Modern And Medieval Languages @ Pembroke, Cambridge in 2019

Interview format

2x interviews.

Interview content

Interview 1: personal statement; Interview 2: discussion of unseen passage in target language, translation.

Best preparation

Revised French and Spanish literature.

Final thoughts

Do not get hung up on other's anecdotes of their interviews.

Remember this advice isn't official. There is no guarantee it will reflect your experience because university applications can change between years. Check the official Cambridge and Oxford websites for more accurate information on this year's application format and the required tests.

Also, someone else's experience may not reflect your own. Most interviews are more like conversations than tests and like, any conversation, they are quite interactive.

Interview Format

Test taken: None
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 5 hours
Length of interviews: 45 minutes
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

My first interview was about Spanish language. I wasn't expected to speak any Spanish as I am studying it 'ab initio'; instead, I was asked about my EPQ which was about Spanish language use in the United States.

My second interview, for French, was more about grammar and reading comprehension/analysis. I was given a passage before I went in and we discussed/translated parts of it.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

My personal statement for MML had a very strong skew towards linguistics as opposed to literature. My teachers at school had told me I needed to prepare heavily for the literature side of the course though, so I drilled facts and knowledge about the French and Spanish literary canons. This turned out to be useless as the interviewers asked more about my personal statement and EPQ (which was also about linguistics).

What advice would you give to future applicants?

My advice would be to ignore anything you're told to expect. Your interview will be unique to you, your course and your college—what the one teacher at your school who went to Oxford 30 years ago says is irrelevant!