Don't be scared. Most programs won't expect you to do more than a couple years of a language or two- some will even wave part of the language requirement depending on what sort of history/focus you have. That said- having advanced proficiency will help you immensely and give you a real advantage over the person who only managed to pass the couple of semesters of the language they needed to and then stopped.

I personally studied several languages as an undergrad- French (to an advanced degree), Italian (two years), and Japanese (one year)- so that when it came time for an advanced degree I was in a pretty good position to pick a couple of them back up. I even did Medieval Welsh during my MA- purely for pleasure and entertainment.

During the PhD you really want to pick languages you will use for research. So my focus on the French Pacific meant that while my French was imminently useful- none of those other languages were terribly applicable. In fact my abilities in French sort of helped direct me towards the places where that language is used. The department I was in for my PhD had a two language requirement; so I used French to fulfill part, and then took Tahitian to fulfill the second part (rather than use a less applicable language I had already studied).

That department also had easier language requirements for people doing U.S. History or very specific national/regional histories and allowed them to focus more heavily on particular approaches to history writing/research (i.e., ethnographic) in lieu of doing a second language.

So don't be scared- its all very doable. But I would be sure to have a running start on the languages ahead of time- it certainly helped me.

I only started learning Latin and Greek when I started my Byzantine Studies Master's; both languages were essential to the degree but they still let me in anyway. I did study French and German in school, but I stopped when I was 16 so when I started my Master's I pretty much remember nothing. Out of my cohort, a few people who came from a Classics background knew a few languages, but those who came from a History background were basically in the same position as me. The same was true for the people doing the Medieval History Master's and most people started learning Latin from scratch. I did have to work very hard to acquire the necessary skills this year, but it all worked out in the end, so it is very possible. I'll admit that it was a bit terrifying, but as long as you are enthusiastic about your subject, I don't see any reason why a lack of language skills would hinder you from getting into graduate school.

This is in the UK though, so the requirements might be a bit different.

Many graduate students do a summer immersion program. The one at Middlebury College is the gold standard and quite popular. This is usually enough for a non-focus language (especially if you have previous experience), and you can supplement it with additional language-study-related travel in order to get yourself up to true fluency.

I wish I'd taken language study more seriously as an undergrad. I would say if you're still an undergrad take as many courses in a relevant language as you can.

While I don't yet have that high level history degree you're talking about, I am in the process of acquiring the languages necessary to my field of study.

Couple questions? What level of education are you at right now? High school, undergrad? Also, do you have a background in languages? Even like a couple years here or there during high school?

I ask because there are a few myths I might be able to help you dispel. First, that age-old axiom about how the older you get the harder and harder it is to learn languages should be banned forever, except in the context of trying to push second-language education in primary schools. You're never too old to start learning a language and to become proficient in it.

Some background. I started studying German my freshman year of high school and to date I've probably had about eight years of formal German education. I also lived in Germany for a month and Austria for three. I love German and having such a great German program at my high school was absolutely invaluable. Like /u/b1uepenguin mentions above, my interest and skills in German pushed me to some degree into my field of study. Now, as I grew in my historical education and came to realize how invaluable languages are to the historian, I forced myself to acquire new languages. My junior year of university I started with Russian and a year later, during my senior year, I started Czech. By that last year of college I'd pretty much wrapped up my actual history courseload, but saw my language classes as basically a continuation of my history preparation. I've now had four semesters of formal Russian education as well as another two semesters' worth of Russian from a summer intensive program, like /u/pipkin42 mentioned.

The key is that even if you realized academic history is what you wanna do later in life, or didn't realize what the language requirements were until it was "too late," you should make an attempt anyways. I feel comfortable reading Russian now, even though I need a dictionary in front of me when I read more advanced pieces. Hell, I need a dictionary in front of me when reading certain German texts and I've been at that for wayyyy longer.

Another pointer I can offer is that, even if you only took two years of Spanish in high school or whatever, you can and WILL apply previous language education to whatever languages you want to start learning. Certain Russian grammatical principles that were hard for other classmates came more naturally to me, because they were basically the same in German. Then, when I started learning Czech, I could lean on my Russian experience to help me in that new language. The more languages you start "collecting," the easier each new one becomes.

Now in my field, the Habsburg Empire, there were 11 officially recognized languages, and I can never hope to become comfortable with all of them. The point is, I suppose, that you should never not learn a language because you feel its "too late" and that you'll shock yourself how quickly you'll start to read in that language. Just remember that even if you don't become the most eloquent speaker of the language, reading is always easier.

At least in regards to my MA program (which isn't exactly history, but an interdisciplinary one that includes it) we were not required to have a second language prior to entry, but need it to finish. To alleviate this for those studying Russian-related subjects (as I am tangentially doing) they suggest going to a language school in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where students get intense training over several months, and is what I'll be doing the entire upcoming fall semester.

The other language I am using for research is Georgian, and while I considered making that my primary language for the program, I went with Russian for several different reasons. As to learning that, I spent time in the country and will be going back in a few months, as well as some self-study here at home.