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The Pacific Union College Department of Modern Languages equips students with proficiency in a foreign language and an understanding of its peoples and cultures. The department helps students become world citizens and gain a global perspective through programs in German, Italian, and Spanish. (Other languages such as Portuguese and Russian are available through PUC's affiliation with Adventist Colleges Abroad.)

As the United States is increasingly interconnected with other countries through commerce and global agreements, it simultaneously becomes more diverse within its own borders. For these reasons, it's increasingly important for career-bound graduates to know at least one language other than English. The modern languages programs foster cultural learning along with the grammar and vocabulary of each language.

Students broaden their communication skills in ways that are in even more demand in an interdependent, multicultural world. The program goal is to provide effective opportunities for the development of both linguistic and cultural proficiency. Students learn to speak the language, appreciate the culture, and understand the native speaker's perspective. In the process, they become "cultural brokers" – facilitators of comprehension across cultures as they serve in a broad range of professional fields.

Fast Facts

• The ACA orientation gives students who have been accepted to study abroad useful real-world advice from fellow students who are recent participants.
• The modern languages department is among the most diverse on campus, with faculty members who are from and/or have lived in many countries outside the United States.
• The great majority of our Spanish majors participate in a full year of study abroad, which is for most a life-changing experience and the best out of their entire undergraduate experience.
• Modern languages department graduates have obtained employment in state government, education, business, medicine, and many other fields where their language skills and cultural knowledge are a tremendous asset. Many of them participate in mission trips as they practice in their fields.