FRENCH:
French is one of the world's major international languages: it is spoken by over 200 million people in 43 countries, on five continents. Knowing French increases your chances of communicating in a non-English-speaking country.
The prestige of French art, music, dance, fashion, cuisine, and cinema makes French a culturally important foreign language. France is one of the most prolific producers of international films. When you understand French, you don't have to rely on subtitles to enjoy a French film.
French literature is one of the richest and most influential of the modern European world, featuring authors such as Rabelais, Montaigne, Racine, Proust, and Marguerite Duras. Several well-known philosophers were also French, including Descartes, Pascal, Rousseau, Voltaire, Sartre, and Simone de Beauvoir. These authors' works are far more appreciated when read in the original language.
There is currently great interest in the literature and culture of many Francophone countries and regions, especially in Africa and the Caribbean. French-language authors from outside France such as Patrick Chamoiseau, Maryse Condé, and Tahar Ben Jelloun now have international followings.
Approximately 45% of English vocabulary comes from French. As you learn French, you also enhance your grammar and vocabulary skills in English.
A knowledge of French can open doors to graduate school, important research, and careers in the fields of medicine, the environment, business, engineering, and science and technology. American companies well established in France include: IBM, Microsoft, Mattel, Dow Chemical, Sara Lee, Ford, Coca-Cola, AT&T, Motorola, Steelcase, and Johnson & Johnson.
The RLL department has specialists in literature, art, film studies and cultural studies; and study-abroad programs in France, Quebec, Senegal and Switzerland offer students the opportunity to improve language skills and cultural understanding in a range of environments.
ITALIAN:
Italy is one of the top five economies in the world, and many employers are seeking people who speak both Italian and English. An estimated 7,500 American companies do business with Italy and more than 1,000 U.S. firms have offices in Italy, including IBM, General Electric, Motorola, Citibank, and Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Many Italian firms have offices in the U.S., especially in the Detroit metropolitan area.
Knowing Italian is greatly beneficial in several career fields. Italy is a world leader in the culinary arts, interior design, fashion, graphic design, furniture design, machine tool manufacturing, robotics, electromechanical machinery, shipbuilding, space engineering, construction machinery, and transportation equipment.
Italy's cultural importance spans from antiquity through the present, of which the Roman period and the Renaissance are perhaps the two most influential moments.
According to UNESCO, over 60% of the world's art treasures are found in Italy. Some of the most famous Western artists, from Giotto to Michelangelo, were Italian. Knowledge of Italian is vital to understand the contexts of this art.
Italian literature boasts some of the world's most famous writers and thinkers, from Dante, Boccaccio, Petrarch and Machiavelli, to Verga, Svevo, Pirandello, and Gramsci, to name a few.
Since Roman times, Italy has exported its literature and culture to other parts of Europe and beyond, in the areas of Latin literature, Romanitas, humanism, opera, film, science, political thought, fashion, design, and cuisine. Knowing Italian allows you to understand, appreciate, and analyze this treasury of human expression.
Italy has the cultures, landscapes, and histories to fill a lifetime of investigation. Knowing Italian places you in a position to explore Italy's past and present from the most fulfilling vantage point.
PORTUGUESE:
Spoken by over 210 million people, Portuguese is the seventh most widely spoken language in the world.
There are over 1.3 million native speakers of Portuguese living in the United States. Portuguese is the official language of eight countries including Brazil, Portugal, and Mozambique, and an unofficial language in numerous linguistic islands in China and India.
Since it is so important and so rarely studied, knowledge of Portuguese is a very marketable skill, especially in commerce and banking.
The richness of literature in Portuguese is astonishing: from The Lusiads – the great epic poem of the European Renaissance, to the modern Brazilian novel – the best-kept secret in the Western Hemisphere.
Brazil is the eighth largest economy in the world and features the Amazon jungle, huge urban cities such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, and over 6,000 miles of beaches.
SPANISH:
Over 300 million people speak Spanish worldwide, making it one of the largest markets for businesses and one of the most useful languages in the world for travel.
Close to 30 million people living in the U.S. are Hispanic, and soon one out of every six people living in the U.S. will be Hispanic. In the past, learning Spanish used to be a way to open doors, but soon it will be a necessity.
Employers are seeking applicants who can speak Spanish in nearly every profession (medical, government, legal, journalism, finance, education, sales, etc.).
A large body of literary work is written in Spanish and Spanish-language films continue to receive praise from the film industry and viewers. At last count, there were more than 16,000 Spanish publications, 250 Spanish TV stations and 5,100 Spanish radio stations.
Learning Spanish can help you learn the other Latin-based languages such as French and Italian. These languages all have Indo-European roots and share some characteristics (such as gender and extensive conjugation) that are present in Spanish but not English.
Because of its Latin roots, nearly identical alphabet and pronunciation rules, Spanish is one of the easiest languages for an English speaker to learn.
Knowing Spanish can make your travel experiences more enjoyable. It is estimated that U.S. citizens spend more travel time in Spanish-speaking countries than in any other foreign countries (excluding English-speaking countries).
Spanish is the official language in 21 countries and an official language in the European Union, UNESCO, GATT and many other international organizations.
French is one of the world's major international languages: it is spoken by over 200 million people in 43 countries, on five continents. Knowing French increases your chances of communicating in a non-English-speaking country.
The prestige of French art, music, dance, fashion, cuisine, and cinema makes French a culturally important foreign language. France is one of the most prolific producers of international films. When you understand French, you don't have to rely on subtitles to enjoy a French film.
French literature is one of the richest and most influential of the modern European world, featuring authors such as Rabelais, Montaigne, Racine, Proust, and Marguerite Duras. Several well-known philosophers were also French, including Descartes, Pascal, Rousseau, Voltaire, Sartre, and Simone de Beauvoir. These authors' works are far more appreciated when read in the original language.
There is currently great interest in the literature and culture of many Francophone countries and regions, especially in Africa and the Caribbean. French-language authors from outside France such as Patrick Chamoiseau, Maryse Condé, and Tahar Ben Jelloun now have international followings.
Approximately 45% of English vocabulary comes from French. As you learn French, you also enhance your grammar and vocabulary skills in English.
A knowledge of French can open doors to graduate school, important research, and careers in the fields of medicine, the environment, business, engineering, and science and technology. American companies well established in France include: IBM, Microsoft, Mattel, Dow Chemical, Sara Lee, Ford, Coca-Cola, AT&T, Motorola, Steelcase, and Johnson & Johnson.
The RLL department has specialists in literature, art, film studies and cultural studies; and study-abroad programs in France, Quebec, Senegal and Switzerland offer students the opportunity to improve language skills and cultural understanding in a range of environments.
ITALIAN:
Italy is one of the top five economies in the world, and many employers are seeking people who speak both Italian and English. An estimated 7,500 American companies do business with Italy and more than 1,000 U.S. firms have offices in Italy, including IBM, General Electric, Motorola, Citibank, and Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Many Italian firms have offices in the U.S., especially in the Detroit metropolitan area.
Knowing Italian is greatly beneficial in several career fields. Italy is a world leader in the culinary arts, interior design, fashion, graphic design, furniture design, machine tool manufacturing, robotics, electromechanical machinery, shipbuilding, space engineering, construction machinery, and transportation equipment.
Italy's cultural importance spans from antiquity through the present, of which the Roman period and the Renaissance are perhaps the two most influential moments.
According to UNESCO, over 60% of the world's art treasures are found in Italy. Some of the most famous Western artists, from Giotto to Michelangelo, were Italian. Knowledge of Italian is vital to understand the contexts of this art.
Italian literature boasts some of the world's most famous writers and thinkers, from Dante, Boccaccio, Petrarch and Machiavelli, to Verga, Svevo, Pirandello, and Gramsci, to name a few.
Since Roman times, Italy has exported its literature and culture to other parts of Europe and beyond, in the areas of Latin literature, Romanitas, humanism, opera, film, science, political thought, fashion, design, and cuisine. Knowing Italian allows you to understand, appreciate, and analyze this treasury of human expression.
Italy has the cultures, landscapes, and histories to fill a lifetime of investigation. Knowing Italian places you in a position to explore Italy's past and present from the most fulfilling vantage point.
PORTUGUESE:
Spoken by over 210 million people, Portuguese is the seventh most widely spoken language in the world.
There are over 1.3 million native speakers of Portuguese living in the United States. Portuguese is the official language of eight countries including Brazil, Portugal, and Mozambique, and an unofficial language in numerous linguistic islands in China and India.
Since it is so important and so rarely studied, knowledge of Portuguese is a very marketable skill, especially in commerce and banking.
The richness of literature in Portuguese is astonishing: from The Lusiads – the great epic poem of the European Renaissance, to the modern Brazilian novel – the best-kept secret in the Western Hemisphere.
Brazil is the eighth largest economy in the world and features the Amazon jungle, huge urban cities such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, and over 6,000 miles of beaches.
SPANISH:
Over 300 million people speak Spanish worldwide, making it one of the largest markets for businesses and one of the most useful languages in the world for travel.
Close to 30 million people living in the U.S. are Hispanic, and soon one out of every six people living in the U.S. will be Hispanic. In the past, learning Spanish used to be a way to open doors, but soon it will be a necessity.
Employers are seeking applicants who can speak Spanish in nearly every profession (medical, government, legal, journalism, finance, education, sales, etc.).
A large body of literary work is written in Spanish and Spanish-language films continue to receive praise from the film industry and viewers. At last count, there were more than 16,000 Spanish publications, 250 Spanish TV stations and 5,100 Spanish radio stations.
Learning Spanish can help you learn the other Latin-based languages such as French and Italian. These languages all have Indo-European roots and share some characteristics (such as gender and extensive conjugation) that are present in Spanish but not English.
Because of its Latin roots, nearly identical alphabet and pronunciation rules, Spanish is one of the easiest languages for an English speaker to learn.
Knowing Spanish can make your travel experiences more enjoyable. It is estimated that U.S. citizens spend more travel time in Spanish-speaking countries than in any other foreign countries (excluding English-speaking countries).
Spanish is the official language in 21 countries and an official language in the European Union, UNESCO, GATT and many other international organizations.