Languages

Expand your professional and personal horizons

Learn to understand other cultures, become more marketable to prospective employers, and improve your brain power. There are many reasons to learn another language, but in a world that is more interconnected than ever, proficiency in multiple languages is a remarkably valuable tool.

We offer six language options— Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Greek and Latin. 

Spanish

Visit our Spanish site for more information about Spanish courses, faculty and opportunities, including Monmouth in Mérida, a full-semester experience in Mérida, Mexico. 

Chinese

Most of our students’ first language is an alphabet-based, Indo-European language (such as English). Learning Chinese is a great opportunity to explore an Asian language with a totally different script system (character-based instead of alphabet-based) and a totally different grammar structure (there is no verb conjugation in Chinese and no tense changes for verbs).

Taking Chinese allows students to expand their intellectual horizon and learn about an ancient culture that has more than 3,000 years of written history. Modern China is the world’s second-largest economy, so studying Chinese is a great option for students in economics, business, history, communication studies and political science.

Japanese

Japan is a small country, with only 1.62 percent of the world population. Yet it is the world’s third-largest economy as measured by GDP. Its art and culture have captured the imagination of the world, and its manufacturing process (the “Kaizan” process perfect by Toyota Motor Corp.) is emulated by many U.S. manufacturing companies.

Learning the language and culture of Japan helps students see the world with new perspectives and cultivates new ways of thinking. Learn Japanese just to help you better enjoy a Nintendo video game, or to better understand Manga or Anime in Japanese; or learn Japanese for more serious pursuits, such as in preparation for a study-abroad experience. Japanese courses can serve students in many disciplinary areas, such as economics, history, art, music, communication studies, engineering, political science  and, of course, our Asian studies minor.

Greek and Latin

Visit our Classics site for more information about courses offered in ancient Greek and Latin.