It s All Greek to Me… and French and Spanish and German and Italian…

Below are national figures and voices from all over the country -- including the University of Cincinnati -- discussing the growth and role of language studies and language houses in the United Staes.

Table of Contents

• Language studies spiking: the numbers speak for themselves
• Jumping into immersion
• The newest language house opens its doors at the University of Cincinnati
• At the oldest U.S. French house, students ask, “Can I say something in English?”
• A cheap way to go abroad
• The biggest challenge is funding
• Mixing it up in the dorms
• A dorm compromise
• For student, language immersion is both personal and professional
• Passionate commitment to language learning
• More immersion: a roster of schools

LANGUAGE STUDIES SPIKING: THE NUMBERS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES
According to the most-recent figures from the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages, the number of undergraduate college students studying foreign languages is  rising like a rocket.  The latest figures, from 2002, show that the percentage of four-year college students enrolling in foreign-languages courses rose 11.8 percent in 2002.  In two-year colleges, foreign-language enrollment spurted 40.2 percent between 1986 and 1990 and has continually risen since: 3.6 percent in 1995, 8.8 percent in 1998 and 36 percent in 2002. 

Spanish is and has been the most-widely taught language in colleges and universities since 1970, and it continues to account for more than half (53.4 percent) of all foreign-language enrollments.  The study of Spanish is fairly evenly distributed nationally, with slightly higher numbers of Spanish students to be found in the Midwest and South Atlantic regions.  The next-largest language grouping – French and German – represents 21 percent of foreign-language studies.   Trailing these languages, in terms of enrollment, are Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Latin, Russian, Hebrew, ancient Greek, Arabic, Portuguese and Korean.  For more on language-enrollment figures, go to http://www.adfl.org/projects/index.htm

JUMPING INTO IMMERSION
Living a language is the best way to learn it.  And a few schools in the United States began language-immersion houses early in the 1900s.  These earliest houses – usually devoted to French language learning – required student residents to speak and use the language at all times within the confines of the house.

The same concept is at work today as universities often convert residence hall floors to language-immersion floors or less frequently – because of the expense – build or convert free-standing homes into modern language-immersion homes.  No exact figures are available since there is no national association of language houses (though faculty at the University of Cincinnati and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst are seeking to begin such an association); however, anecdotal evidence from throughout the country points to a growth spate of language-immersion floors and houses since early in the 1990s. 

THE NEWEST LANGUAGE HOUSE OPENS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
Most college campuses that have begun residential language-immersion programs in recent years have done so in the forms of designated floors in existing residence halls.  It’s a less-expensive option as opposed to a free-standing house, but it usually means a somewhat compromised immersion experience as non-language students are sometimes on the same floor.

The University of Cincinnati is unusual in that it will open a free-standing Spanish/French language house, dubbed Valentine House, directly across from campus in September 2005.  As far as can be determined, it is the first free-standing language house to open in the United States in more than 20 years. 

“At first, we thought to do a language-immersion program in the dorms, but programs in dorms have varied widely in terms of success.  What we found in our research was that stand-alone houses were the most long-lived and successful; however, they’re expensive.  That’s why there are so many program of recent vintage housed in existing dorms,” said Lowanne Jones, associate professor of French and chair of Romance Languages and Literature at the University of Cincinnati.

AT THE OLDEST LANGUAGE HOUSE, STUDENTS ASK, "CAN I SAY SOMETHING IN ENGLISH?"
The French House at the University of Wisconsin-Madison began in 1918 and has since developed an array of amenities to serve both students and community, including three (often) French-cuisine meals a day prepared by professional chefs.  The dining room, which seats 80, is open to the public for Wednesday dinner and Friday lunch, and all patrons – like the resident students – must speak French in the house. 

“From my first contact with someone interested in living in the house, I speak French,” according to Andrew Irving, director of UW’s French House.  “The biggest challenge,” he added, “is keeping them speaking French all the time, every day.  They sometimes say, ‘Can I say something in English?’  I usually reply (in French of course), ‘Unless you’re calling 911, and it’s a life or death situation, give it a shot in French.’  It’s not that the students don’t want to speak French.  Learning a language via immersion takes a considerable effort, and it can be tiring and frustrating at times.”  

A CHEAP WAY TO GO ABROAD
Since 1995, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst has devoted an entire residence hall to language immersion.  They first offered Spanish, French, German and Japanese.  Chinese and Italian immersion floors have since been added, and students are now requesting Russian and Portuguese.  Therese Pasquale, associate director of UM’s residential academic programs, stated, “We have a little over 100 people in the hall now, and many students stay with us for two or three years… We’re a cheap way to ‘go abroad.’”

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE IS FUNDING
Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, has a number of free-standing languate-immersion houses.  The oldest is a French house that opened in 1968 followed by a German house in 1975, a Spanish house in 1977 and a Japanese house in 1984. 

According to Nancy Tavelli, director, Residence Life and Housing, “The most difficult challenge of language houses is funding.” 

“It’s extremely effective education, but it’s not necessarily efficient,” she explained.  “You’re housing 8 to 10 people and paying maintenance, upkeep and staff versus doing that much more efficiently for 200 people.  We have lovely turn-of-the-century houses which do require a lot of maintenance.  I’ve learned a lot about deferred maintenance, kitchens and furnaces.  On the plus side, our admissions people love the houses.  The possibility of living in these houses is a great ‘sell’ for campus.”

MIXING IT UP IN THE DORMS
The University of Georgia began a French/Spanish language floor in an established residence hall in the year 2000.  “We didn’t fill the program in the first year,” said Cathy Jones, professor of French.  “We had 16 students in French for 18 places and space unfilled in Spanish too.  We were lucky though because our vice president paid our Residence Life division for the empty beds we had, so they weren’t filled by non-language students.  That’s one reason language programs in dorms tend to fail.  If beds aren’t filled in an immersion floor, Residence Life will fill those beds with non-language students.  That destroys the integrity of the effort.”

A DORM COMPROMISE
Illinois State University began a German, French and Spanish interest floor about three years ago, with James Reid, professor of French, serving as the floor’s mentor.  “The students, about 20 or 30 of them, were interested in speaking the language, but they were mixed in with other students because a dorm has to pay for itself.  So, with the mix of students where only some were interested in speaking a language, only the strongest of them could really speak and practice.  Many were too timid and were uncomfortable speaking the language with so many non-participating students about,” according to Reid.

So, this year, empty beds on ISU’s immersion floors were filled with international students from a variety of countries.  “The plethora of languages makes it okay for our students to practice their skills.  It changed the floor radically.  While it’s not a space reserved solely for immersion in one language, we’re doing the best we can in a non-perfect situation,” he added.

FOR STUDENT, LANGUAGE IMMERSION IS BOTH PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL
Julie Hollyday, 23, a University of Cincinnati communications major from Toledo, Ohio, jumped at the chance to spend her senior year as a Valentine House resident, immersing herself in French.  She ticks off the reasons for opting to live in the house: “I like French so much!  It’s a beautiful language, so melodic and soothing.”

“Also, I have relatives in France.  I have an aunt who has lived there for 25 years, and a cousin of mine moved there and married a Frenchman.  I can recall that my aunt would come and visit us and teach me a few words of French.  Now, I’d like to visit and speak with them.”  Also, Hollyday would like to bolster her journalism resume with an internship at the Paris-based International Herald Tribune.

PASSIONATE COMMITMENT TO LANGUAGE LEARNING
When in high school, University of Cincinnati Spanish major Elizabeth Mayersky, 21, worked at a local restaurant chain that also employed Spanish-speaking immigrants.  “That’s when I really began practicing the language, which I was also studying in class.  It was just so cool to communicate with other people from another culture,” she said.  Now having studied Spanish abroad, Mayersky, a resident of Mason, wants to continue improving her skills and, importantly, wants to be around people who are just as excited about learning and speaking Spanish as she is.  “In the classroom, not everyone is as passionate about the language.  It’s, perhaps, part of a business requirement for them.  But Spanish is a part of me now.  I want to be around people who are as interested as I am,” stated Mayersky, who hopes to one day either teach Spanish or work as a translator.
 
MORE IMMERSION: A ROSTER OF SCHOOLS
Here’s a list of schools, including those listed above, plus a few others that have begun immersion residence hall floors or houses:

• University of Cincinnati, Valentine House for French and Spanish, 2005
• Emory University (Georgia), Spanish House, 1993
• Hollins University (Virginia), French House (free-standing), and a Spanish House - founded in 1993 - and a German House (in residence halls)
• Illinois State University, mixed language residence hall floor for German, French and Spanish, 2002
• Oberlin College (Ohio), Bailey House for French, 1927, and Harvey House for Spanish, 1962
• Smith College (Connecticut), Dawes House for French, 1941
• University of Georgia, Mary Lyndon Residence Hall (a residence hall) for French and Spanish, 2000
• University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Thatcher Language House (a residence hall) for Spanish, German, French, Italian, Chinese and Japanese, 1995
• University of Wisconsin-Madison, The French House, 1918
• University of Virginia, five houses founded between 1985 and 2002 in French, German, Spanish, Russian and a mixed house of six languages
• Whitman College (Washington state), four houses founded for French, German, Spanish and Japanese between 1968 and 1984