Beginning language courses are offered in Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Italian, and Spanish. They are designed to help enable students to participate in brief conversation over familiar topics; comprehend simple directions, commands, questions and conversations in the spoken foreign language; and read and write about those same topics. Students learn about the culture of the country whose language they study and learn enough about the attitude, customs and traditions of the country so that they will understand appropriate, expected behavior and etiquette in everyday social situations.

Additonially, beginning Latin or Greek emphasizes pronunciation, elementary grammar, and translation. Both provide a good background for understanding English grammar and vocabulary. Latin is also a good foundation for the study of Romance languages such as French, Italian, and Spanish.