First Steps

Welcome to your first semester in Linguistics! Please read all of the information on this page carefully. 

If you start your studies in the fall semester:

In the fall semester  is when the compulsory Methodology modules that form the basis of this program are offered. In these courses, students acquire the necessary training and methodological skills for the upcoming semesters. These are the compulsory methodology modules:

Please note that those modules are very technical and require solid high school mathematics knowledge. Check the specific requirements for the Quantitative Methods module here. This section also contains information on a Python tutorial (optional).

Each course consists of a lecture and a tutorial. For more information about these modules please check the course catalogue (autumn semester).

If you start your studies in the spring semester: 

If you received additional requirements for your admission (Auflagen), we highly recommend you use the first spring semester to fulfil these requirements. 

If you have not received additional requirements, you may take any of the courses that do not have the methodology courses as a prerequisite. You can find out about each module's prerequisites in the course description in the course catalogue. 

Generally, a full-time semester is 30 ECTS credits. However, if you decide to take all three methodology modules (Language Data Acquisition, Language Data Processing, Quantitative Methods) in the same semester (30 ECTS), please be advised that the workload is quite high. 

You do not have to take all three methodology modules in the first semester. However, as they are only offered in the fall semester, you would have to wait until the next fall semester to take whichever methodology module you decided not to take in the first semester. 

Please also note that there may be modules (especially for the focus area Digital Linguistics) that have prerequisites taught in one or more of the methodology modules. Please carefully check the course catalogue.

The additional requirement of up to 21 ECTS in the field of Linguistics have to be fulfilled during the course of study and before graduation. If you have no or little knowledge in linguistics, we recommend the following introductory modules at BA level: 

It is also possible to take linguistic courses not listed here, especially if you already have a good foundation in linguistics. Please contact the study advisor (see bottom of the page) to confirm your choice. 

There is no guarantee that BA courses will be held in English. Please make sure to carefully read the course description in the course catalogue. Sometimes the language of instruction will be described as: "English or German". In this case, please make sure to click on the course itself (white bar with the information on time, location, instructor). There you will find another section with the language of instruction.

Three types of modules are distinguished. 

• Compulsory modules (P: "Pflichtmodul") and core-elective modules (WP: "Wahlpflichtmodul") are part of the study program's regular offering; together they form the catalogue of modules and can be repeated once in the event of a first unsuccessful attempt.
• Elective modules (W: "Wahlmodul") are newly designed each semester and offered only once. As a rule, therefore, they cannot be repeated. The offer with all three types of modules can be found in the course catalogue.

All compulsory modules (P) of a program must be completed successfully. If a student fails to pass a compulsory module two times, the student receives a program ban. This ban applies to all study programs that prescribe the same compulsory module. Core-elective modules (WP) and elective modules (W) are substitutable.

New at UZH?

We recommend to have a loot at the New at UZH? page. It contains helpful information on getting around on campus, module booking, life at UZH, and so on. 

LiZZ Newsletter

The Linguistic Center Zurich (LiZZ)  is our organizing unit and has a weekly newsletter with news, workshop announcements, call for papers, open positions, etc. You can sign up here. 

LiRI - Linguistic Research Infrastructure

The Linguistic Research Infrastructure (LiRI)  supports research in linguistics, language science, and related disciplines at the University of Zurich and beyond. It works closely with the LiZZ and the Linguistics MA program and offers many interesting services to students. Make sure to also take part in one of their lab tours if that is something you might be interested in.

Useful information

We recommend you browse through all the pages of our website to make sure you have all the relevant information. Especially - but not exclusively - the following sections:

Withdrawal from Assessment
Downloads
Resources
FAQ

Our study advisor and programme coordinator is Lorena Schneider. Contact

Please have a look here  first to determine whether she is the right person to contact for your question/request. It helps if you provide your matriculation number and your full name in the email.