Modern Languages
Modern Languages
Faculty

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Modern Languages

A different language is a different vision of life.

- Federico Fellini (1920-1993)
Italian film director

 Overview  

Modern Languages: The Modern Languages Program offers majors and minors in French and Spanish, as well as a major in Modern Languages, combining study of both French and Spanish. The program seeks to foster skills in all four of the major communication areas: speaking, reading, writing, and listening comprehension. On the principle that literature is the window to the heart of a culture, all majors study literature in the target language. The program endorses several study abroad programs, and students are highly encouraged to study abroad. 

Ancient Languages: The Ancient Languages Program offers studies in both Hebrew and Greek, seeking proficiency in reading and analysis of texts written in these ancient languages. 

 Career Opportunities 

Proficiency in a second language can enhance your marketability in almost any professional field. For this reason, a major or minor in language can be a perfect complement to almost any other major in the sciences or humanities. Knowing more than one language enhances opportunities in government, business, medicine and health care, law enforcement, teaching, technology, the military, communications, industry, social service, marketing, travel, and missions. 

 Study Abroad 

The department endorses several study abroad programs in Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East. For more information on study abroad opportunities, visit pages for the French, Spanish, and Ancient Languages programs or the King College Center for Study Abroad. 

 Why Study a Language? 

 The study of Foreign Languages:

  1.  liberalizes one's experiences; expands one's view of the world
  2. encourages critical reflection on the relation of language and culture, language and thought; fosters an understanding of the interrelation of language and human nature
  3. develops the intellect; includes learning how to learn
  4. teaches and encourages respect for other peoples
  5. contributes to cultural awareness and literacy, such as knowledge of original texts
  6. builds practical skills (for travel or commerce or as a tool for other disciplines)
  7. improves the knowledge of one's own language through comparison and contrast with the foreign language
  8. exposes the learner to modes of thought outside the native language
  9. offers a sense of relevant past, both cultural and linguistic
  10. balances content and skill (rather than content versus skill)
  11. expands opportunities for meaningful leisure activity (travel, reading, viewing foreign language films)
  12. contributes to achievement of national goals, such as economic development or national security
  13. contributes to the creation of one's personality
  14. enables the transfer of training (such as learning a second foreign language)
  15. preserves (or fosters) a country's image as a cultured nation

(Frantz, Alan. ADFL Bulletin, vol. 28, Nr.1, Fall 1996) 

 

Required Coursework

Academic Catalog: (To download this Acrobat PDF: Windows OS > Right click; MAC OS > Control click)

2007-2008 King College Academic Catalog