Languages

You can choose from language courses in Spanish, French, and Chinese. We also offer beginning and intermediate classes in American Sign Language. The goal of foreign language instruction is to widen students' horizons and opportunities by providing speaking, reading, writing, listening, and cultural skills that will serve students who travel, study abroad, or continue to graduate programs with foreign language requirements. 

Spanish I, II, and III

Beginning Spanish is intended to be an introduction to Spanish language for students with no previous exposure to the language. It is the first part of a two-semester Basic Spanish program. All four linguistic skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) will be developed via presentation and practice of basic grammar/syntax and phonetics, everyday idiomatic expressions/vocabulary, and communicative strategies. A variety of textual and audio-visual material will also be used to enhance listening and reading comprehension and to introduce students to multiple aspects of Spanish and Latin-American cultures.

French I, II, III

Details coming soon.

Chinese I and II

Chinese I provides an introduction to the Chinese language, including reading, writing, and conversational skills for basic communication. This class also contains cultural and linguistic information about the Chinese-speaking world. Using an audio-lingual approach, Chinese II teaches pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar fundamentals as essential elements in reading, writing, and understanding elementary Chinese. The course also covers necessary culture, customs, philosophy, and history which serve as keys to studying the Chinese language

American Sign Language

American Sign Language (ASL) I is a basic introduction with an emphasis on conversational fluency. The course combines work in both expressive and receptive skills; students learn to recognize and produce signs in ASL with appropriate non-manual behaviors and grammatical features. Additionally, they explore the social and cultural contexts of ASL through readings and discussions. American Sign Language II is designed to further develop students' proficiency in frequently used signs and introduce complex grammatical structures and vocabulary. As a result, students continue to develop expressive, receptive, conversational, and basic translation skills in ASL while gaining competence in using some complex grammatical rules of the language. This course also familiarizes students with some cultural aspects of deaf communities.