"A different language is a different vision of life." - Federico Fellini
"No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive." - Mohandas K. Gandhi
"Those who know nothing of foreign languages, knows nothing of their own." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Overview
As globalization, human mobility and the extension of digital communications bring the world ever closer together, the need for our students to master other languages increases as well. Learning another language gives a student the ability to communicate and understand a foreign culture on its own terms and step inside, as it here, the mind and context of that other culture in order to gain a trues access to it. Moreover, by informing students of the differences in structure, grammar, and syntax that distinguish languages from each other, and by clarifying the intimate links that exist between language and cultural meaning, studying and learning another language contributes to the overall development of their critical, analytical, and writing skills. To remain monolingual is not only to stunt one's educational development and restrict ones' communication and thinking abilities, but also to deny oneself the ability to fully appreciate and understand the world in order to become an empowered and emancipated global citizen.
Columbia University underscores the singular importance of the study of foreign language and culture as a vital preparation for students' participation in our increasingly globalized and interconnected society. All students, whether undergraduates, graduates or enrolled in profesional programs, can benefit from incorporating language learning into theirbroader, educational experiences. The university encourages and supports students in this endeavor by providing them with an extraordinary range of language study opportunities – including for some languages not available at any other institution in the United States – offered through its language departments, its Language Resource Center as well as through agreements with consortial partners such as New York University.
The following languages are currently available at Columbia University:
Additional Information:
For any additional information about courses offered through NYU, please go to the appropriate page of contact Stephane Charitos by email at sc758@columbia.edu, or by telephone at 212.854.6341.
Proficiency tests for languages through the LRC and NYU can be scheduled anytime during the academic year by calling Stéphane Charitos at (212) 854-6341 or emailing him at sc758@columbia.edu. For languages offered by another language department at Columbia, please contact the department directly.