and promotes the study and instruction of foreign
languages, cultures, and literatures using a variety of
A UM student tackles
a perennial favorite: MORE THAN 60 LANGUAGES TAUGHT AT UM
Spanish 101. By Joanne Nesbit
Start at any latitude or longitude on the globe.
Begin tracing west to east or north to south and
you will find a variety of languages spoken—the
very languages taught through the departments and
areas of study in LSA. Yes, the old standbys are still
here including French, Italian, Spanish, and even
Latin and Greek. But there are also Arabic, Armen-
ian, Persian, Turkish, Hebrew, Chinese, and Fil-
ipino. Don't forget Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese,
Korean, Punjabi, Sanskrit, and Tamil.
Thai, Tibetan, Vietnamese, Czech, Dutch, and
German are available to UM students along with
Urdu, a popular language of the Indian subconti-
nent, second only in the number of speakers to
Hindi. It is the national language of Pakistan and
an official language in India. Mix in a little Modern
Greek, some Polish, Portuguese, Quechua (spoken
in both northern and southern Bolivia), Russian,
Swedish, Serbo-Croatian, Ukrainian, Ojibwa, and
Yiddish and you have the potential for a talented
linguist from UM to feel comfortable anywhere on
the planet.
During the fall 2003 semester, 36 languages are
being offered by LSA departments, including Amer-
ican Sign Language. More than 60 languages are
taught over the course of a typical year.
While language instruction exists in many
departments, a nexus for language study on campus
is the Language Resource Center (LRC) in the
Modern Languages Building. The LRC supports
teaching tools, including multi-media, tutorials, and
computer modeling. The LRC's offerings help stu-
dents connect to the diverse world outside the class-
room and can aid the undergraduate LSA require-
ment in second-language study. Such study
contributes importantly to a liberal education, not
only as a means of accessing the cultural and intel-
lectual heritage of the world's non-English-speaking
majority but also as a way to gain a new reflective
understanding of the structure and complexity of
English itself.
World events affect students' choices in foreign
language study. Right now the languages of the
Middle East are becoming increasingly popular with
students, says Raji Rammuny, Professor of Arabic in
the Department of Near Eastern Studies. "Where
we used to have 14 in a class, we now have 25 stu-
dents," Rammuny says. With at least seven instruc-
tors from full professors to graduate student assis-
tants, Arabic has become one of the largest areas
within the Near Eastern Studies Department.
"First-year students just want to find out what the
language is all about," says Rammuny. "In the sec-
ond year we break the language emphasis down to
that used for academics, and for communication
within the business world, and for other purposes."
Whether studying a language and culture to help
conduct business in the world market or to learn
about ancient civilizations, the languages available
through LSA continue to open the world to students.
Joanne Nesbit is an information officer at UM.