Share Tweet Share Email
Tag: foreign languages
Photo of a brown bag lunch and an apple
NIU’s Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures has announced its Spring 2016 Brown Bag Series. Attendees are invited to bring their lunches and listen to speakers covering a variety of research topics from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, February 11 Shannon Becker, assistant professor, French “Using Complexity Theory to Explain Language Development: Theoretical and Methodological...
Are you bilingual?
Want to free up your schedule to take more electives? Speed your time to graduation? Receive career-enhancing formal certification or earn a language minor with just a few more classes If you’re bilingual, you might be eligible to earn free academic credit through NIU’s Celebrate Bilingualism Program. Undergraduate students who can pass a standard test...
Photo of an energy-efficient light bulb
NIU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences External Programming will host two one-day professional development conferences this fall as part of the “New Ideas” series. “New Ideas in English: To Teach or Not to Teach? Shakespeare, Lee, Twain, and more” is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28, in the Capitol Room...
Photo of the flag of Germany
Heinz Osterle, professor emeritus of German foreign languages and literatures at NIU, died Monday, May 4. He was 82. “Heinz was a well-liked teacher and a special mentor to everybody in German, always very supportive,” said Katharina Barbe, chair of the NIU Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. “He and his wife Dale were also...
For the past decade, a successful alumnus has ensured that Northern Illinois University students in foreign languages have had access to state-of-the-art translation software. Ralph Strozza, CEO and founder of Interpro Translation Solutions, Inc., an NIU graduate in French, Spanish and marketing, has twice donated Trados Studio licenses for 10 computer workstations in the foreign...
Known for her work in education and humanitarian efforts, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand is scheduled to visit NIU in September, when she will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.
NIU will welcome royalty to campus this fall. Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand is scheduled to visit the university Wednesday, Sept. 18, when she will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree during a special ceremony at Altgeld Hall. “Her scheduled visit brings great honor to NIU,” says Deborah...
English as a second language (ESL) programs are becoming increasingly popular in teaching programs across the country. And no wonder. ESL credentials are increasingly necessary for teachers to land jobs. The reason: an exploding number of English language learners in public schools. In this state alone, according to a 2011 Illinois State Board of Education...
Photo of a stack of alphabet blocks spelling “literacy”
NIU’s Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language and Literacy will host a panel discussion at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 12, on “The Many Voices of Literacy: Stories from English Language Learners.” The discussion in the Sky Room of the Holmes Student Center will feature students in high school and college who will share their...
Students who enroll in NIU language department professor John Hartmann’s intensive Thai language class quickly overcome their inhibitions about learning an Asian language, even one that is tonal and written in a non-Roman alphabet. There is no textbook to purchase. In its place is SEAsite, an online, media-rich, interactive resource for learning the language and...
Michael C. Morris
Michael C. Morris, a passionate teacher in NIU’s Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, died Sunday, Dec. 12, after a long battle with colorectal cancer. He was 49. Morris, who joined the NIU faculty in 1996 as an assistant professor of Spanish and Portuguese, earned his bachelor’s degree from Rockford College before receiving his master’s...
A pair of May NIU graduates have received Fulbright grants to teach and study in Austria. Brandi Smith, 27, of Chicago, and Melissa Shalter, 27, of Ottawa, will travel to Austria in September to begin their teaching assignments. Shalter, who earned her certificate to teach in secondary education, will work with high school students. Smith...