CERTIFICATE PROGRAM
The certificates program in languages was instituted as a means to allow students who seek formal training in a modern foreign language but who, for reasons of time and other commitments, cannot complete the full requirements toward a major. With its sequence of courses, students in the program will systematically build up proficiency in the language and, in their senior year, will receive from the respective department a certificate officially attesting to their having fulfilled the requirements. Certificates are possible in French, German, Russian, Spanish.
At Williams, the Center for Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Cultures has brought together faculty and students in Foreign Languages, Comparative Literature, and Linguistics since 1986. Faculty in all these areas are dedicated to promoting of the study of foreign languages, increasing connections with other cultures on campus and abroad, and encouraging intellectual development across disciplinary boundaries.
NEWS AND EVENTS
The Williams Language Club
The Williams Language Club was formed this fall in order to establish a vibrant community of both student and faculty language-learners and scholars as well as to establish an organization that represents the interests of both student and faculty language-learners and scholars to the administration and broader campus. The club received official recognition on October 28th, and held the first Language Cafe on November 10th. For meeting times and more information, please visit the language club on the web at languageatwilliams.wordpress.com
MORE NEWS AND EVENTS
STUDENT PROFILE
Katie White '11 - Comparative Literature Major
I was never much interested in languages or Spanish before I spent the fall after graduating high school in Costa Rica. In Costa Rica, I definitely struggled to integrate with local “Ticos” (Costa Ricans), because I was not able to speak their native language. Even though many Ticos speak English, I felt like there was a level of intimacy that I could never quite attain without being bilingual. I decided that, over the course of my four years at Williams, I would become as close to fluent as I could get in one language—and that language turned out to be Spanish! (It was a toss up between Spanish and Italian, but ultimately I chose Spanish, because of its wider use and wider travel possibilities! I would still love to learn Italian, though.)
Since my freshman year, I have taken Spanish every semester at Williams and plan to continue all the way through senior year. I spent last summer traveling in Spain and plan to embark on many more Spanish-ey excursions (in Europe and Latin America) after graduating. I also love literature, and being able to finally read Spanish literature is difficult, but a real treat! Thanks to all of my Williams Spanish profesoras thus far (Profesoras Fox, Rouhi, French, and Pérez-Villanueva) as well as Jane Canova, of the Center for Foreign Languages and Cultures, and to all of those great teachers to come!
