today, we are looking through a Modern Languages applicant’s Personal Statement that helped secure a place at Oxford University. The Modern Languages Course at Oxford aims to teach spoken fluency in colloquial and more formal situations, as well as the ability to write essays in the foreign language, and the ability to translate into and out of the foreign language with accuracy and sensitivity to a range of vocabulary, styles and registers.

Read on to see how the candidate approached this Personal Statement. 

Here’s a breakdown of the Personal Statement:

SUCCESSFUL?

The universities this candidate applied to were the following:

Enrolling on our Oxbridge Modern Languages comprehensive Programme will give you access to Personal Statement redrafts. 

Your tutor will give you actionable feedback with insider tips on how to improve and make your Personal Statement Oxbridge quality for the best chances of success.  

Modern Languages Personal Statement

France has developed a literature of unequalled richness and variety. Europeans in any age have had few thoughts, desires, or fantasies that a French writer somewhere has not expressed-it has given the Western mind an image of itself. In this sense, French literature serves as a pool in which many cultures meet. Therefore, in particular, it is French literature’s universality which interests me.

Nevertheless, I enjoy how literature provides a window into an author’s contemporary society. For example, ‘Madame Bovary’ draws us into Flaubert’s disgust for the bourgeois existence of the 19thcentury; Zola’s ‘Thérèse Raquin’ invites us into the leprous lower-depths of Paris. I am interested in how both these writers, unparalleled in their psychological clarity and narrative muscle, provide such a brutal and relentless account of their chosen subject matter: for Flaubert, the indulgent decadence of the bourgeoisie, exemplified by Emma Bovary; for Zola, the moral dankness of the murderous lovers. In addition, I have watched Kassovitz’s ‘La Haine’ and Truffaut’s ‘Les quatre cents coups’, both similar to Zola and Flaubert in their rigorous exploration of character. Focusing on social outcasts, these films act as an exposition of societal problems. ‘La Haine’ sheds light on the all-encompassing violence and cultural exclusion of the suburbs of Paris, while ‘Les quatre cent coups’ reveals the shocking injustices in the treatment of juvenile offenders. Thus, such French cinema serves to illuminate the neglected–I relish this narrative potential in the discovery of truth.

Besides these more realistic works, both my English and French A Levels have introduced me toAbsurdism.I have appreciated the works of Beckett (‘Fin de partie’, ‘En attendant Godot’) and Ionesco (‘La Cantatrice Chauve’, ‘Rhinocéros’). These tragicomedies simultaneously entertain and provoke–the reason why I found them so enjoyable and yet so powerful. To pursue this interest in Absurdism, I read Voltaire’s absurd ‘contes philosophiques’, ‘Candide’ and ‘Micromegas’. Fiction, I found, proved to be the perfect medium of expression for Voltaire’s empiricism and scepticism. Therefore, like the tragicomedies of the 20th century, I thought Voltaire’s work succeeded both as entertainment and as an accessible manifesto of his philosophical beliefs. Furthermore, I decided to follow up this interest in such ‘contes philosophiques’ by undertaking an Edexcel Extended Project, entitled ‘Ancient Influence on French Existentialist Literature’, for which I was awarded an A*. Here, I focused on why Camus, in ‘Le Mythe de Sisyphe’, Sartre, in ‘Les Mouches’, and Anouilh, in ‘Antigone’, chose to use classical themes and motifs to communicate their own particular perception of Existentialism. Despite its challenges, the more I worked at this project, the more certain I was that this is what and how I would like to study.

Moreover, I have taken an interest in symbolist French poetry. Having studied some poetry by Baudelaire (‘Les Fleurs du Mal’) and Verlaine (‘Romances sans paroles’), I have become fascinated by the crippling and contrasting emotions communicated in these poems. I now admire how the very sound of the French language can control the register of a poem and, thus, highlight its true meaning even amongst the most abstract, intangible imagery, employed by Baudelaire and Verlaine. I am intrigued by the French language in part due to this precision.

Finally, I contributed regularly to my school’s Modern Languages magazine, ‘Babel’, and have competed in ‘Les Joutes Oratoires’, a national French debating competition in which I reached the final. Through these experiences, I have begun to thoroughly enjoy communicating in French. I believe an extra language extends one’s range. It releases you from the inertia of one cultural gear–achange of perspective that I find truly enlightening and enjoyable. I will be working in Paris from January to March.

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Good Points Of The Personal Statement

Throughout this statement, the applicant engages consistently with a range of French texts at a very advanced level.

The applicant is able to demonstrate not only an awareness of a huge tranche of French literature but also how specific works intersect. This comparative criticism is carried out by the applicant across several different forms in a manner that is lucid and impressive.

The applicant has mentioned their personal research and is able to indicate why it is interesting and relevant. They are also able to indicate how their personal pursuits are reciprocally and beneficially related to their academic studies.

Bad Points Of The Personal Statement

At particular moments, this applicant veers from an academic register into an overtly formal one; a stylistic turn which, while remaining clear in meaning, is a little jarring.

More personal information would have been a welcome addition to this statement, especially since its academic calibre is so relentlessly clear throughout; the statement has the potential to be slightly breathless in its rapid consideration of big swathes of literature.

The statement could, therefore, have happily absorbed more personal information without diluting its clear academic potential.

In addition, the candidate could have taken slightly more care over their phrasing, which occasionally takes a tone bordering on reductive or patronising; a risk which is perhaps not worth taking in this context.

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The candidate effectively and efficiently communicates a level of cultural awareness which goes far above and beyond the demands of their curriculum.

They are able to demonstrate how they practically carry forward their interests in extra-curricular and academic activities. Throughout the statement, the applicant engages a muscular, academically-considered tone which is clear and authoritative.

There was room in the statement for greater personal depth and warmth, and for greater justification for some of the strong academic arguments being posed.

And there we have it – an Oxford Modern Languages Personal Statement with feedback from our expert tutors. 

Remember, at Oxford, the Admissions Tutors are often the people who will be teaching you for the next few years, so you need to appeal directly to them.

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15 Fascinating Linguistics Terms You Didn’t Learn in School

By ellen gutoskey | may 10, 2024.

Grade school English teachers do their best to send you off into the world with at least a cursory understanding of how language works. Maybe you can tell your dependent clauses from your independent ones and your transitive verbs from your intransitive ones. Maybe you’re even pretty savvy at distinguishing between basic rhetorical devices —hyperbole versus oxymoron, simile versus metaphor, and that sort of thing.

But unless you majored in linguistics in college or routinely spend your free time reading grammar blogs, there’s a whole world of words to describe language mechanics that you’re probably not aware of. Here are 15 of our favorites, from formal terms like amphiboly to colloquial ones like snowclone .

Back-formation

Cutthroat compound, epenthesis and syncope, kangaroo word, nonce word , ras syndrome, rebracketing.

Amphiboly , or amphibology, occurs when a sentence or phrase’s grammatical structure lends itself to multiple interpretations. There are countless ways this kind of ambiguity can happen. Maybe the placement of a prepositional phrase makes it unclear what that phrase is modifying, as Groucho Marx exploited in this classic joke: “One morning, I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas I don’t know.”

Or maybe it’s not obvious which part of speech a certain word is functioning as, which happens fairly often (and sometimes to hilarious effect) in headlines. In “Eye Drops Off Shelves,” for example, drops is a noun—but the headline takes on a different meaning if you mistake it for a verb. (Ambiguous headlines are their own subset of amphiboly, colloquially called “ crash blossoms .”)

We usually think of word formation as taking a root word and adding affixes (like prefixes and suffixes) so the resulting word is longer than what you had before. From friend , you can make friendly , friendship , and befriend . But it doesn’t always work that way: Back-formation is the process of creating a new word by removing affixes. 

English is full of surprising back-formations. Burglar , for example, didn’t arise from burgle . Burglar came first, and people then created burgle as a verb to describe what a burglar does. And legislate isn’t the stem for legislation , legislator , or legislative ; all three actually predate it.

Plenty of compound words include the subject (also known as the head) within the compound itself. Watermelons are melons, bluebirds are birds, and bedrooms are rooms. But there are also exocentric compounds, in which the head isn’t part of the actual term. A specific class of these compounds involves an action (verb) being performed on an object (noun). A cutthroat, for example, isn’t an actual cut throat; it’s a person who cuts a throat, literally or figuratively. Scarecrows scare crows, daredevils dare the devil, and so on.

Though they’re formally called “agentive and instrumental exocentric verb-noun (V-N) compounds,” historical linguist Brianne Hughes gave them a much catchier nickname: cutthroat compounds . And while they’re not super common in English, you might start noticing them in unexpected places. Technically, William Shakespeare’s surname counts as a cutthroat compound: “one who shakes a spear.”

You’ve probably heard of euphemisms : expressions that use “agreeable or inoffensive” language in place of terms “that may offend or suggest something unpleasant,” per Merriam-Webster. Pass away is a euphemism for “die,” and do it is a euphemism for “have sex.”

Dysphemisms are the exact opposite of that: expressions that intentionally use harsh language to describe something more or less innocuous. Rug rat is a dysphemism for a “young child who’s still crawling on the carpet,” for example, and ambulance chaser is a dysphemism for “personal injury attorney.”

Eggcorns are misheard expressions that actually make sense—e.g. deep-seeded instead of the technically correct version, deep-seated , and free reign rather than free rein . The term, coined by linguist Geoff Pullum, is a nod to acorn ’s history of being misheard as eggcorn . 

You might find it irksome that so many people pronounce realtor as “REEL-uh-ter” instead of “REEL-ter,” but they’re not disregarding letter order for no reason. It’s not uncommon for us to add an extra sound (often, but not always, a vowel sound) to a word to make it easier to pronounce—a phenomenon known as epenthesis . Athlete is another example: “ATH-uh-leet” rolls off the tongue better than “ATH-leet.” Some linguists even consider the “n” sound in the article an to be epenthetic: It neutralizes the difficulty of uttering two vowel sounds back to back, as we’d otherwise have to when talking about, say, a archer shooting a arrow at a apple.

We drop sounds to make words easier to pronounce, too. This type of contraction within a single word is called a “ syncope ”—you can find examples in vegetable , whose second “e” sound is often omitted, and family , widely pronounced “FAM-lee.” ( Syncope typically refers to dropped vowels, but some linguists do also use it for dropped consonants. The dropped-sound phenomenon overall is known as deletion.)

Recreational linguists have a name for words that contain their own synonyms: kangaroo words (because kangaroos carry their joeys in pouches). Rambunctious harbors raucous , respite has rest , and there’s ruin in destruction . In order to count as a true kangaroo word , the letters of the joey word must be ordered correctly in the parent word—i.e. you can’t do any unscrambling. You do have to remove letters from between the letters of the joey word, though; if there aren’t any, it doesn’t count. (E.g. belated and late and action and act are disqualified.)

A cousin of the eggcorn is the mondegreen , “a word or phrase that results from a mishearing especially of something recited or sung,” per Merriam-Webster . Mondegreen is a mondegreen: Sylvia Wright coined the term in a 1954 Harper’s Magazine article in reference to Lady Mondegreen , a mishearing of “laid him on the green” from the Scottish ballad “The Bonny Earl of Murray.”

One of the most famous modern mondegreens is ’Scuse me while I kiss this guy from Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze.” (The actual lyric is “’Scuse me while I kiss the sky.”) And Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” gave us All the lonely Starbucks lovers , which is really “Got a long list of ex-lovers.”

A nonce word is a word that was coined for one occasion only. They’re not uncommon in linguistics studies on language acquisition, as researchers need to use words that participants won’t already be familiar with. (Psycholinguist Jean Berko Gleason memorably made up wug , gutch , and many other nonce words for this purpose.) Sometimes, people create nonce words to fill the need for a term that simply doesn’t exist, like puzz to describe the puzzle fuzz you find in the bottom of a puzzle box. But other times, writers are just making up words for fun—looking at you, Lewis Carroll .

Some nonce words do end up filtering into the general lexicon, at which point they lose their nonce-word status. (But it’s hard to identify exactly how common a nonce word needs to become in order for it to stop being a nonce word.) Carroll is an interesting case because some of his nonce words did catch on, like chortle , while others are still nonces (e.g. slithy , a portmanteau of lithe and slimy ).

Since PIN stands for personal identification number , saying “PIN number” is redundant. The same goes for the phrase ATM machine , as ATM stands for automated teller machine . In 2001, New Scientist gave this variety of redundancy its own tongue-in-cheek title: RAS syndrome , for redundant acronym syndrome syndrome . Even DC Comics is an example of RAS syndrome— DC stands for Detective Comics . (Strictly speaking, though, DC and ATM are initialisms, not acronyms. A more apt title would be redundant abbreviation syndrome syndrome .)

Rebracketing occurs when we break up a word into different parts than were used when putting it together, a concept much easier to understand through real-world examples. Take hamburger : The term comprises Hamburg , the city in Germany, and the suffix -er . But as hamburgers gained popularity, people inadvertently rebracketed it as ham and burger —and burger became its own customizable term ( cheeseburger , bacon burger , veggie burger , etc.).

Alcoholic is another excellent example: It’s a fusion of alcohol and -ic , but we rebracketed it as alco- and -holic , appropriating -holic as a suffix to refer to other (mainly unofficial) addictions, e.g. chocoholic and workaholic . Blog is technically the result of rebracketing, too—it began as weblog ( web and log ), but we shifted the b from web onto log in shortening it.

Snowclones, as Geoff Pullum described them in 2004, are “some-assembly-required adaptable cliché frames for lazy journalists.” In other words, they’re clichés that you can customize for whatever you’re writing (or saying) by swapping out a couple operative words—like Hamlet ’s “To be or not to be,” wherein you can fill in be and be with whatever verb you want. X is the new Y and In space, no one can hear you X (from Alien ’s tagline “ In space, no one can hear you scream ”) are a couple other examples. The term snowclone , coined by economics professor Glen Whitman, is a nod to another snowclone: X have [a number of] words for Y , after the complicated but common claim that the Inuit people have 50 words for snow . 

A spoonerism is a phrase in which phonemes of two words have been switched, e.g. half-warmed fish instead of half-formed wish and blushing crow instead of crushing blow . They’re named for British clergyman William Archibald Spooner, who gained a reputation for absent-mindedness and lexical errors while serving as the warden of New College, Oxford, in the early 20th century [ PDF ]. It’s unclear how many spoonerisms Spooner actually uttered , but it’s probably less than what’s been attributed to him.

Tmesis involves shoehorning a whole nother word between two parts of a word or phrase—like abso-freakin’-lutely . Knowing where exactly to insert the word is one of those grammar rules that most native English speakers follow without even realizing it : As James Harbeck explained for The Week in 2015, it goes “right before a stressed syllable, usually the syllable with the strongest stress, and most often the last stressed syllable.”

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