Our Languages

World Language courses are one of the following: a regular course taught in English with no language prerequisites; an occasional offering with variable title and content taught in English; or, a second language for which a regular catalog number is not available.

PSU students love ASL! Acquire basic expressive and receptive skills in ASL 101,102 and 103. Build on those skills and learn about Deaf culture in 201,202 and 203. Take the 300 level and get a minor in ASL!

Arabic is spoken in more than 30 countries and is the official language in 25 countries. As many as 422 million people around the world speak Arabic, making it the fifth most spoken language.

Learn a language native to more people than any other on the planet. Explore a literary tradition that extends over three thousand years. PSU offers four years of instruction in both Chinese language and literature, a major and a minor.

Bonjour et bienvenue! Study language, literature, culture and film through a French lens. Courses in writing, French for professionals, conversational French, phonetics. Literature from Song of Roland to Moliere to science fiction and African and Caribbean authors.

Wilkomen! We are a dynamic program with a wide range of courses in German literature, culture, film, and language. Our language classes continue through advanced German where we offer Goethe-Institut proficiency exams. 

Modern Hebrew is a unique language in the sense that it was a dead language between the second and twentieth centuries but is currently the first language of seven million speakers. Thus, to study Hebrew is to study the greatest experiment in linguistics. 

The Heritage Language Initiative (HLI) seeks to address the needs of speakers of languages other than English in our communities and to build on the strengths that come from bilinguilism. The heritage language is often the language spoken at home, other than English.

PSU's Italian Program offers a wide variety of undergraduate courses to meet the goals of students from diverse academic and professional backgrounds. By studying Italian language, culture, literature, cinema, and critical theory, you'll learn about Italy in a world context.

Expand your view by getting a taste of the nation that embraces ancient tradition and modern innovation! Learn Japanese through experience-focused language classes. Discover new ways to understand manga, literature, and even perform in world-renowned kabuki.

Learn Korean! We offer 1st and 2nd year Korean. In 1st year Korean, students gain basic proficiency in speaking, listening, reading, writing, and culture. The 2nd year level extends students' skills in these five areas. 

For nearly two millenia, much of European literature, scholarship, diplomacy, and even aspects of everyday life, found expression in Latin. Studying Latin will open up to these worlds to you, and will reveal ways in which Latin still influences contemporary culture.

Ten percent of Oregonians claim Scandinavian heritage! We teach first-year (101, 102, 103) and second-year  (201, 202, 203) Norwegian. First-year Norwegian introduces students to elementary Bokmål, with emphasis on pronunciation, basic grammar, vocabulary and reading. 

Persian is spoken by over 100 million people in Iran, Afganistan, and Tajikistan as well as neighboring countries. It's one of the world's ancient languages and once the lingua franca of central Asia, so Persian is a gateway to this fascinating part of the world. 

Learn Portuguese! Master your language skills and build cultural knowledge. Enhance your career options or become a language professional. We have PSU and faculty-led Education Abroad and Global Internships. 

Welcome to Russian! The language and culture classes in PSU’s Russian program will teach you how to communicate in Russian so that you can use the language in real-world settings. Use your skills to talk with Russian-speakers in the Portland community.

Master your language skills and build cultural knowledge. Enhance your career options or become a language professional. We have PSU and faculty-led Education Abroad and Global Internships. You can do your Capstone in Spanish in PDX. 

Ten percent of Oregonians claim Scandinavian heritage! We teach first-year (101, 102, 103) and second-year (201, 202, 203) Swedish. First-year Swedish emphasizes communication skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

Heritage Vietnamese courses are designed for students who have a background in the Vietnamese language or who have a connection to its culture. Both heritage speakers and English-only speakers are welcome. We support student's individual academic, career, and personal communications goals.