Undergraduate Courses

All RLL language courses (FR, SPA, ITA) are small in size and taught in the target language from the first day of the first class. Every session is highly interactive, with students encouraged to speak several times, both spontaneously and when called on. In introductory classes, instructors model usage and pronunciation and the class repeats and practices until the new pattern is learned.

As students move through the curriculum, their participation evolves; students perform original skits as well as scenes from established dramatic works, and in advanced classes they present their research findings to the class and respond to feedback, all in the target language. The RLL curriculum emphasizes language mastery as well as the development of analytical skill, literary analysis, and cultural knowledge. Current events, whether in Marseilles or Mexico City or Quebec or Rome, are a focus throughout the curriculum. 

The department offers courses (RLL) in English, such as "Syntax of Romance" and "Avant Gardes" that focus on several Romance languages at once and may be applied to any of our degree programs.

All Romance languages share a common historical origin in the Latin language that spread across the Roman Empire, evolving into French, Italian, Spanish and several others. Are you interested in how Latin evolved into the Romance Languages? Learn more from historical podcaster Patrick Wyman.