By Sarah Nelson
The BYU Center for Language Studieswill be offering courses during the summer term for a variety of languages.
These courses are intended for returned missionaries and other students with comparable language skills, said Melvin Luthy, director of the Center for Language Studies.
“We feel we have an important resource with returned missionaries,” Luthy said. “We want to use this resource and build on the capabilities they already have.”
By taking foreign language courses, students will become more proficient in their vocabulary and grammar and gain a broader understanding of the respective country’s literature and history, he said.
“These courses will help students later in their profession and in church service,” Luthy said.
BYU’s enrollment policy during the Spring and Summer terms provides returned missionaries from around the country with an opportunity to participate in these courses.
“We hope these courses will appeal to returned missionaries who come to BYU as visiting students,” Luthy said.
In most cases the language credits earned over the Spring and Summer terms easily transfer to other universities.
Visiting students need to contact their university for transfer policy information he said.
According to the center’s Web site the center is providing three types of summer courses.
They are offering advanced language and culture courses in less-commonly taught languages and foundation courses in commonly taught languages.
Additionally, refresher courses are being offered for students wanting to review and restore language skills they previously learned.
Students taking the courses during the Spring and Summer terms have an advantage because they can complete up to a full academic year of language study in a shorter amount of time.
They are taking fewer classes so they can focus more on the language course, Luthy said.
Students agree that taking the accelerated language courses during the Spring and Summer has advantages.
“I’m constantly studying and focusing on Spanish so I feel like I’m absorbing more. It’s nice to get two semesters of Spanish done in a few months,” said Bryon Poulter, 21, from Salt Lake City, majoring in computer science. “One down side of taking the classes in a shorter amount of time is I don’t have as much time to practice.”
Angie Tanner, 23, from Ogden, majoring in family science, sees a big advantage in the class sizes.
“The classes are smaller and more personal,” she said. “They move faster, but this helps me because I have to put in more work to stay up on things. I feel like I am learning the language well.”
Courses offered during the Summer term, will be Arabic, Bulgarian, Cebuano, Chinese, Dutch, French, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog, Ukrainian and Vietnamese.
Finish and Romanian will be offered depending on student interest, Luthy said.
These courses are not listed in the printed version of the course catalog; however, they are listed in the electronic catalog on the Academic Information Management.
Students who want more information about the classes can contact The Center for Language Studies at (801) 378-1201 or visit the office located at 2054 JKHB.
