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Foreign Language Studies

USAC offers language courses for most proficiency levels from beginning to advanced. Studying abroad is the perfect way to learn or become proficient in a language.

Specialty Programs offer you the opportunity to study a language in a city or country where it is traditionally spoken. This allows you to engage in language instruction both formally in the classroom, and informally with locals as you go about your daily life. Specialty Programs offer both intensive and less intensive course offerings in locally spoken languages. The amount of credits you can complete in your chosen term will vary by location, but in many instances you can complete up to 2 years of instruction in just one semester! Intensive language courses are grouped into tracks to allow you to progress through your instruction quickly, and many programs also offer elective language and literature courses.

Language courses sections are kept to a maximum enrollment of 15 students each to facilitate student success.

On USAC’s Partnership Programs, you are often able to choose from the majority of courses offered at the host university. This means you can study both the native language of your host country, as well as languages not traditionally spoken by the locals. For example, you can take Russian in Scotland or German in South Africa.

Specialty Programs

Language classes are available at the following USAC Specialty Program locations. Check the program's course page for the most current offerings by term.

Country

Location

Level of Intensity

Chile

Santiago

Intensive Spanish

China

Chengdu, Shanghai

Intensive Chinese

Costa Rica

Heredia, San Ramón

Intensive Spanish

Cuba

La Habana

Upper-Division Language Electives (coursework in Spanish)

Czech Republic

Prague

Introductory Czech

France

Lyon, Pau

Intensive French

Germany

Lüneburg

Intensive German

India

Bengaluru

Introductory Hindi

Ireland

Galway

Introductory Gaelic

Italy

Reggio Emilia, Torino, Verona, Viterbo

Intensive Italian

Spain

Alicante, Bilbao/Getxo, Madrid, Valencia

Intensive Spanish

Spain

San Sebastián

Intensive Spanish; Intensive Basque

Thailand

Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen

Introductory Thai

Uruguay

Montevideo

Intensive Spanish

Intensive Language Study

Options vary by USAC program location, but in general, students will enroll in a series of sequential (back to back) courses taught within one semester while simultaneously enrolling in other elective courses taught throughout the entire semester. Intensive language study can allow students to complete a series of courses that would take up to two years to complete on a university campus. In the examples given below, you will see that two, three, or four courses can be finished in one semester (4-in-1, 3-in-1, or 2-in-1). USAC refers to these sequential courses as "tracks." Check your program's Courses section for more details about that program's language track options.

Summer and winter courses can be considered intensive in that one language course can be completed in a 3- to 5-week session. Depending on location and session duration, students can complete six to eight foreign language credits (plus electives) within two summer sessions.

Semester durations also vary by location. The 16-week semester is used as an example in order to help explain the track formats. Dates are listed in the Calendars section for each offering. Students taking a language course may enroll in electives to earn additional credits up to 18 per semester.

Please note "credits" in USAC materials are semester-credits. The USAC Enrollment Department is prepared and happy to assist students and staff from quarter-system schools calculate their needs.

Example 16-Week, Semester Intensive Language Tracks

4-in-1 (14 credits) Weeks 1-4 Weeks 5-8 Weeks 9-12 Weeks 13-16

Language Course 1

Language Course 2

Language Course 3

Language Course 4

3-in-1 (9 credits) Weeks 1-5 Weeks 6-10 Weeks 11-16

Language Course 1

Language Course 2

Language Course 3

2-in-1 (6 credits) Weeks 1-8 Weeks 9-16

Language Course 1

Language Course 2

Partnership Programs

Language classes are available for the following Partnership Programs. Check the program's corresponding course page for most current offerings by term.

Country

Location

Language Options

Australia

Gold Coast

Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Spanish

Australia

Melbourne

Arabic, Chinese, Spanish

England

Brighton

French, German, Italian, Spanish

England

Bristol

Arabic, Chinese, Czech, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish

England

London

Arabic, French, German, Spanish

England

Reading

French, German, Italian, Spanish

Ireland

Cork

Gaelic, French, Italian

Israel

Haifa

Arabic, Hebrew

Japan

Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Nishinomiya

Japanese

Korea

Gwangju

Korean

Korea

Seoul – Kookmin & Yonsei

Korean, Chinese

Netherlands

Maastricht

Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish

Netherlands

The Hague

Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Turkish

New Zealand

Auckland / Palmerston North / Wellington

Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Latin

Scotland

St Andrews

Arabic, French, German, Greek, Italian, Latin, Persian, Russian,

Scotland

Stirling

French, Spanish

South Africa

Stellenbosch

Afrikaans, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, Xhosa

Sweden

Växjö / Kalmar

French, German, Japanese, Swedish