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Our Languages

The University’s American Sign Language Program offers a five-semester sequence in ASL, from the beginning through the conversational level.  Students who successfully complete the fourth semester class, ASL 2020, can use it to satisfy the College’s foreign language requirement.  We teach our lan

The Arabic Program selects only experienced and caring teachers who enjoy the challenges of Second Language Teaching. We offer special conversation and cultural sessions, promoting the Communicative Method of language instruction.

Biblical Hebrew is the language of the Jewish Bible and Christian Old Testament; it was also the principle language of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah, during their many centuries of existence.

Studying Chinese is fun and challenging! The UVA program in Chinese offers two tracks of courses: one for heritage learners and one for non-heritage learners.

Studying English is exciting, engaging, and interactive!  The Center for American English Language and Culture (CAELC) offers several courses for in-coming U.Va graduate students in academic oral communication, writing, and accent modification.

Persian is spoken by more than 120 million people who live in Afghanistan, Iran, Tajikistan, etc.

From the sequence of beginner and intermediate French language classes, to more than twenty advanced courses in French each semester for Majors and Minors, to specialized seminars for M.A. and Ph.D.

In an increasingly globalized world, studying German will give students access to the language, culture, and economy of three leading European nations: Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. As a language, German shares close relations with English.

Ancient Greek is intrinsically beautiful in structure and sound, and it offers a unique portal to cultures and literatures that lie at the very heart of our own. It is, as Mr.

Elementary and Intermediate Creole classes build proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and provide an introduction to Creole studies. These classes also explore the following issues: health care, Haitian women's rights, and unpaid children servants.

At UVa, we offer both Urdu and Hindi classes from the beginner to the advanced levels. Bearing in mind the twinned history of the language, the introductory level class teaches Urdu and Hindi together.  The Urdu script is then introduced in the second semester.

Studying Italian at UVA is a rewarding and fun experience for learners at all levels, from beginner to advanced.

The Japanese Language Program at UVa is an integral part of the comprehensive curriculum complemented by cultural and literary studies in the original and in English translation.  Our program also introduces you to the world of Classical Japanese.  To learn a foreign language means to rediscover

The four-part sequence in Maya K'iche' (1010, 1020, 2010, 2020) is is designed to introduce students to three core content areas: K’iche’ language, Maya linguistics, and Maya culture.

The Korean program at UVA offers courses at various levels: Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced, and fourth-year Korean (KOR 401 & 402).  From Elementary Korean (KOR 101 & 102) through Intermediate Korean (KOR 201 & 202), all four language skills (listening, reading, speaking, and writ

The Department of Classics offers a full range of undergraduate and graduate level Latin courses, from beginning Latin to Ph.D. level seminars. Elementary Latin (LATI 1010 and 1020) prepares students to read prose and poetry: Caesar and Ovid in LATI 2010, and Cicero and Catullus in LATI 2020.

This course will introduce you to the Merina dialect (spoken in the central high plateau), which is the Standard and official dialect of Madagascar, and thus used on the national TV and radio stations, official documents, and schools.

Shalom and welcome to Hebrew! Hebrew is the "sleeping beauty" of Semitic languages. For more than a thousand years, the Hebrew language had been sleeping (according to linguists, it was only daydreaming).

Studying Portuguese at UVa offers students a unique chance to learn about Brazilian and other Portuguese-speaking cultures across the world. The program is designed as an accelerated language-learning experience for students who are already proficient in French, Italian, or Spanish.

Slavic at UVa offers a comprehensive curriculum in Russian.  There are two BA's, in Russian Language and Literature and the interdisciplinary Russian and East European Studies program that combines language, literature, history, politics, folklore, and culture.  Graduate degrees can be taken in S

anskrit is a beautiful language that has been artistically and thoughtfully used for millenia.

In 2010, UVA’s Department of Spanish, Italian, & Portuguese’s Ph.D. was ranked the best of all Ph.D. programs in Spanish in the United States by the National Research Council.  The Department—with its long and distinguished tradition of excellence—confers the degrees of B.A., M.A., and Ph.D.

  1. An opportunity for you to learn a language and culture different from your own and engage positively with people from the Swahili region.
  2. Makes you competitive in the job market and looks good on your CV.
  3. Gives you many opportunities to work in Non-Governmental Organizati

The UVA Tibetan Language Program(link is external) offers four years of instruction in Tibetan during the academic year.

Speaking Turkish will allow you to travel to Türkiye, a secular Muslim country with a vibrant economy and thousands of years of history. The earliest human settlements we know today, such as Göbeklitepe are in Southeast Türkiye.