Foreign Languages

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
1

<p>Hey guys. My son and I are sitting here trying to work out a schedule for our Bama Bound Orientation on Thursday. He does not know what language he WANTS to take. He has 5 years of Latin, so that is NOT what he wants to take…LOL. Is there any thing you guys have insight on as far as classes or professors for the foreign languages? Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Spanish with Ana Skelton. Native speaker</p>

3

<p>After 3 years of Latin my DD is adamant about taking Swahili. Seems like Spanish or Chinese would be practical.</p>

4

<p>I said Spanish also, but he does not want to take Spanish. Chinese is on his list, but wanted to find out if you guys had any other thoughts.</p>

5

<p>Swahili for sure, lol!</p>

6

<p>My son’s girlfriend had four years of HS Latin – even got some AP credit for the language. She decided on French and breezed through the classes. My son just completed Spanish 201 and loved it. He takes 202 this fall. His language skills are marvelous now that he got a chance to use them while in Costa Rica. His suite mate last year took Japanese and enjoyed it. He plans to add Korean to his list of languages before he graduates.</p>

7

<p>D is planning on taking Italian. My DH’s family is Italian & she’s interested in doing part of her study abroad in Florence.</p>

8

<p>Take something interesting. You have a lifetime to pick up Spanish with all the Rosetta Stones, Pimsleurs, Learn While You Commutes, etc. I took Arabic as a FL. It was pretty awesome!</p>

9

<p>Be aware though that most of the “interesting languages” are taught through the Critical Languages Center. These courses are expanded self-instruction in nature. You’ll have a book and audiovisual materials to learn from, and the classes are taught by people whose main qualification are that they native speakers. Most of them are officially tutors and in some cases instructors. They aren’t faculty and they aren’t part of any department. They are all lumped together to form the CLC.</p>

<p>For example, my Arabic instructor was a lady from Iraq who lived in Tuscaloosa. She was a teacher, though. Officially, though, she was a tutor and could grade you. The final exam had to be administered by an Arabic professor from Emory University, and he was the who officially gave you your grade.</p>

<p>Here’s the link for the CLC: <a href=“http://bama.ua.edu/~clc/[/url]”>http://bama.ua.edu/~clc/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

10

<p>Thank you. Whew, if we can get through this now, we should be set!!!</p>