Want a Master’s in History? Start Learning a Second Language Now

Despite the internet being around and widely available since the early 2000’s, there isn’t a whole lot of information online about pursuing a master’s in history.

You’re probably finding this is out right now, and I’m sure that’s why you’re here.

The second language requirement can be really confusing for those of us switching to history later in life.

Because even if you know a second or a third language, those might not actually be what you need to prepare you for studying history in grad school.

So in this article, I’m going to share the languages most worth learning first depending on your specialty and focus.

Thankfully, it’s all fresh in my mind.

Because as I go on my own journey to prepare to pursue a master’s degree in history, I’m sharing everything I learn along the way with you.

Table of Contents

Why History Programs Require Foreign Languages in the First Place

Before we dive into which languages to pick, it helps to understand why history departments are so strict about this rule.

It often feels like a random barrier to entry – especially if you already speak a second language like conversational Spanish or French.

But in the world of academic history, language serves a very specific job.

1. Primary sources rarely come with translations

If the field of history had a building material, it would be original documents.

We’re talking about handwritten letters, church registries, legal court records, diplomatic cables, and personal diaries.

The vast majority of the world’s archival documents have never been translated into English (three exceptions, of course: studying English, transatlantic, or American history).

If you want to uncover new historical evidence or offer a fresh perspective, you have to be able to read the evidence in its original, untranslated form.

2. You’re at the mercy of the translator

Even when key historical texts are translated into English, relying entirely on someone else’s translation puts a wall between you and the historical actors.

Every translation is an interpretation.

Words carry cultural nuances, slang, and political weight that can easily get lost, softened, or misconstrued when converted to modern English.

To do rigorous research, you need to see exactly what words were chosen on the page.

3. Academic history is a global conversation

Historical research isn’t just published by English-speaking scholars.

If you’re researching 19th-century German unification, for example, some of the most crucial modern debates and books on the topic are being written right now by German historians publishing in German.

To enter the scholarly conversation, you need to read what other experts in your field are writing, regardless of their native language.

4. Reading knowledge vs. Speaking fluency

This is where many career-changers get caught off guard: grad school language requirements aren’t testing whether you can order coffee in Paris or hold a conversation about the weather.

They are testing reading knowledge.

It’s very reasonable to expect a department to give you a dictionary, a short historical passage in your target language, and a few hours to translate it accurately into English.

You don’t need to master flawless pronunciation or conversational slang, but you do need a solid handle on grammar structures and a deep reading vocabulary in your field.

And depending on your field, you may need to learn other languages as well.

For example, if you’re doing research on the Roman empire, you might need to learn Latin and Ancient Greek if you haven’t studied them already.

How Language Skills Impact Your Application and Academic Success

Now that you know why programs care so much about language, let’s talk about how this requirement directly shapes your overall journey.

Because it really does: from the moment you submit your application, to the day you finish your degree.

1. It makes your application stand out (and lowers your risk factor)

Admissions committees look for candidates who are prepared to succeed.

If two applicants have similar GPAs and strong writing samples, but candidate A already reads the language relevant to their field and candidate B doesn’t, candidate A is the safer bet.

Showing that you’re already working on your target language proves you understand the realities of historical research and won’t get bogged down in basic prep work once classes start.

It saves you crucial time during graduate school

Grad school moves fast.

Between reading hundreds of pages of academic texts each week, leading discussion sections, and drafting major research papers, your schedule will be full.

I’m anticipating this for myself.

So I’m spending extra time in these few years before applying, to upskill through classes at community college, while learning languages using in-person communication groups, online courses, and apps on my phone.

^ clicking that link will take you to a blog post I wrote where I detail how I learned German in under a year.

Trying to learn a language completely from scratch while taking heavy graduate seminars is a sure way to burnout.

The more groundwork you lay before day one, the smoother your actual days in grad school will go.

2. It helps you pass the departmental language exam

Most M.A. programs require you to pass a language proficiency exam – often in your first or second semester.

These exams typically involve translating a dense, scholarly passage into English within a set time frame.

If you pass right away, you clear a major administrative hurdle and can focus entirely on your thesis.

If you don’t pass, you may be forced to take remedial language courses, which can delay your graduation timeline.

Nobody told me this, by the way – which is why I knew I needed to write an article about it!

I just happened to notice that several programs offering a master’s in history have some kind of second language requirement.

If you’re at the beginning of your research, my hope is that this can save you some time, since it will likely take at LEAST 1-3 years to get to reading level fluency in another language.

Especially if you’re doing this part-time around a full-time job, caring responsibilities, etc.

4. It gives you immediate access to research topics

When it comes time to choose a thesis topic, having language skills already in your toolbox gives you an immediate advantage.

Instead of being restricted to secondary sources in English or over-analyzed, popular translations, you can dive straight into primary sources and unmapped archives.

It allows you to ask bigger, more original questions right from the start.

How to Choose the Right Second Language

It would be reasonable to think that, if you’re studying French history, you need to study French.

If you’re studying the colonial era in the Caribbean, you might need to learn French, and/or Spanish.

But geography isn’t the only consideration.

You need to think about era and source material.

A modern language degree often won’t cover what you actually find in the archives.

Knowing modern French is a great foundation, but if you study medieval or early modern Europe, you’ll need to read Old French or Early Modern French… complete with archaic spellings, dead vocabulary, and obsolete grammar.

The same goes for Early Modern Spanish, Middle High German, or Ottoman Turkish.

Use this breakdown to match your research field with the languages and historical variants you’ll actually encounter:

Historical Focus	Core Language(s) to Learn	Archaic / Specialized Variants
Ancient & Classical World	Ancient Greek, Latin	Epigraphy (inscriptions), Classical dialects
Medieval & Early Modern Europe	French, German, Italian, Spanish, Latin	Old / Middle French, Middle High German, Latin paleography
Protestant Reformation	Latin, German, French. Possibly Dutch, Spanish, and/or Italian depending on your region of focus during this time period.	Early Modern German, Old French, Early Modern English.
Modern European History	French, German, Russian, Italian	Newspaper / bureaucratic registers
Latin America & Caribbean	Spanish, Portuguese	Early Modern Spanish, indigenous languages (Nahuatl, Maya, Quechua)
Middle East & Islamic World	Arabic, Persian, Turkish	Classical Arabic, Ottoman Turkish (requires Arabic script)
East Asia	Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean	Classical Chinese (文言文), Classical Japanese (Bungo)
Transatlantic & Colonial History	English, French, Spanish, Dutch	Early modern scripts, colonial archival shorthand
Viking Age	Icelandic, Old Norse, German, French, Danish or Swedish or Norwegian. Possibly Arabic depending on the region you study.	Old Norse, Old English, Medieval Latin, Middle Irish, Old Gaelic, Medieval Greek, Old Church Slavonic, Old East Slavic.

How to Get Started With Your Second (Or Third, Or Fourth, Or Fifth) Language

I know that all of this can feel incredibly daunting.

Especially if you’re in your 30s or 40s, and you’ve been out of school for a while like me.

If that is you, by the way, come join this free Facebook Group. It’s a great group of women becoming everyday historians – and we’re all on our way to make it official!

You don’t need native fluency to hit the ground running.

But scheduling in time every week to focus on reading comprehension in your language of choice will be time well-spent.

Prioritize reading over speaking: Skip conversational apps that focus on ordering food or small talk. Focus 100% on grammar structures, sentence patterns, and reading vocabulary.
Use “Language for Reading” textbooks: Look specifically for academic texts (e.g., French for Reading by Sandberg or German for Reading Knowledge by Jannach). They skip speaking drills and teach you straight translation mechanics.
Build field-specific vocabulary lists: Create flashcard decks (using a tool like Anki) filled with historical and archival jargon. Be sure to include terms for government, military, religion, and commerce – rather than just everyday conversational words (depending on your area of focus, of course).
Practice on real primary sources: Find published, side-by-side bilingual editions of historical documents. Read the original language first, attempt a quick translation, and then check the English side to calibrate your accuracy.
Learn the basics of paleography: If your field uses pre-modern sources, spend 10 minutes a day studying digitized historical manuscripts to train your eyes to decipher old handwriting and spellings.

Make It Fun For Yourself (And Fight to Keep It That Way)

I’m very fortunate to have grow up near the U.S.-Mexico border in southern California.

This gave me loads of opportunities to develop what I call “emergency Spanish.”

Once I became more intentional, that became “conversational” Spanish – and now, when I’m traveling to primarily Spanish-speaking countries, I can get by with just Spanish when needed (this is as of August 2026, by the way; I do plan to become fluent in Spanish before 2030!).

I host group trips to and through countries like Mexico and Puerto Rico, so I get many opportunities to practice (click here to learn about upcoming tours).

I also currently live in Tucson, Arizona – still close to the Mexican border, and my mother-in-law is a native Spanish speaker. So all of that helps, too.

When I first attended community college, I was a music major specializing in vocal performance.

I was given the choice between mastering Italian, French, or German.

Back then, I chose Italian since it was so closely related to Spanish, which really helped me learn it.

By the end of one, 5-unit semester done in full-immersion (completely in Italian), I was conversational – and I was able to better perform opera arias in Italian.

In 2017/2018, I became fascinated with Irish culture and language, and I decided that I would learn Irish.

This led to me to take an online course in Irish and attend a pop-up Gaeltacht (designated place in time where the Irish language is spoken primarily) in Los Angeles, California…

And then eventually, to travel to and through Ireland.

I have a whole separate travel blog about Ireland, by the way: Heather and Stone.