University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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Taking it all in, three first-year students start to fill their language requirement from scratch in French 101. First-year students took placement exams at summer orientation which gave them a guideline by which to choose the appropriate class level, photo by Naomi Trager With a guiding hand, a German 101 instructor helps a student with her classwork. Language classes were often the closest to a high school classroom setting, making them comfortable for many first-year students, photo by Naomi Trager 90 ISA Language Requirement

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-1 . .. Learning to teach, elementary education students spend time in a CCRB physical education class. Education students were able to enjoy classes in which they took steps back to their childhood, photo by Mike Cutri With precise accuracy, sophomore Justin Williams measures a candle- stick as junior Derek Boom records the findings. Mechanical engineering classes allowed students to partici- pate in many hands-on projects. photo by Mike Cutri Academics 89

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expanding narrow HORIZONS As all LSA students were aware - and many unhappily so - fourth-term proficiency in a lan- guage was a requirement for graduation. Accord- ing to the LSA Course Guide, Competence in languages has traditionally been a sign of a well- educated person. ..The study of another language is a way to gain a new reflective understanding of language and communication systems. While some students agreed that foreign languages were an important part of a quality education, others complained that their future careers will never be impacted by languages they were forced to take while attending the University. I think learning a foreign language is part of a well-rounded education, and without it the LSA curriculum would not be as balanced, said Nicole Practicing pronunciation, a Spanish 101 instructor uses an overhead to aid her students. Many introductory language courses were taught by Graduate Student Instructors from other countries proficient in the language they taught, photo by Naomi Trager The LSA fourth semester proficiency language requirement forces prima- rily English speaking students to indulge in a bit of foreign culture Muendelein, a junior majoring in political science. She completed the requirement in French, then decided she missed studying the language and made it her minor. We always hear that we ' re not going to get a job in the exact field we study. I think it ' s important to have these skills because you never know what you ' re going to need for a future job. Sophomore cell and molecular biology major Justin Christy wholeheartedly disagreed. Fourse- mesters of foreign language is completely unnec- essary, he said. German is not my utmost con- cern when I ' m studying to become a doctor. Jennifer Fisher, a sophomore art history and film major who studied Italian, had a less extreme take on the subject. I think the language requirement should be cut in half, she said. A lot of students take the four semesters, finish up and never take a language again. I think it gets in the way of a lot of people ' s schedules when they ' re trying to get their distribution out of the way. The language requirement may have been wel- comed by some LSA students and abhorred by others, but one thing remained universal: it was required for everyone, by Cortney Dueweke Academics 91