On a webpage titled “Why Study Languages,” you can find a cache of Language Learning Journeys. These journeys, comprising videos filmed and edited with language students, dive into the long, lovely, and confusing process of learning a language, and emphasize why it is so important to do.

Wesleyan offers fifteen regularly taught languages (the most of any co-ed liberal arts college), in addition to language instruction arranged through our Alternative Language Study program, some of which are frequently offered due to popular student demand. Learning a language is a uniquely immersive experience, as it’s crucial to learn the grammar as much as the vocabulary, the vocabulary as much as the accent, the accent as much as the cultural context, and so on.

In the videos filmed for the website, we can learn a little more about what it’s like to learn, for example, Swahili at Wes – what that entails and the challenges that come along with it. And we also learn the why behind each student’s decision to pursue language study, whether that be to connect with their ancestry or just for fun. Each student’s journey is just as particular and special as the student themselves, and no one journey alike. It can be said, however, that the trajectory of each student’s academic path, and life path, has been changed with their decision to study language at Wes.