Responding to a perceived demand by the Boston University community to learn foreign languages, Globally Speaking, an initiative of Project GO-BU, expanded its language program this semester to include two new languages: Russian and Farsi.
Globally Speaking is a series of ‘free, informal, non-credit introductory [language] courses,’ offered to all BU students, faculty and staff, the Project GO-BU website states.
The program normally focuses on five different languages within the program: Arabic, Chinese, Turkish, Hausa and Wolof.
‘We picked these five critical languages specifically because we already have excellent programs in these languages at BU, so we’re able to support, provide instructors and materials for these languages,’ said Giselle Khoury, who is the head of the Arab Language Program and the coordinator of Project GO-BU.
The money to fund Globally Speaking was given to the Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures by the U.S. Department of Defense and by BU, she said. Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures chair and associate professor William Waters wrote a grant proposal prior to the fall 2009 semester asking for a $500,000 renewable grant to fortify the language capabilities of future military officers in critical languages, Khoury said.
‘Professor Waters basically got this money to work with ROTC,’ Khoury said. ‘The biggest chunk of money is going to go to the reserved officers because our aim is to increase their language abilities and their cultural awareness.’
According to the Project GO-BU website, the purpose of the mini-courses is to demystify languages and reduce ‘anxieties about unfamiliar sounds and scripts.’ Another possible outcome would be to encourage students to enroll in regular language courses, the website states.
‘The motivation is that it’s a fun class,’ Khoury said. ‘You are here to learn ‘- no one has to be here, there’s no grades, there’s no exams, no quizzes. It’s mainly to give the students a chance to experiment with languages.’
Professor Roberta Micallef said Globally Speaking is very different than the courses she teaches for credit.’
‘I have to rethink everything and think about what is important for them to know if they get off an airplane somewhere in Turkey, or what should they be able to say or do,’ she said.
‘But it’s a lot of fun also, because we are working on the slightly more touristy aspects of the language.’
Micallef said she designs her curriculum so that if her students go to Turkey they will be able to go to a restaurant, bargain with street vendors, find a bathroom or get directions.
‘I hope enough people will be enamored with Turkish to actually start studying it,’ she said. ‘But at the same time, I want them to get something practical out of it.’
Many of last semester’s Globally Speaking students expressed a desire to continue with a second level of the Globally Speaking courses. But due to funding constraints, Khoury said, BU will not be able to offer second-level courses yet.
Students said they have many different reasons for taking courses through Globally Speaking, many of which Khoury said are ‘practical.’
Jamal Al Marzooqi, a Center for English Language and Orientation Programs student, said he hopes to take Russian, Turkish and Persian, the program’s name for its Farsi courses, for his career.
‘I’d like to apply for a job as a police officer, and police need languages like Persian and Russian, so I am going to learn these languages here,’ he said.
College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Katharine Clements said she wants to be fluent in other languages. ‘I want to be able to speak to my friends in Turkish,’ she said. ‘I want to be able to go to Istanbul and not look and feel like an idiot.’
The program has only grown in popularity since the addition of two new languages. Khoury said the Arabic class has grown from 38 to 45 members since last week, and the Russian class is also in high demand.
‘If this continues next week we’ll probably cut the classes and continue with two sections. These are pretty good numbers. It’s pretty impressive,’ she said.’ ‘ ‘