The Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTL) Program is housed in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and offers instruction in Arabic, Hindi, Persian, Swahili, Turkish, and Wolof. The LCTL program supports communicative, proficiency-based language teaching as a way for our students to obtain the most from their language-learning experiences. We emphasize the acquisition of grammar and vocabulary as necessary tools for spontaneous, creative, and meaningful communication, as well as a part of the four crucial skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. In the classroom, we encourage conversation, small-group problem solving, and other tasks that simulate real-life uses of language. Outside the classroom, we offer extra-curricular activities like conversation tables, films series, social hours, potlucks, and picnics in order to practice the target language by learning about the culture where it is spoken.

The LCTL Program collaborates with research universities in the Big Ten Academic Alliance to host and receive language courses. You may refer to the BTAA CourseShare webpage and browse the links to CourseShare resources, such as "Resources for participating departments" and "FAQ" for more information to explore this unique and wonderful resource for our students. 

The Department of Linguistics offers the following language classes as part of the LCTL program. Descriptions of each course can be on the Course Catalog.

Arabic - Fall Courses

Arabic - Spring Courses

Hindi - Fall Courses

Hindi - Spring Courses

Persian - Fall Courses

Persian - Spring Courses

Turkish - Fall Courses

Turkish - Spring Courses

Swahili - Fall Courses

Swahili - Spring Courses

Wolof - Fall Courses

Wolof - Spring Courses