Languages at Oberlin
Video Description: Languages at Oberlin
This silent video makes quick cuts, with each of the following segments lasting 2 or 3 seconds.
- A street scene from China.
- Looking up at office buildings from the same street.
- A student practices Spanish on a blackboard
- A professor of Italian teaches students.
- A student reads at a desk.
- A professor gestures to students to join her.
- A close-up of a translated poem.
- A close-up of an ancient manuscript.
- A professor works with a student.
- A student waives hello from her study abroad site.
- A student crushes grapes with a group as part of his study abroad experience.
- A professor and student share a laugh.
- A professor teaches from a blackboard.
- A group of students read a poem aloud.
- A student reads in front of a bright window.
- A tractor carries grapes during sunset.
The video then loops back to the beginning.
Experience the Joy of Immersion
Whether you hope to translate a Murakami short story, practice public health in Honduras, research punk in Siberia, or discover the business and culture of champagne in France, Oberlin unlocks the transformative power of multilingual learning.
Oberlin Languages At a Glance
Learning a language gives you a new perspective on the world.
Language is a powerful technology. It lays the foundation for meaningful relationships in a global age. It gives students an edge for rigorous academic study and opens professional avenues both at home and abroad. At Oberlin we offer sixteen language-based curricular pathways, four language houses, over a hundred study away programs, and our own immersive faculty-led courses around the world.
Intensive language courses during Winter Term focus on participation and developing an appreciation and enthusiasm for the language.
Few things are more thrilling than discovering our voice in another language and using it to make new connections.
Sebastiaan Faber, Professor of Hispanic Studies
Learn the Art of Translation
An interdisciplinary minor, literary translation brings together creative writing, comparative literature, and Oberlin’s many language departments. Students pursuing the minor study the history and theory of literary translation while developing their own extended translation projects. Each year the annual Jed Deppman Translation Symposium invites a distinguished translator to hold workshops before a presentation of student work.
The Classroom is Just the Beginning
Oberlin’s faculty-designed study away programs bring foreign languages to life by situating academic subjects in real-world geographies. Whether for a month over winter term or part of our June block course, students form life-long memories, putting skills into action and reaping the rewards of their dedicated language study.
On location in Rome with Professor Wendy Hyman’s Winter Term group.
Study Away At a Glance
Oberlin and the Fulbright Award
With close faculty mentoring, excellence in area-specific undergraduate research, and an ethos of global citizenship, Oberlin consistently sends recent graduates on fellowships to teach and conduct research around the world. After more than a decade on the Fulbright top producers list, the fellowship has become a part of Oberlin culture.
From Oberlin to Uzbekistan
Patrick Powers ’21
- Majors: Russian/East European studies and comparative literature
Teaching in Benin
Megan Grabill ’21
- Majors: anthropology, comparative literature, and French
A Fellowship to Baden-Württemberg
Jasmine Anderson ’17
- Majors: German studies and politics
Teaching English in Taiwan
Grace Evans ’17
- Major: East Asian studies
- Concentration: linguistics
- Minor: politics
From Oberlin to Mexico
Amanda Medendorp ’19
- Majors: Hispanic studies, law and society
Teaching and Volunteering in Germany
Ruth Bieber-Stanley ’21
- Majors: German and psychology
- Concentration: linguistics
Resources for Language Study
On-Campus Resources
Related Programs
