We will have virtual “programming” and resources on our website beginning on Monday, March 8, organized around the themes of Cultures (Monday, 3/8), Language Study (Tuesday, 3/9), and Careers (Thursday, 3/11). Stay tuned for more information!
Ways of contacting us are the following:
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Established to encourage and assist language students to study abroad and gain life experience in the language they are studying at Grand Valley.
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Why language? Language is considered a critical part of a liberal arts education. Part of Grand Valley State University's vision and strategic priorities are to "inspire and equip students to be active life-long learners and global citizens" and to require global learning of all undergraduate majors. This does not mean that we expect all students to become fluent, but instead to have exposure to a second language and culture, which in turn leads to practical language skills. The Modern Languages and Literatures Department's language courses offer not just the chance to study a language, but to actively engage with another culture on its own terms.
Multiple studies link the benefits of language learning to:
The following professions are seeing an increased need for language skills:
Check out our majors, minors, and other language courses. Explore further reading on the importance of learning a foreign language.
Rachel has been a champion for youth in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector of Grand Rapids for more than a decade. Using what she learned in her Spanish classes and study abroad in Spain, she infuses her work with a racial equity & social justice lens
After moving to Michigan she enrolled at GVSU, where she graduate as a Spanish major. She continued her education as a mother of two, and taught Spanish at home, and/or worked as a Spanish Translator Interpreter.
