We live in a very multilingual world.

There are approximately 7,000 spoken languages, according to Ethnologue.

And we live in a very multilingual country – nearly 48 million people in the U.S. speak languages other than English at home, and more than 350 languages are spoken in U.S. households, according to the United States Census Bureau.

Penn State, like other colleges and universities, offers instruction in a selected range of languages. The offerings available in any semester or summer session, at any Penn State campus, can be found through the LionPath Schedule of Courses website, and course descriptions are provided in the Undergraduate Bulletin.

What is a Less Commonly Taught Language?

The Ethnologue website lists about 7,000 currently spoken languages (aside from languages that were spoken and written in the past). While the eight most-spoken world languages, in terms of the numbers of primary (mother-tongue) speakers, are, in order, Chinese, Spanish, English, Arabic, Hindi, Portuguese, Bengali, and Russian, language study in the U.S. has typically focused on Spanish, French, and German, along with Latin. At the same time, the realities of our multilingual country point to the significance of studying many other, less commonly taught languages.

Penn State is an advocate of the Less Commonly Taught Language experience

By advocating the study of Less Commonly Taught Languages, we aim to expand language awareness and language study by highlighting languages that students may not have had the opportunity to study in high school. Penn State offers many academic programs that support and encourage the study of these languages, together with a wide range of courses about the history and culture of the societies speaking these languages.

Studying a Less Commonly Taught language can be a challenging as well as rewarding experience. There may be a smaller selection of textbooks or other resources, fewer classes available, and less cultural reinforcement in the immediate environment, than for studying a commonly taught language. However, skills in these languages can enhance a student’s attractiveness to prospective employers as well as providing a unique and very satisfying opportunity for personal enrichment. This is why Penn State is focused on encouraging students to find out more about the opportunities to integrate the study of these languages into their overall academic careers.

As a Penn State student, you can study even languages not offered at Penn State

As a member of the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA), Penn State can make it possible to study a language that is offered by another Big Ten university if it does not offer it. This is possible through the BTAA CourseShare program, which allows students to get Penn State credits and grades for courses they take with another Big Ten institution during the academic year without paying extra tuition for this. Please talk to us if you are interested in studying a language not offered by Penn State – we just might be able to help you find the classes you need!

What our students have to say about studying a less commonly taught language

This website has several profiles of current and former Penn State students who share some of the most memorable experiences they have had while studying less commonly taught languages. We invite you to check out their stories and learn about the many different opportunities Penn State offers to students interested in studying less commonly taught languages.