If UM really wants to be a global university, it shouldn’t just encourage language learning, it should expand it, deepen it and actually teach more of the languages students care about.
Right now, UM’s Department of Modern Languages and Literature offers a diverse array of language courses: you’ve got Spanish and French majors, minors in Arabic and Portuguese and classes in Japanese, German and Haitian Creole. But after that, it seemingly drops off. There are other languages such as Chinese or Italian that come and go, and if you’re interested in something outside of those, you’re essentially on your own.
That’s where the Directed Independent Language study program comes in. It’s one of UM’s coolest programs, allowing students to study any language that isn’t already offered as a class. The best part is it is completely free of charge and accessible to all with interest. The fact that it even exists shows that students want to learn all kinds of languages: Swahili, Hindi, Persian, you name it. And they are learning them. But why are these only available through independent study? If there’s a demand (and there clearly is as DILS is so popular), why not turn the most popular ones into actual classes?
I think about Eastern European languages a lot when it comes to this. There’s no class for Serbian, Croatian or Bosnian (even though those are all essentially the same language, just with cultural differences.) It would make so much sense to group them together into one class and build a program that teaches on Slavic culture more broadly. There’s so much history, literature and politics tied to those regions, and it’s barely touched in current coursework. The same goes for languages like Ukrainian, Bulgarian or even Polish. If UM wants to boost global literacy, this could be considered a huge blind spot.
And it isn’t just about adding random electives here and there. language opens up access to culture, politics, and careers. An example would be if you’re a Latin American Studies major, wouldn’t it be cool to study an indigenous language too, not just Spanish? Or if you’re doing Caribbean studies, why not offer electives in local languages like Patois or even French Creole beyond just Haiti? These pairings would make the cultural studies much more immersive and meaningful to the students and their well-roundedness.
UM’s Virtual Immersion Program is a great example of what’s possible in this scenario. It started with Spanish and Portuguese, and now it’s said to expand to include languages like French, Arabic, and Japanese. What’s so amazing about this program is that you get to speak with native speakers over video, and it feels more real than just memorizing vocab and grammar rules. It gives students a space to actively recall and use the information they are learning. This kind of thing should be happening across the board, especially if UM expands the language offerings and wants students to actually use what they’re being taught.
When it comes down to it UM already has the tools, it already has the student interest, and it already has the flexibility to grow. The university just needs to go for it. Adding more in-class language options, especially for underrepresented areas like Eastern Europe, South Asia, or parts of Africa, would make the university feel more connected to the actual global world we live in. Right now, too much of the language learning is happening outside the classroom, and that’s a missed opportunity.
So while UM is doing a decent job, if it wants to be taken seriously as a global university, it’s time to take language learning in classrooms seriously too.