<a href="/live/image/gid/70/width/650/86517_World_Languages_Main_image.jpg" class="lw_preview_image lw_disable_preview" tabindex="-1"><picture class="lw_image lw_image86517"> <source type="image/jpeg" media="(max-width: 500px)" srcset="/live/image/gid/70/width/500/height/479/crop/1/86517_World_Languages_Main_image.rev.1607731873.jpg 1x"/> <source type="image/jpeg" media="(min-width: 501px)" srcset="/live/image/gid/70/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86517_World_Languages_Main_image.rev.1607731873.jpg 1x"/> <img src="/live/image/gid/70/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86517_World_Languages_Main_image.rev.1607731873.jpg" alt="Learning a language other than English opens the mind and broadens one's sense of culture and history." width="720" height="690" data-max-w="500" data-max-h="480" loading="lazy"/> </picture> </a><div class="hero-split_image_caption collapsable-caption"> Learning a language other than English opens the mind and broadens one’s sense of culture and history.</div>

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World Languages and Literatures

Pick two languages and double down: Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish.

We offer students the unique opportunity to study two different languages, with a choice of Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. Learning a language well is hard work; it requires openness and inquisitiveness toward other cultures, to ways of being and ways of doing things that are different and can feel unfamiliar. Our students demonstrate this curiosity and courage. Our faculty’s research interests range widely, from German eco-fictions to 21st-century French literature to contemporary Latin American social movements to religious iconography in Soviet Russia. Although we believe that the study of languages and literatures is important and worthwhile, we also know that in an increasingly competitive job market, the mastery of a second (or third or fourth) language can be a key advantage.

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Introduction to Linguistics expanded my knowledge about how a language works, and I love learning how linguists analyze languages. One day I hope to do it myself!
Juan Martín López Meléndez BA ’23
La Piedad, Michoacán, México/Fresno, California/Las Vegas, New Mexico
More about Juan Martín
From Portland you have access to so many different landscapes, and for someone like me who craves adventure, it’s super exciting. I’ve also never been to a place that takes its desserts so seriously, but I have had some of the best ice cream in my life here in Portland!
Juan Carlos Archila BA ’21
Chicago, Illinois
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Since languages come easily to me and I’ve always wanted to become a translator, learning more languages was a clear choice for me.
Marcella Chavez BA ’21
Worthington, Ohio
More about Marcella