Language Study at Vanderbilt

Explore and Discover. In an increasingly connected and global world, language study provides skills that are essential to successfully navigate across cultures, identities, and histories. As global citizens, we rely on language to facilitate connections in our careers, arts and music, sports and play, technology, and community—on campus, in Nashville, and around the world.

A Unique Approach

The Vanderbilt Center for Languages champions language teaching and language learning, with a focus on helping students advance their language proficiency and cultural knowledge. Our focus is interdisciplinary and mines the rich multi-dimensional experience of speaking more than one language. We acknowledge the foundational role of culture in our discipline and seek to bring our students along on our world-widening academic pursuits in language. Our dynamic world-class faculty keeps up with changing technologies; we provide professional development opportunities through workshops, lectures, and curricular and research opportunities.

Our mission:

• To raise the visibility of languages that are vibrant in every corner of campus
• To provide excellent support of language teaching and learning in the classroom, including weekly tutoring sessions
• To help students explore their linguistic acumen through practice in unstructured exchanges—Language Tables in campus dining halls, conversation groups in our facilities, and ongoing student events on campus
• To foster spaces for interdisciplinary collaboration for both faculty and students
• To create bridges through languages with our neighbors in Nashville and around the globe
• To promote global citizenship and to help prepare our students for living in a linguistically diverse society

Languages Offered

Vanderbilt offers study in 23 different languages from across the globe, including several less-commonly-taught languages through an innovative multi-university partnership.

• Arabic (Arabic and Islamic Studies)
• Catalan (Department of Spanish and Portuguese)
• Cherokee (Vanderbilt-Duke-UVA Language Partnership)
• Chinese (Department of Asian Studies)
• English as a Second Language (English Language Center)
• French (Department of French and Italian)
• German (Department of German, Russian, and East European Studies)
• Greek (Department of Classical and Mediterranean Studies)
• Haitian Creole (Duke University, through the Vanderbilt-Duke-UVA Language Partnership)
• Hebrew (Department of Jewish Studies)
• Hindi-Urdu (Department of Asian Studies)
• Italian (Department of French and Italian)
• Japanese (Department of Asian Studies)
• K’iche’ Maya (Department of Anthropology, through the Vanderbilt-Duke-UVA Language Partnership)
• Korean (Department of Asian Studies)
• Latin (Department of Classical and Mediterranean Studies)
• Malagasy (Vanderbilt-Duke-UVA Language Partnership)
• Persian
• Portuguese (Department of Spanish and Portuguese)
• Russian (Department of German, Russian, and East European Studies)
• Spanish (Department of Spanish and Portuguese)
• Swahili (University of Virginia, through the Vanderbilt-Duke-UVA Language Partnership)
• Turkish (Vanderbilt-Duke-UVA Language Partnership)

Placement Exams

Online placement exams are available in French, German, and Spanish. For other languages, please contact the individual department or program offering the course you want to enroll in. We welcome all levels of language students! For more information about language placement at Vanderbilt University, visit CASPAR.