Languages at Berkeley

The University of California at Berkeley offers instruction in the following languages in 14 departments. In addition to majoring or minoring in many of these languages, students may wish to consider the minor in Applied Language Studies. In the table below, click on the language name for more information about that language; click on the department name for general information on the department where the language is taught; click on the link in the Undergraduate Program for information on majoring/minoring in the language or area studies; and finally, click on the Course Info link for information on courses offered in that language.

Language

Department

Undergraduate Program

Course Info

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Akkadian

Department: Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures

Undergrad Program: https://melc.berkeley.edu/undergraduate-study.html

Courses: https://melc.berkeley.edu/courses.html

American Sign Language

Department: Linguistics

Undergrad Program: https://lx.berkeley.edu/ugrad/program

Courses: http://www.linguistics.berkeley.edu/programs/courses

Amharic

Department: African American Studies

See departmental site

See departmental site

Ancient Greek

Department: Department of Ancient Greek and Roman Studies

Undergrad Program: https://dagrs.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/majors-and-minors

See departmental site

Arabic

Department: Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures

Undergrad Program: https://melc.berkeley.edu/undergraduate-study.html

Courses: https://melc.berkeley.edu/courses.html

Armenian

Department: Slavic Languages and Literatures

Undergrad Program: http://slavic.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/

Courses: http://slavic.berkeley.edu/courses-2/

Bengali (Bangla)

Department: South & Southeast Asian Studies

Undergrad Program: http://sseas.berkeley.edu/programs/undergraduate

See departmental site

Biblical Hebrew

Department: Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures

Undergrad Program: http://guide.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/degree-programs/middle-eastern-languages-cultures/index.html

Courses: https://melc.berkeley.edu/courses.html

Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (BCS)

Department: Slavic Languages and Literatures

Undergrad Program: http://slavic.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/

Courses: http://slavic.berkeley.edu/courses-2/

Burmese

Department: South & Southeast Asian Studies

Undergrad Program: https://sseas.berkeley.edu/undergraduate-learning-goals/

See departmental site

Cantonese

Department: East Asian Languages and Cultures

Undergrad Program: https://ealc.berkeley.edu/programs/undergraduate

Courses: https://ealc.berkeley.edu/courses/description/fall-2021/chinese

Catalan

Department: Department of Spanish and Portuguese

See departmental site

Courses: https://spanish-portuguese.berkeley.edu/current-semester/

Chinese

Department: East Asian Languages and Cultures

Undergrad Program: https://ealc.berkeley.edu/programs/undergraduate

Courses: https://ealc.berkeley.edu/courses/listing/fall-2022-0

Classical Chinese

Department: East Asian Languages and Cultures

Undergrad Program: https://ealc.berkeley.edu/programs/undergraduate

Courses: https://ealc.berkeley.edu/courses/listing/fall-2022-0

Classical Japanese

Department: East Asian Languages and Cultures

See departmental site

See departmental site

Czech

Department: Slavic Languages and Literatures

Undergrad Program: http://slavic.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/

Courses: http://slavic.berkeley.edu/courses-2/

Danish

Department: Scandinavian

Undergrad Program: https://scandinavian.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/

Courses: https://scandinavian.berkeley.edu/courses-archive/

Dutch

Department: Dutch Studies

Undergrad Program: https://dutch.berkeley.edu/undergraduate-program

Courses: https://dutch.berkeley.edu/courses

Egyptian (Ancient)

Department: Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures

Undergrad Program: https://melc.berkeley.edu/undergraduate-study.html

Courses: https://melc.berkeley.edu/courses.html

Filipino

Department: South & Southeast Asian Studies

Undergrad Program: http://sseas.berkeley.edu/programs/undergraduate

See departmental site

Finnish

Department: Scandinavian

Undergrad Program: https://scandinavian.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/

Courses: https://scandinavian.berkeley.edu/courses-archive/

French

Department: The French Department

Undergrad Program: https://french.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/studying-french-language-at-cal

See departmental site

German

Department: Department of German

Undergrad Program: https://german.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/overview/

Courses: https://german.berkeley.edu/courses/courses-in-german/fall-2018/

Hindi

Department: South & Southeast Asian Studies

Undergrad Program: http://sseas.berkeley.edu/programs/undergraduate

See departmental site

Hungarian

Department: Slavic Languages and Literatures

Undergrad Program: http://slavic.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/

Courses: http://slavic.berkeley.edu/courses-2/

Icelandic

Department: Scandinavian

Undergrad Program: https://scandinavian.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/

Courses: https://scandinavian.berkeley.edu/courses-archive/

Igboo

Department: African American Studies and African Diaspora Studies

Undergrad Program: https://africam.berkeley.edu/major-and-minor-requirements/

See departmental site

Indonesian

Department: South & Southeast Asian Studies

Undergrad Program: http://sseas.berkeley.edu/programs/undergraduate

See departmental site

Italian

Department: Italian Studies

Undergrad Program: http://italian.berkeley.edu/undergraduate-program/

Courses: http://italian.berkeley.edu/courses-archive/

Japanese

Department: East Asian Languages and Cultures

Undergrad Program: http://ealc.berkeley.edu/programs/undergraduate/undergraduate-requirements

See departmental site

Khmer

Department: South & Southeast Asian Studies

Undergrad Program: http://sseas.berkeley.edu/programs/undergraduate

See departmental site

Korean

Department: East Asian Languages and Cultures

Undergrad Program: http://ealc.berkeley.edu/programs/undergraduate/undergraduate-requirements

See departmental site

Latin

Department: Department of Ancient Greek & Roman Studies

Undergrad Program: https://dagrs.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/majors-and-minors

See departmental site

Medieval Welsh

Department: Celtic Studies

Undergrad Program: http://celtic.berkeley.edu/major-and-minor/

Courses: https://celtic.berkeley.edu/courses/courses-archive/

Middle Persian

Department: Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures

Undergrad Program: https://melc.berkeley.edu/undergraduate-study.html

Courses: https://melc.berkeley.edu/courses.html

Modern Greek

Department: Department of Comparative Literature

Undergrad Program: https://complit.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/undergraduate-program

See departmental site

Modern Hebrew

Department: Middle Eastern Languages & Cultures

Undergrad Program: https://melc.berkeley.edu/undergraduate-study.html

Courses: https://melc.berkeley.edu/courses.html

Modern Irish

Department: Celtic Studies

Undergrad Program: http://celtic.berkeley.edu/major-and-minor/

Courses: https://celtic.berkeley.edu/courses/courses-archive/

Mongolian

Department: East Asian Languages and Cultures

See departmental site

See departmental site

Nahuatl

Department: Linguistics

Undergrad Program: https://lx.berkeley.edu/ugrad/program

Courses: https://lx.berkeley.edu/academics/courses-linguistics

Norwegian

Department: Scandinavian

Undergrad Program: https://scandinavian.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/

Courses: https://scandinavian.berkeley.edu/courses-archive/

Old Church Slavic

Department: Slavic Languages and Literatures

Undergrad Program: http://slavic.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/

Courses: http://slavic.berkeley.edu/courses-2/

Old Norse

Department: Scandinavian

Undergrad Program: https://scandinavian.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/

Courses: https://scandinavian.berkeley.edu/courses-archive/

Old/Middle Irish

Department: Celtic Studies

Undergrad Program: http://celtic.berkeley.edu/major-and-minor/

Courses: https://celtic.berkeley.edu/courses/courses-archive/

Persian

Department: Middle Eastern Languages & Cultures

Undergrad Program: https://melc.berkeley.edu/undergraduate-study.html

Courses: https://melc.berkeley.edu/courses.html

Polish

Department: Slavic Language and Literatures

Undergrad Program: http://slavic.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/

Courses: http://slavic.berkeley.edu/courses-2/

Portuguese

Department: Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Undergrad Program: https://spanish-portuguese.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/

Courses: https://spanish-portuguese.berkeley.edu/current-semester/

Punjabi

Department: South & Southeast Asian Studies

Undergrad Program: http://sseas.berkeley.edu/programs/undergraduate

Courses: https://sseas.berkeley.edu/fall-2022/

Russian

Department: Slavic Languages and Literatures

Undergrad Program: http://slavic.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/

Courses: http://slavic.berkeley.edu/courses-2/

Sanskrit

Department: South & Southeast Asian Studies

Undergrad Program: http://sseas.berkeley.edu/programs/undergraduate

Courses: https://sseas.berkeley.edu/fall-2022/

Spanish

Department: Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Undergrad Program: https://spanish-portuguese.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/

Courses: https://spanish-portuguese.berkeley.edu/current-semester/

Sumerian

Department: Middle Eastern Languages & Cultures

Undergrad Program: https://melc.berkeley.edu/undergraduate-study.html

Courses: https://melc.berkeley.edu/courses.html

Swahili

Department: African-American Studies

See departmental site

Courses: http://africam.berkeley.edu/content/language

Swedish

Department: Scandinavian

Undergrad Program: https://scandinavian.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/

Courses: https://scandinavian.berkeley.edu/courses-archive/

Syriac

Department: Middle Eastern Languages & Cultures

Undergrad Program: https://melc.berkeley.edu/undergraduate-study.html

Courses: https://melc.berkeley.edu/courses.html

Tamil

Department: South & Southeast Asian Studies

Undergrad Program: http://sseas.berkeley.edu/programs/undergraduate

See departmental site

Telegu

Department: South & Southeast Asian Studies

Undergrad Program: http://sseas.berkeley.edu/programs/undergraduate

See departmental site

Thai

Department: South & Southeast Asian Studies

Undergrad Program: http://sseas.berkeley.edu/programs/undergraduate

See departmental site

Tibetan

Department: East Asian Languages and Cultures

Undergrad Program: https://ealc.berkeley.edu/programs/undergraduate

See departmental site

Turkish

Department: Middle Eastern Languages & Cultures

Undergrad Program: https://melc.berkeley.edu/undergraduate-study.html

Courses: https://melc.berkeley.edu/courses.html

Ukranian

Department: Slavic Languages & Literatures

Undergrad Program: https://slavic.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/

Courses: http://slavic.berkeley.edu/courses-2/courses-archive/

Urdu

Department: South & Southeast Asian Studies

Undergrad Program: http://sseas.berkeley.edu/programs/undergraduate

See departmental site

Vietnamese

Department: South & Southeast Asian Studies

Undergrad Program: http://sseas.berkeley.edu/programs/undergraduate

See departmental site

Welsh

Department: Celtic Studies

Undergrad Program: http://celtic.berkeley.edu/major-and-minor/

Courses: https://celtic.berkeley.edu/courses/courses-archive/

Yiddish

Department: Department of German

Undergrad Program: https://german.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/overview/

Courses: https://german.berkeley.edu/courses/yiddish-courses/fall-2018/