<p>With the superior academic rep of Williams I have been rather surprised to hear that its foreign language departments are rather weak. In recent years there have only been an average of 2 French majors per year for example. Anyone have any insight about this?</p>
<p>The romance languages departments (french in particular) have a reputation for being the weakest department at Williams. This might be the case (the administration is aware of this weakness and actively working to strengthen french and spanish). HOWEVER, I think you'll find that even the weakest department at Williams is significantly stronger than strong departments at the vast majority of schools across the country. I have a friend who's taken 2 or 3 french classes at Williams, all of which he's loved. He also spent a summer at Middlebury (known for their language program) and came back convinced that Williams actually had a better french department than Midd. Is this true? I don't know...but the fact that Williams' weakest program is at least comparable to Middlebury's strongest program indicates the incredible strength of Williams across the boards.</p>
<p>I know this was a continued concern on the old cc boards. I would doubt Williams' french program is close to midd's however. I just find that really hard to believe.</p>
<p>Haon, that's the biggest load of crap I've heard in a long time. You use an anecdotal story to illustrate that the weakest department at Williams is as strong as the strongest department at Midd? You really have a hard time admitting Williams has weaknesses, dont you? Your arrogance and dubious logic are reason enough to make someone consider avoiding Williams.</p>
<p>The ROMANCE language department is widely acknowledged to be the weakest on campus (notice it's just the romance languages, I think the Chinese program is supposed to be much better and is relatively popular, just off the top of my head). That said, lots of people like to take Spanish, French, or Italian as a continuation of their high school studies and are very happy with it. Also, I think people tend to use a romance language major as a second major, in addition to something else. </p>
<p>If your dream is to study Spanish, Williams probably isn't the place for you. If you want to learn a language while ALSO studying any of the dozens of things that Williams does excel in, then you'll be completely satisfied.</p>
<p>I wasn't ever aware that the romance language departments were weak. What exactly makes them weak? Any comments?</p>
<p>If you were planning on majoring in a language, probably the key thing you would want to look for would be a department that has strong connections with (or their own) overseas program in that language. For example, a program where a professor from your college lives with you in the foreign country and runs a program, usually affiliated with a university in that country. Fundamentally, it is nearly impossible to really learn a language without a full-time immersion in that language (i.e. study abroad). Most schools will have decent study abroad options in some countries, but not others. I don't think Williams is really noted for its study abroad programs, although there are some. Dig around the department websites. Any language department will usually provide a lot of information on the available programs.</p>
<p>You would also want to look at the range of courses offered in that language at your schools and, to some extent, the number of faculty and students involved.</p>
<p>As someone has pointed out, what is weak for majoring in a language may not be weak for just learning how to speak the language. What do you want from a language department? IMO, $40,000 a year is probably a bit steep for just learning to speak a language. There are better values around in basic language instruction! Like CD-rom or audio tape courses!</p>
<p>Woah--Arcadia...I was pretty clear that my anecdotal example was merely an anecdotal example. I never said that the weakest dpt at Williams was as strong as the strongest dpt at Midd, and I appologize if my post implied that I felt that was the case, as I don't.</p>
<p>I'm sorry if my posts have come across as arrogant to you. I think Middlebury's a fabulous school, and I would have happily chosen it over Dartmouth and many other fantastic peer schools if my circumstances had been different.</p>
<p>"but the fact that Williams' weakest program is at least comparable to Middlebury's strongest program indicates the incredible strength of Williams across the boards."</p>
<p>Sorry Haon, I just got really ****ed when I read this statement. I know you're an intelligent guy, and I also know that you really love Williams. I just wish that folks on this board didn't have to denigrate other schools when making their points. Your love of Williams is admirable. Just think twice before posting something like you did above.</p>
<p>I appologize--I didn't mean for my post to put down Middlebury in any way, shape, or form. As I said, I think Middlebury is a great school, absolutely one of the best in the country.</p>