Language Degrees Online

Students in the Spanish program learn skills in writing and in speaking, knowledge of important aspects of Spanish civilization including geography, history, art, social customs, cuisine, business practices and the political life of Spain. Students become familiar with Spanish literature and analysis of texts from original works. They learn the art of creative writing and journalism and publish their works with faculty members in literary journals.

Students who opt for a teaching career are encouraged to take a course in the Methodology of Foreign Language Teaching. All students are encouraged to participate in summer abroad programs in Argentina and in Spain, specifically trips to Cádiz and Madrid, where they can master important linguistic, cultural and social skills in addition to course work. There are also internships in this country in local Spanish institutions.

This program will prepare graduates to:

Demonstrate the ability to understand, speak, write, and read the Spanish language.
Communicate with educated native speakers of the language of Spain or Latin American countries on a variety of topics, fluently, without making serious errors in pronunciation or choice of words.
Read and demonstrate understanding of a Spanish or Latin American newspaper or an article of general interest.
Write letters on subjects of interest and express opinions on daily events.
Master advanced grammar and composition writing.

Demonstrate understanding of the values of Spanish and Latin American culture, social, historical, political and every day aspects of life.
Demonstrate knowledge of the geography, history, social customs, the arts, government and political life of Spain and Latin American countries.
Model the social skills necessary to successfully interact with Spanish and Latin American people around the world.

Demonstrate understanding and familiarity with major literary periods, theoretical perspectives of esthetics of language and historical and social values reflected in literature.
Distinguish literary periods, and the esthetics of different literary Spanish and Latin American genres.
Analyze reflected social values, literary practices, and contemporary literary criticism.

Students in the Italian program acquire skills in writing and speaking, knowledge of aspects of Italian civilization including geography, history, art, social customs, cuisine, science, music and the political life of Italy. Students become familiar with Italian literature from its origins in the thirteenth century to the present.

Italian majors further focus on monographic courses that devote considerable attention to literary figures or work, such as the Divine Comedy, or the Italian Novella, or the Modern Theatre, the art and skills of translation, and in the study of significant elements that contribute to the complex portrait of Italian culture.

All are encouraged to participate in the summer and semester study abroad programs in Italy, and especially Rome, where they can master important linguistic and social skills through focused internships in a variety of fields. There are also internships in this country in local Italian Institutions.

The program will prepare graduates to:

Demonstrate the ability to understand, speak, write, and read the Italian language.
Communicate with educated native speakers of the language on a variety of topics, fluently, without making serious errors in pronunciation or choice of words.
Translate Italian texts into English and English texts into Italian.
Write essays in Italian on a variety of written texts ranging from a critical evaluation of poems, novels, short stories and newspaper or magazine articles.
Demonstrate understanding of Italian as spoken in film, television programs, and interviews.
Demonstrate knowledge of the idiomatic features of the Italian language in comparison to English.
Distinguish the terminology used in the description of Italian as a language and demonstrate command of same.
Recognize linguistic nuances in the speech of Italians, physical features, mannerisms and other distinguishing marks that will assist them in identifying the region of origin of their interlocutors.
Demonstrate knowledge of the meta-linguistic skills necessary to teach Italian, that is, the specific grammatical and idiomatic features of Italian

Demonstrate understanding of the values of Italian culture, social, historical, political and every day aspects of life.
Recognize social, cultural and linguistic diversity among Italians.
Demonstrate knowledge of the historical processes that have contributed to making the country of Italy.
Recognize the physical and political features of Italian territory and have a good command of its specific features

Demonstrate understanding and familiarity with major literary periods, theoretical perspectives of esthetics of language and historical and social values reflected in literature.
Read, understand and critically evaluate a variety of written texts in Italian.
Demonstrate knowledge of Italian literature from its origins to the present.
Recognize and define the various periods of Italian literary history beginning from the Middle Ages to the present.
Demonstrate ability to discuss the major literary authors and works of Italian literature.
Describe and critically evaluate a film, a documentary, or work of art in the Italian language.

Demonstrate knowledge of Italian contributions to western civilization in art, architecture, music, science and commerce.
Demonstrate knowledge of the contributions made by Italians to the United States.
Recognize the names of the major Italian artists, painters, sculptors and scientists and discuss their work with some degree of expertise.
Demonstrate knowledge of the Italians who have made contributions to the development of the United States from the famous discoverers of the Renaissance (Columbus, Vespucci, Verrazzano) to the millions of Italian emigrants who came in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Demonstrate knowledge of how the Italian nation was formed and what role it has played in European history of the 20th and 21st centuries

BA in French
Minor in French
BA in French with International Business Concentration
BA in French Education
Study Abroad in France: summer and semester exchange program with Dauphine University
Service Learning Credits in the South of France
Internships in France & New York
National French Honor Society
Preparation for the Diplôme de Français Commercial et Economique, by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris

The Department of Languages and Literatures offers programs of study both at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
On the undergraduate level, four degree-granting programs are available:
In addition to these degree-granting programs, a wide range of undergraduate courses in Modern and Classical Greek, Latin, German, Linguistics, Russian, Arabic and the Classics is also available.
Minors are offered in Classical Studies, French, Italian, Italian Studies, German, Modern Greek, Linguistics, Russian and Spanish.
Interdisciplinary majors and minors with the School of Education and the Peter J. Tobin College of Business are available in French, Italian and Spanish.
For a full immersion experience in the culture of choice, the Department strongly encourages students to take advantage of its Study Abroad Programs in Argentina, France, Greece, Italy and Spain.
On the graduate level a Master of Arts in Spanish is also available.The Department regularly offers reading courses in French and German for graduate students in other disciplines.

The undergraduate programs of the Department of English at St. John’s University are lively and growing. The numbers of our students and faculty have increased over the past few years. As of Fall 2005, we have twelve (12) full-time faculty on the Queens campus and five (5) full-time faculty on the Staten Island campus. The undergraduate Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) program has 186 English majors on the Queens campus, and 48 English majors on the Staten Island campus. Students may take classes on either campus as suits their convenience. The graduate programs, Bachelor of Arts / Master of Arts (B.A./M.A.), Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctor of Arts (D.A.) have about 60 students combined.

The English department has particular strengths in American Studies faculty, and we are seeking to develop our offerings in creative writing and rhetoric. Over the past several years, the department’s combined degree program, the B.A./M.A., has become a popular way for students to earn a Master’s degree within five years of enrolling for their B.A. degree.

Each semester, the Queens campus offers approximately twenty (20) upper-level courses for the undergraduate major, and nine (9) courses for the graduate programs. The department also offers approximately sixty (60) expository writing, core literature, and honors classes each semester on the Queens campus. The Staten Island campus offers approximately fifteen (15) upper-level B.A. courses per semester, one or two graduate courses, and about twenty (20) courses in expository writing and core English.

The English department also sponsors an active intellectual life. There are generally three department-funded colloquia a semester, in addition to lectures by department faculty and film series. For descriptions of recent students and faculty achievements, see the English Department Newsletter. The department graduate students founded a literary journal in 2003 called, The St. John’s Humanities Review. The journal features book reviews, essays, and interviews by contributors on campus and from around the world. The department also supports a literary journal of student poetry and fiction, Sequoya. Directed by the English Department’s Derek Owens, the Writing Center hires qualified graduate and undergraduate students as writing tutors. The Writing Center also presents lectures, and faculty and student colloquia.

For those students interested in using their B.A. toward graduate education, the department has recently placed its students in top graduate English programs such as those of Brown, Columbia, SUNY Buffalo, and CUNY. Students who major in English tend to develop very strong skills in reading comprehension and writing. They also acquire powerful habits of analytic thought, which is why most law students prepare for their future careers as English majors. Because almost every field of employment is in need of people who can read and write with skill, an English major or minor is a valuable asset. Particularly when coupled with other professional skills, a degree in English provides students with a versatile educational foundation.

Completed Application
Application fee of $70
Statement of goals
Official transcripts from EVERY institution attended, including conferral of degree
“B” or better average

EDU 9001 Foundations of Bilingual, Multicultural and Second Language Education
EDU 9002 Psychology and Sociology of Language and Bilingualism
EDU 9003 Literacy Development for First and Second Language Learners
EDU 9004 Content Area Instruction for Linguistically/Culturally Diverse Learners

Professional Concentration (21 credits)
EDU 9006 Human Development in Cross-Cultural Perspective
EDU 9010 Linguistics for Teachers of English Language (ELL) and Exceptional Learners
EDU 9012 Methods of Language and Academic Assessment for ELLs and Exceptional Learners
EDU 9013 Research in Language, Culture and Communication
EDU 9014 Practicum and Seminar in TESOL (3-6 credits)
EDU 9015 Structure of the English Language
EDU 9017 Literacy Development Methods for Dialect and Other English Speakers

About the Program
These research and standards-based graduate programs prepare professional, competent, caring and multicultural educators of English Language Learners (ELLs), K-12. The Master of Science degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), K-12, is a 33 credit, 11 course program. The Career Change Master of Science degree in TESOL and Childhood Education, a 42 credit, 15 course program, is intended for students who do not possess New York State Certification.

An English major prepares you for more than a single job: it prepares you for careers in a variety of fields. Effective writers and readers are increasingly in demand in today’s workplace. It’s never too early to start planning.

While an English major does not purport to train students directly for a particular job, it does prepare you for a surprising variety of professional careers including business, law, medicine, and journalism. Being an English major means that the skills that you will gain are crucial for many different professions. Fisher English department alumni have succeeded in a wide variety of fields, such as:
financial analysis
law
executive recruitment
social work
library science
marketing
loan management
film, television, and radio production
advertising
website managment
newspapers
clinical information
information managment
law enforcement
public relations
all kinds of corporate writing
AND education, and poetry and novel writing

Visit Fisher’s Community Alumni Resource Database (CARD) to contact alumni and ask about their fields. Check out “Working your Degree” from CNNMoney for a discussion of the English major in the workworld. And last, find out what these famous English majors did with their degrees!

All English Majors are urged to do an internship.

With an English major you can of course also consider teaching at the secondary level. The job market for high school teachers is excellent in many states. If you enjoy working with young people and are outgoing and energetic, this may be an excellent career for you, with the potential of mobility to other parts of the United States.

Contact the School of Education and begin early to take the courses required for secondary certification in English. If you’re not sure about teaching, consider teaching English to foreign speakers after you graduate from college, or applying for jobs at private or Catholic schools, which often do not require certification or Masters Degrees for new teachers. This can be a short-term career with opportunities for travel and enrichment at a time in your life when you might like to try something new.

Commitment to international education is part of the liberal arts philosophy of St. John Fisher College. The Foreign Study program extends the campus curriculum to include offerings at 100 programs around the world. Official affiliation arrangements provide our students the opportunity of an academic experience in Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa. English or foreign language programs are available for a semester, full year or summer study.

The Department of Modern Languages and Cultures prepares students to participate in today’s global society. The international market requires diversity, cultural awareness, and linguistic facility. Many students choose a language major or minor to prepare for work in fields including domestic and international business, government, historical and medical research, computer science, teaching, interpreting, and translation.