All of these courses emphasize speaking and reading, as well as writing. It is expected that after three years of Chinese language study at Northwestern, students will be able to read literary works by modern authors. The three-year sequence in the Hebrew program at Northwestern is designed to bring students with no previous background in the language to a level where they can converse freely and read Hebrew literature of all periods with ease. With the 1998-99 academic year, PAAL began offering courses in Hindi. First and second year courses are now available.
Hindi courses promote both literacy and conversational proficiency.
PAAL offers modern and practical Japanese language at four levels. The sixth quarter and the third year courses are intermediate Japanese, while the fourth level develops advanced reading, speaking, and writing skills. PAAL currently offers first and second year courses in Korean. Efforts are underway to staff a third-year course and additional sections at the elementary and intermediate levels. Beginning students learn the Korean syllabic alphabet and the basics of grammar as the development of global language proficiency skills is encouraged.