Top 10 Language Teaching Universities around the World

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1) Harvard

The world’s best school, according to the rankings, is Harvard, which finishes top in terms of both academic and employer ratings. More than anything, it is the sheer breadth of languages taught at the school that is truly astounding. Over 80 are listed in its prospectus, ranging from traditional European and Asian languages (French, Mandarin) to relatively obscure languages spoken only by small pockets of people (Welsh, Kikongo), to dead, ancient languages (Old Norse, Latin).

2) Oxford (Oxbridge)

Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world and lays claim to nine centuries of continuous existence. As an internationally renowned centre for teaching and research, Oxford attracts students and scholars from across the globe, with almost a quarter of our students from overseas. Positions two in the world ranking for languages is occupied by the grand old institutions of Oxbridge, with Oxford leading its slightly younger sibling in both the academic and employer ratings. The university owe its rankings to the strong performances of its graduates in the professional world – academically.

3) UC Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley is one of the world’s leading academic institutions. Widely known as “Cal,” the campus is renowned for the size and quality of its libraries and laboratories, the scope of its research and publications, and the distinction of its faculty and students. UC Berkeley is also considered to be amazing when it comes to modern languages, but has occupied third position in the world ranking. The University is famous for its language teaching courses. The UC Berkeley also owe its higher ranking to the best performance of its graduates – academically. The faculty of Berkeley is quoted daily in newspapers and journals throughout the world as experts in their fields.

4) University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is one of the oldest universities in the world and one of the largest in the United Kingdom. Its reputation for outstanding academic achievement is known world-wide and reflects the intellectual achievement of its students, as well as the world-class original research carried out by the staff of the University and the Colleges. It is the tutorial system that gives Cambridge graduates an edge. “The supervision system at Cambridge makes a big difference, in the sense that students get a lot of one-to-one tuition”. For the MML (modern and medieval languages) course, the weekly one on one session with a native speaker is an invaluable opportunity to sharpen spoken language skills and develop colloquialisms.

5) Yale University

Yale University was founded in 1701 as the Collegiate School in the home of Abraham Pierson, its first rector, in Killingworth, Connecticut. In 1887 Yale College became Yale University. It continued to add to its academic offerings with the establishment of different schools. So, for now Yale has also started its modern languages School in late 20th Century and is able to achieve the number five world ranking in languages.

6) Australian National University (ANU)

Established in 1946, The Australian National University is one of the world’s most highly regarded universities. According to the Director of “the School of Culture, History and Language” “Over the past 4 years Language enrolments at ANU have increased by 22% and nearly 50% over the past decade.  In an increasingly rationalised educational area we have been able to increase the languages being taught at the ANU from 20 to 24.” ANU’s strong performance here can be seen as a nod towards the increasing importance of Asian languages in the 21st century. Though European languages account for a fair proportion of languages taught at the university, but the ANU has given equal importance to Asian Languages also.

7) Cornell University

Once called “the first American university” by educational historian Frederick Rudolph, Cornell University represents a distinctive mix of eminent scholarship and democratic ideals. Adding practical subjects to the classics and admitting qualified students regardless of nationality, race, social circumstance, gender, or religion was quite a departure when Cornell was founded in 1865. The Cornell university is ranked number seven when it comes to languages and is also marked for teaching a number of languages. The different language departments at Cornell University offer about 45 languages or more which is actually impressive.

8) University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

University of California, Los Angeles was established in late 19th Century, but the most spectacular growth of the university occurred in the 25 years following World War II. UCLA is famous for its world wide language teaching. The UCLA language center is also named as the “center for world languages” which signifies the extent of languages the university teaches. The university also conduct different workshops which make the language learning more easier and interactive.

9) University of Toronto

The University of Toronto has assembled one of the strongest research and teaching faculties in North America, presenting top students at all levels with an intellectual environment unmatched in breadth and depth on any other Canadian campus. Due to its vast area of research U-of-T is always represented in top-5 universities of US. This article also shows that Canadian Universities also have their representation in top-10 when it comes to language teaching.

10) Stanford University

Stanford University, founded in 1885, is recognized as one of the world’s leading research and teaching institutions, with one of the most renowned faculties in the nation. Stanford University offers its students a remarkable range of academic and extracurricular activities. We are committed to offering an education that is unrivaled among research universities. The Stanford university of US is ranked at number 10 when it comes to the top-10 universities of modern language.

For further details visit the language centers of the respective university, the links are given below.

Bibliography:

• Harvard University Language Resource center http://lrc.fas.harvard.edu/
• Oxford University Language Center http://www.lang.ox.ac.uk/
• UC Berkeley Asian studies Center and African studies http://africa.berkeley.edu/languages/LanguageResources.php     http://ieas.berkeley.edu/resources/k-12_outreach.html
• University of Cambridge Language center http://www.langcen.cam.ac.uk/
• Yale University http://cls.yale.edu/
• Australian National University Language center http://languages.anu.edu.au/
• Cornell University Language center http://www.lrc.cornell.edu/
• UCLA center for World Language http://www.international.ucla.edu/languages/
• University of Toronto http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/cerll/
• Stanford University https://www.stanford.edu/dept/lc/language/
• List of Top Universities  according to International Top University Ranking http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011/subject-rankings/arts-humanities/modern-languages

 

Ten reasons for learning second Language:

        I.            Know the world you live in:

We must discover and experience the diversities in the world we live in and enjoy all its colors and tastes. One must understand and learn the language of a region to truly know its people, know its culture, values & traditions, to be able to appreciate the true taste of their food and of course to get the full experience of travelling.

By limiting yourself to one language is limiting your abilities. With a new language you get a whole new perspective of life, it’s like seeing he world with a new eyes, like living a new life.

There’s a Czech proverb, “You live a new life for every new language you speak. If you know only one language, you live only once.”

   II.            Posting or Emigration to new country:

If you’re moving to a new country or region and you are unfamiliar with the local language, learning their language will help you settle soon and integrate with the new community. You’ll be better able to handle daily routine affairs without facing problems e.g. helping your kids with homework and talking to their teacher, buying ticket at a local park, asking out the handsome guy at your afterschool job without embarrassing yourself or bargaining with the shopkeeper.

You’ll be able to make new friends and build personal relations. About that there is an amusing quote:

“When you go to a country, you must learn how to say two things: how to ask for food, and to tell a woman that you love her. Of these the second is more important, for if you tell a woman you love her she will certainly feed you.” – Louis L’Amour.

III.            Business Interactions & Increase Employability:

Today businesses, economies, employs and clients are all truly global. To do business on international level and sell in foreign market, you must know the trends, values and especially the foreign language. Foreign language is crucial to make business deals, attract foreign clients and designing business campaigns in a foreign country.

Companies are always expanding their business overseas. In all multinationals, a multilingual candidate has a competitive edge over others. If you know a second language, you are bridge to new customers for your company. Whatever profession you belong to, doctor, manager or journalist, learning a foreign language will certainly help you in your career.

“Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can; there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.” -Sarah Caldwell

 IV.            Discover Art and Entertainment Treasure:

By learning foreign languages you’ll be able to read original versions of great books instead of translated versions and watch legendary movies without subtitles, because the essence of any art work is lost when translated into another language. An artist thinks in a certain language and creates something; to understand and feel it you must know his language.

You’ll be able to understand the music and poetry you love know the meaning of lyrics of great songs and do justice to the artists.

V.            For Reading/ Education purpose:

If you want to study abroad in some university or college, you must know the language used in educational mediums there, to be able to study your courses without any difficulty. If the local language is different from that used in institutes of that country e.g. Pakistan where higher education is in English where as national language is Urdu, one must know the local language as well, to be better able to communicate with your professors & fellow students. Institutes where international students apply mostly provide foundation courses to improve the language skills of the foreign students.

Even if you’re not studying in a foreign country, you might want to study a subject in which most of the research work and books are published in a foreign language. Without learning that language, you won’t be able to access the information or communicate with the experts and researchers.

“Language is the archives of history.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

 VI.            For the Love of Language:

Sometimes we just find some language sound good or look good. If you’re a fan of Calligraphy, you might want to learn Arabic language or if you find music or just the plain language attractive to ears, you’ll want to speak like that and understand it. Or you might like the people of a certain region interesting, you will want to understand their language to know them better.

VII.            To get the best out of your travel experiences:

The favorite restaurant in the new town have menu in local language, or you like food of some foreign country or region but the recipe books are in foreign language, you’ll definitely want to learn that language. People respect the fact if the foreigners or tourists try to learn the local language even a few phrases.

“No man should travel until he has learned the language of the country he visits. Otherwise he voluntarily makes himself a great baby – so helpless and so ridiculous.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

VIII.            Sharpen Your Mind:

Learning new languages not only enriches your communication skills but also enhance your thinking capabilities. Learning is a sort of mental exercise and it develops your memory skills too.

“Language is not only the vehicle of thought, it is a great and efficient instrument in thinking.” -Humphrey Davy

 IX.            Be Unique, Secretive and Cool:

Knowing a foreign language is not just impressive but it also shows that you are cultured and intelligent. It gives you a sense of uniqueness.

If you and  your best friend learn a foreign language that no one in your friend circle knows, you’ll be able to communicate in your secret language all the time, which is not just cool but will also give you privacy in public.

    X.            Expand your Horizons:

If you are assuming that your mother tongue and at most learning the global-lingua-franca English are enough for you, you are just putting self-imposed limitations on yourself. Learning has no limitations. A new language will certainly open your eyes to a whole new world that you’ve never imagined before.

“A different language is a different vision of life.” – Federico Fellini, Italian film director

A new language opens up new ways and opportunities for you.