Occidental offers an array of language courses including Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian and Spanish. Each language has multiple levels which students can progress through during their time at the college. Some of these languages offer attendance-based conversation courses for one credit.
According to National Endowment for the Humanities Professor Salvador Fernandez, the conversation courses were originally created around the mid-1990s to help students enhance and develop their oral language skills.
“The Spanish conversation courses have been an excellent asset to our Spanish program, and we encourage all students to enroll in these courses regardless of their language proficiency,” Fernandez said via email.
According to Fernandez, the language conversation courses are taught by recent international graduates who bring their real experiences from each respective country to the classroom. Fernandez said this is beneficial for language students as it allows them to gain current cultural perspectives from those outside of the U.S.
“Our Spanish section stresses the importance of the communicative approach to teaching Spanish language. It is our goal that the entire class be taught in Spanish, even at the Spanish 101 level,” Fernandez said via email. “Spanish faculty use a diversity of teaching methods depending on the level of Spanish they teach or the material they examine.”
Visiting Language Assistant Bryan Salas, who teaches Intermediate Spanish, said he works to incorporate Ecuadorian culture into his syllabus, as he is originally from Ecuador.
“I do more cultural immersion activities. Since I’m from Latin America, I teach them Latino traditions, cultural traditions such as dancing [and] cooking,” Salas said. “Last semester we had a couple of activities — one of them was embroidery, especially focused on how textile is so important for us in Latino culture.”
Salas said he works with fellow Visiting Language Assistant Celia Royo Tomás who is from Spain. According to Salas, they have created and organized numerous field trips, textile projects and film screenings for their students.
“I really believe that not only do you need to practice your Spanish, but you also need to know about Hispanic culture,” Salas said. “If you’re planning to travel abroad and you don’t know anything about the culture, it’s going to be a challenge.”
Fernandez said via email that the Visiting Language Assistants enrich Occidental students’ experiences through these cultural events and activities.
“The first two weeks of the semester, we had games in Spanish […] Later on, we’re going to have cooking classes and a field trip,” Salas said. “In my case, I’m organizing a field trip to go to Elysian Park to eat Ecuadorian food and talk with [the] Ecuadorian community.”
Visiting Language Assistant Rose Le Goff, originally from Brittany, France, said she teaches students in the French conversation class. According to Le Goff, she has engaged students in activities that are significant to her own French culture.
“The first semester, we cooked twice at the Intercultural Community Center, and we watched a movie at Choi Auditorium,” Le Goff said. “I’m going to cook some crêpes again, and we’re also going to have a cheese tasting activity. My classes are always very different.”
Le Goff said her classes are always completely in French, no matter the topic or activity. Le Goff said this allows students to experience full immersion in the language and develop their language skills through practice.
“Usually with the advanced class, no English is involved because they have the level for that,” Le Goff said.
Peer Language Advisor Julia Carrigan (senior) said the option of taking Arabic classes was one of Occidental’s selling points that sparked her excitement for attending the college.
Carrigan said Arabic conversation classes had not always been an option until her second semester at Occidental in 2022. Carrigan said she worked to influence Occidental to add the class to the roster. According to Carrigan, she has never been enrolled in conversation courses, but she has observed them and participated in them multiple times.
“I really just love Arabic and the beauty and structure of the language, and I love talking about it, so I really want people to just come and talk with me about Arabic,” Carrigan said.
Carrigan said the material and structure of the courses that she observed were very engaging, such as a focus on hosting someone for dinner. According to Carrigan, the professor who taught the conversation class encouraged students to engage as if they were part of a dinner event which allowed students to learn phrases such as “Welcome to my house” and “Thank you for having me.”
There are multiple languages that have yet to offer supplemental conversation courses such as Chinese, Japanese and Russian. According to Fernandez, each language department has autonomy to evaluate its curricular needs and if they feel a conversation course would be beneficial.
“Our conversation courses are very valuable as one component of our broader curriculum,” Fernandez said.
Contact Amalia Rimmon at rimmon@oxy.edu
