Missouri State University will offer courses in Italian and Portuguese beginning Jan. 15 at the Foreign Language Institute (FLI) in the Jim D. Morris Center downtown. Italian and Portuguese courses at the FLI will build introductory language skills and explore the associated cultures of the respective languages.

The Foreign Language Institute is a Missouri State University-led partnership among five Springfield-area institutions of higher learning (MSU, Drury University, Evangel University, Ozarks Technical Community College, and Southwest Baptist University). Its purpose is to expand opportunities for students at all of the partner schools and in the broader community to learn languages, particularly those identified as critical or less commonly taught; such as Arabic, Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Russian.

Individual institutions are typically unable to offer such courses due to low enrollment and/or the lack of faculty resources. The FLI allows partner institutions to pool students and resources to offer collaboratively many languages which are otherwise unavailable.

Missouri State students who wish to take either course should register for the spring 2013 semester. Community members can enroll in non-credit courses by registering online or by calling (417) 836-6328. The non-credit fee is $300 for each course.

Beginning fall 2013, students at partner institutions will enroll in regular, three-credit-hour courses and pay tuition at their home institutions.

 

Courtesy Missouri State’s Office of University Communications