WSU Vancouver Foreign Languages and Cultures

Welcome to the Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures (DFLC). We have a long and rich association at Washington State University - with courses offered in Pullman since 1890 and the establishment of a Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures at WSU Vancouver in 2008! We are excited about the opportunities we have here to offer courses and outreach programs to prepare students to enter the global society with confidence, cultural sensitivity and linguistic proficiency.

We are very pleased to announce that Maria Lee-Lopez is the 2011 recipient of the "WSU Vancouver Students' Award for Teaching Excellence." Maria will receive the Chancellor's Medallion at the commencement ceremony on May 14.

Back row (l. to r.): J. Grenier-Winther (Assoc. Chair), Eloy Gonzalez (Chair, Pullman), Cassandra Gulam, Nicolas Hinsinger, Douglas Winther. Front row (l. to r.): Marie-Pierre Wolfe, Maria Lee-Lopez, Willow Zheng

We now offer courses in Latin (LATIN), Chinese (CHIN), French (FREN), and Spanish (SPAN), as well as courses on comparative foreign cultures, films and literatures (FORL). We hope to offer more levels and languages in the future as we assess demand and feasibility. Our curriculum includes not only courses in the target language, but also GER and capstone courses taught completely in English that focus on foreign culture, film or literature. And some of our courses  are designed to help students develop language skills for specific careers, such as business, healthcare, law enforcement, and translation/interpretation.

In terms of outreach, we deliver our courses both in the traditional classroom (day and evening classes)  and either fully or partially via the web, all the while making sure that the same standards of excellence are maintained. We encourage our students to participate in short- and long-term study abroad programs to improve their language skills and experience first-hand a culture in which the target language they are studying is spoken. Internships in their major areas in which they might use the target language are especially encouraged.

We look to the future with the goal of 'globalizing' our students though proficiency in one or more foreign languages and knowledge of cultures other than the one in which they live. We invite you to explore this site to get to know us a little better and to enroll in one of the many language, film and cultures courses we offer each semester.

Study another language and culture. That is the way to translate an international outlook into a concrete reality.