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Originally uploaded by steveritchie

مرحبا

Bonjour!

Hello, I should say. My name is Chris Tutolo, and I am a junior at Penn State majoring in International Politics and seeking a minor in both French and Middle East Studies. In the first of my posts, I’d like to emphasize the benefits of studying languages, especially as a student in the Liberal Arts at Penn State.

The College of the Liberal Arts is home to over 10 languages available for study at Penn State. I strongly encourage others within the college to pick up a minor in one of them. Not only is learning a foreign language an awakening, fun, and incredibly rewarding experience, but it also perfectly complements the academic track of a liberal arts degree.

Also, if boredom has plagued the best of your midsummer days, direct your attention toward a great opportunity to both master a language and earn credits next summer with the Language Institute at Penn State. The Language Institute offers intensive language sequences in more than 10 languages and students can earn up to 12 credits in just 8 weeks.  Many of the courses required for a foreign language minor are now offered in the summer and eight weeks of summer language study can help students make great strides towards a language minor. Past and present participants: feel free to comment below on your experience with the Language Institute.

To echo what Rebekka Egger, Academic Director of the Language Institute, wrote in an earlier post, foreign language skills are developing as exceedingly practical tools in the globalized, multicultural marketplace that marks the 21st century. Increasing, too, with this trend is the number of firms, NGOs, humanitarian organizations, and other American companies that operate outside U.S. borders. Intuitively, getting ahead in this form of marketplace frequently includes knowledge of at least one foreign language.

Foreign language proficiency can even help you in the application process, as a number of graduate and law schools, government jobs, nonprofits and even scholarships and grants weigh language skills into their decision. Even in recreational traveling through foreign countries where English is commonly used, a cultured tourist beats an ignorant one. The list of benefits goes on, but one of the most interesting of them is the suspected advantages of the bilingual brain (Go figure.).

Fellow readers, I challenge you to challenge yourselves. In my lifetime, I have found myself enclosed in a bubble of sorts, constricted further by narrow minds and unfaltering outlooks on life. Since engaging in International Politics, French, and Middle East Studies, I find myself reaching toward endless horizons with an open mind, open arms, and open eyes. From within the Penn State community, I now feel connected on a much broader scale.

I hope to complete my French minor requirements while abroad at a Penn State affiliated institution in France. What’s more, I may even stay with a Tunisian family, where I would learn more about both French and Arab culture. Granted, not even I could have expected opportunities so picture perfect. But it started with a piqued interest in language. The room for creation, exploration, and discovery that ensued is what led me down a chance-filled path and, to be sure, toward what great things await.

You, too, have the chance to spring into the opportunities available to you through Penn State. Explore them. Exceed your boundaries. You may find yourself fascinated by the prospect of traveling, studying abroad, and meeting international students (field experience, you might say). And if you’re anything like me, you’ll never turn back.

Look out for more posts from me throughout the next couple of months. Some of the topics include: debunking the Language Acquisition Device and stress-free escapes on and around Penn State’s campus just in time for the fall semester.