By including culture of the countries studied, students learn about historical, literary, philosophical, and artistic traditions beyond those of the United States. Students learn about languages, people, and cultures different from their own as an integral part of the courses. They begin to compare and contrast our culture with the varied cultures of the peoples studied and to understand the dynamics of one culture interacting with another. They learn more about our own cultural heritage as a result of the influence other cultures have on our culture. Students also increase their knowledge of the English language.
Students learn how to communicate on a wide variety of topics in a foreign language.
They learn how to approach a wide variety of texts not translated into English, which facilitates their ability to make a mature approach to foreign texts. Besides class discussions of language, experience, and text materials that introduce students to international perspectives, students attend a wide variety of international cultural events that further enhance their knowledge of international perspectives. The conversational and grammar exercises will be based on the text. Students are expected to spend at least two hours preparing for every class period. Any grammar explanations given in class will be very brief and will presuppose a knowledge of the material based on outside of class preparation.