<p>For those already at Richmond, is there a particular modern language that has a reputation for having great teachers on campus?
And does anyone have any experience with the study of Latin at UR?</p>
<p>UR serves its mostly pre-professional students quite well with several high caliber foreign language departments. In particular, Ive heard great things about Latin American Studies (Spanish) & Russian Studies. This said, recognize that the lions share of UR students take the mandatory language requirement only to achieve the required Intermediate level mastery. While a fair number will minor in a foreign language, very few will actually major in a foreign language. Dont take this as gospel, but I recollect someone in Admissions once telling me that in most graduating classes, <10 students each will leave with a Major in the most common foreign languages. The school does have a great overseas study participation rate and a substantial and growing international student population. Also, its commitment to international study was strengthened with the addition of the great Carole Weinstein building on campus a few years ago.</p>
<p>If you have interest in a specific language of study, and have curiosity regarding the caliber of faculty members in that area-(from the students perspective), dare I recommend the much maligned, but still fun, rateymyprofessors website. Yes, the academic purist will say its anecdotal at best and nothing but a popularity contest. Still however, it offers some useful insights into departmental faculty members from the actual voice of past & current students. You can sort results by department to specifically check out results for languages, or any other subject matter that might interest you. The first step is to research the names of current departmental professors on the UR website. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply, doctorzin. I have just spent some time checking RMP website.
Lots of reviews to sort through when my son or I have more time. He is one of those kids that will be starting a new language as a freshman and, like the lion’s share… just for the requirement. The study of a language has not come easily to him in the past and I know he will have to work hard for this requirement at Richmond. All kids have their strengths and weaknesses! Just hoping that the experience is not too terribly painful.
I think Italian or Spanish…but it is up to him. He has had Latin all through high school but he doesn’t expect to “test out”.
I’d be interested to hear from anyone who started a language from the beginning at Richmond…</p>
<p>From the way you posed your initial question, I incorrectly assumed that language study was a priority. (I shuddered at the notion of someone pondering the study of advanced Latin). My son struggled with language study in high school and almost rejected UR because of the language requirement. Like the vast majority of UR students, he opted for Spanish, but did begin with some prior training in high school. He was truly blown away by the extremely high quality of instruction in the Spanish department and raved about both of the professors he had. One in particular was simply outstanding. If you check out student reviews of the various Spanish professors on RYP, you’ll note consistently strong reviews for this department as accolades abound. I’m confident that your son will be well supported if he takes this path and he’ll be nurtured along the way.</p>
<p>Sorry for the late reply - I haven’t checked the forum in a while.</p>
<p>Speaking as a former language major (French, with a minor in Arabic and some German on the side), I had an awesome experience. The faculty in all of those departments were great, and I’ve heard excellent things about the faculty in Spanish, Italian, and Russian too. Not so sure about the other modern languages or the ancient languages.</p>
<p>But - gotta stick up for modern language majors! - I don’t think doctorzin’s comment is up to date. There were at least 10 French majors in my graduating class. Probably more (15-25?) in Spanish/LAIS, and somewhere between 5-10 each in the other language majors (German, Italian, Russian, Chinese). We had maybe 15 Arabic minors. Not sure about Japanese minors. I would guess that most students of language at UR double-major; I doubled in English, and my fellow French majors were doubling in everything from international relations to polisci to theater to business. Given UR’s overall international focus, I would say UR’s language departments are a lot more than just prep for pre-professional students, though they serve that purpose well too.</p>