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Advising for Foreign Languages

A number of your advisees will want to include a foreign language in their first year or two of study at Brown. Students who want to study abroad in countries in which the host language is French, German, Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish must attain a certain proficiency level before participating in a study abroad program. Other students are drawn to foreign language study out of intellectual curiosity, passion for the subject, the desire to embrace new perspectives, or to prepare for an international career. Whatever their reasons for taking a foreign language course, students should be encouraged to study a foreign language as early as possible in their undergraduate career. First- and second-year language courses often meet five days a week and may be difficult for juniors and seniors to fit into their schedules.

Myths about Language Study

A number of myths about language study prevent students from taking a foreign language course. A few of the more common myths are listed below. Dispelling these myths in advising sessions can help students develop the willingness to shop and perhaps enroll in a foreign language class.

Myth: Language courses always require greater time and more work than other courses.
Like any academic subject, studying a foreign language requires time and dedication. Though a language course requires daily engagement, it does not necessarily involve more time and work.

Myth: It’s too late to learn another language well; one can only learn a language as a child.
The ability to learn other languages at very high proficiency levels does continue into adulthood. In fact, adults often learn foreign languages faster and more efficiently than younger people because of what they know about how other languages work. What may be negatively affected is the ability to achieve native-like pronunciation.

Myth: Taking an additional language will adversely affect proficiency in other languages already studied.
While students learning an additional language may experience some initial confusion between languages in vocabulary or grammar, this usually does not last. Knowing a foreign language actually makes learning an additional language easier. A correlation exists between second language learning and increased linguistic awareness: the more students learn, the easier it becomes to transfer skills from one language to the other.

Contacts for Languages at Brown

Akkadian
Matthew Rutz (Egyptology & AWAS)
Matthew_Rutz@brown.edu - x36312

American Sign Language
Arkady Belozovsky (Center for Language Studies)
Arkady_Belovsky@brown.edu - x33043

Arabic
Mirena Christoff
(Center for Language Studies)
Mirena_Christoff@brown.edu - x31278

Catalan
Maria Dasca (Hispanic Studies)
Maria_Dasca@brown.edu - x32569

Chinese
Lung Hua Hu (East Asian Studies)
Lung-Hua_Hu@brown.edu - x39765

Czech
Masako Fidler (Slavic Languages)
Masako_Fidler@brown.edu - x33933

Egyptian (Middle)
James P. Allen (Egyptology & AWAS)
jamespallen@brown.edu - x33712

French
Shoggy Waryn (French Studies)
Shoggy_Waryn@brown.edu - x32494

German
Jane Sokolosky (German Studies)
Jane_Sokolosky@brown.edu - x32788

Greek (Ancient)
Joe Pucci (Classics)
Joseph_Pucci@brown.edu - x33958

Greek (Modern)
Elsa Amanatidou (Classics)
Elsa_Amanatidou@brown.edu - x37482

Haitian Creole
Patrick Sylvain (Center for Latin American Studies)
Patrick_Sylvain@brown.edu - x32106

Hebrew (Modern)
Ruth Adler Ben Yehuda (Judaic Studies)
Ruti@brown.edu - x37563

Hebrew (Biblical)
Jennifer Singietary (Judaic Studies)
Jennifer_Singletary@brown.edu - x33912

Hindi/Urdu
Ashok Koul (Center for Language Studies)
Ashok_Koul@brown.edu - x33158

Italian
Cristina Abbona-Sneider (Italian Studies)
Cristina_Abbona@brown.edu - x33970

Japanese
Kiko Yamashita (East Asian Studies)
Kikuko_Yamashita@brown.edu - x33703

Korean
Hye-Sook Wang (East Asian Studies)
Hye-Sook_Wang@brown.edu - x33869

Latin
Joe Pucci (Classics)
Joseph_Pucci@brown.edu - x33958

Persian (Modern)
Iraj Anvar (Center for Language Studies)
Iraj_Anvar@brown.edu - x31773

Portuguese
Patricia Sobral (Portuguese and Brazilian Studies)
Patricia_Sobral@brown.edu - x39690

Russian
Lynne Debenedette (Slavic Languages)
Lynne_Debenedette@brown.edu - x37572

Sanskrit
James Fitzgerald (Classics)
James_Fitzgerald@brown.edu - x32101

Spanish
Beth Bauer (Hispanic Studies)
Beth_Bauer@brown.edu - x33772

Victoria Smith, (Hispanic Studies)
Victoria_Smith@brown.edu - x32675