Language Study

Chinese books on a bookcase

A profound relationship exists between language study and the humanities. Students are encouraged to pursue a rigorous study of another language, not just to fulfill a requirement or to earn a language citation, but as a way of enriching and deepening research, accessing the benefits of advanced seminars in language programs, and, ultimately, bettering career prospects in many different fields.

Languages Offered at Harvard

African Language Program

Gikuyu, Swahili, Twi, Yoruba, African language tutorials (Afrikaans, Amharic, Bamanakan, Bemba, Cape Verdean Creole, Chichewa, Dinka, Gullah, Haitian Creole, Hassaniyah, Hausa, Ibibio, Igbo, Jamaican Patois, Kikongo, Kinyarwanda, Krio, Lingala, Luganda, Malagasy, Oromo, Pulaar, Setswana, Shona, Somali, Sudanese Arabic, Tigrinya, Tshiluba, West African Pidgin, Wolof, Xhosa, Zulu)

ALP Program Manager: Feven Girmay

Celtic Languages & Literatures

Breton, Modern Irish, Old Irish, Modern Welsh, Middle Welsh, Scottish Gaelic

Director of Undergraduate Studies: Natasha Sumner

The Classics

Ancient and Medieval Latin, Ancient Greek, Modern Greek

Preceptor in Ancient Greek and Classical Latin: Ivy Livingston

East Asian Languages & Civilizations

Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Manchu, Mongolian, Uyghur, Vietnamese

Language Program Coordinator: Rebecca Mahoney

English

Old English

Instructor: Daniel Donoghue

Germanic Languages & Literatures

German, Swedish, and language tutorials in Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Icelandic, and Norwegian

Director of Undergraduate Studies in German: Lisa Parkes 
Director of Undergraduate Studies in Scandinavian: Agnes Broomé

Linguistics

American Sign Language, Hittite, Indo-European, Old Church Slavonic

Director of Undergraduate Studies: Kathryn Franich

Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations

Akkadian, Albanian, Arabic, Aramaic, Armenian, Egyptian, Hebrew (Classical and Modern), Kurdish, Persian, Sumerian, Turkish, Ugaritic, Yiddish

Director of the Modern Language Programs: Nader Uthman

Romance Languages & Literatures

Catalan, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish

Director of Language Programs: Nicole Mills

Slavic Languages & Literatures

Russian, Czech, Polish, Ukrainian, and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian

Director of Language Programs: Steven Clancy

South Asian Studies

Hindi-Urdu, Nepali, Sanskrit, Tamil, Thai, Tibetan language courses and Bahasa Indonesia, Bengali, and Burmese language tutorials

Director of Undergraduate Studies: Richard Delacy