What are they, actually?

• The notion of the "critical languages" is one of supply and demand. Any language for which more trained speakers are needed than are available may be considered critical. The reason for the inadequate numbers of speakers is often the difficulty of a language for the learning population. In addition, the national need for a critical language usually involves political, cultural, or economic factors.

• A critical language is not necessarily an "LCTL" ("Less Commonly Taught Language"), a term referring only to the "supply" aspect of language policy. In much of the world, for example, English is clearly a critical language, but it cannot be considered "less commonly taught" because it is the most commonly taught foreign language in most countries. English is critical around the world because more speakers are needed than exist. Other countries' need for English has to do with the speed of the world's economic integration in the past 60 years or so.

Why are they special? Why do so few Americans study them?

• In the case of the languages that are considered "critical" in the United States, there are two main factors. First, these languages are wildly different from English. Did I say wildly? The grammar will be totally different. The writing systems are totally different - some of these languages don't even use alphabets, in the way we understand the term. And there are very few "cognate" words - words closely related to English words - certainly far fewer than in French, Spanish, and so on. All these things make a language more challenging for the English-speaker to learn.

• Second, the countries where these things are spoken are enormously different from the U.S. and the most "critical" ones do not have very good (or anyway very stable) relationships with the U.S. That means that it's especially important that people in the U.S. get a better understanding of how the people in those countries think, what they want, and how they live. You can't do any of those things without language - language is the single most important tool for solving these problems. So that's why these languages are so important. And, if you study one seriously, you will accumulate knowledge that is exceptionally valuable, and that few other people in the U.S. are going to have in your lifetime.

• People will tell you that these languages are harder for English-speakers than more commonly studied languages French and Spanish. It's true. They take longer to learn, and the learning process can go on for much of your life, if you let it. In truth, a lot of people you know probably aren't interested in the challenge of studying something like this. But these languages can definitely be learned by English-speakers; that's one of the things that Maryland's faculty specializes in, actually.

• The challenge I've been describing is exactly why these languages are among the most rewarding things you can spend your time studing in this life. It's hard to imagine anything other than a language that could be rich and complex enough for us to be able to study it from the age of 18 or 20 until we grow old.

• But how hard are they, really? You may not have thought of it this way, but, unlike other programs of study in the University, a language curriculum is not very hard as long as you keep up with the work from class to class. The subject is presented in a systematic way, and the important thing is not so much that you should have original insights as that you should master a set of skills that are understood but not widespread in our country. You can take non-language courses that will satisfy your other University requirements, such as CORE, literature, history, and so on, and all the while you will be learning more about the culture in which your language is spoken. So the difficulty of a critical language lies in how different it is from English, not in the actual tasks you, as a student, have to undertake to learn it. Steady work leads to real progress.

• So terribly few Americans study these languages that someone who is well trained in one of them has a skill that is very precious on the job market. A lot of money is available for advanced (graduate) study in these languages, and more and more high-paying jobs ask for training in them.

If I think I want to try one of these, how do I choose? There are two ways to approach this:

• One way is to choose a language spoken in a society or country that attracts you or otherwise seems special or unusual. That sounds simple, but it's enough of a reason. You will find that even in the early stages of learning one of these languages, you will gain a lot of insight into the culture there. When you reach a certain level, you will probably spend time in a country where the language is spoken, and learn incomparably more. Then you will probably come back and continue to deepen and broaden your understanding. All in all, I think this is a really incredible experience for a young person to have, and I feel sorry that so few Americans get the chance.

• The other way is to think about what you might do with the language. If you think you would like to work in government (the Maryland area's biggest employer) at some point in your life, the best investments right now are Arabic, Chinese, and Korean, which the U.S. Government has identified as the most important of the critical languages. Maryland has growing programs in all three, and superb teaching faculty. People who want to have careers in business and journalism, and people who want to do missionary work, will also gain a great deal through the serious study of one of these languages. Farsi/Persian and Russian are a close second. Four of those five languages are spoken across national borders, and in all cases the countries where they are spoken are vastly different from the U.S. and do not have very good (or very stable) relationships with the U.S. Japanese, Modern Greek, and Hebrew are spoken in more or less only one country each, all countries with which the U.S. has generally good and stable relations. These languages will be of more particular interest to people who intend to be involved with those specific countries, although each of them is still profoundly rewarding and quite unlike English.

So what are the choices right now at Maryland?

• Arabic is widely spoken in North Africa and the Middle East, and also serves as a religious language in large parts of Black Africa, Central Asia, South Asia, and South-East Asia. Much of the learning of the Classical West (Greece and Rome) came to modern Europe through Arab sources. At Maryland, Arabic does not yet have a major (although it will soon), but offers a wealth of courses in language and literature. The University of Maryland is the home of a National Arabic Flagship Program.

• Chinese is spoken by between one and two billion people in Mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, and various South-East Asian countries. At Maryland, the Chinese Program has a large number of language classes, ranging from Elementary through high level courses for native speakers. We have a large number of offerings in Chinese linguistics, intended to serve as a practical tool in mastering this language that is so profoundly different from English. We also teach many courses in literature, film, and civilization.

• Farsi/Persian is spoken primarily in Iran, and also in Afghanistan. It is related to languages spoken in India and Pakistan, and to Kurdish, which is spoken in parts of Iraq, Turkey, and Syria. At Maryland, Persian does not yet have a major (although it will soon), but is now offering courses at the elementary level and in literature and film. There is a Persian Studies Center here, which is growing rapidly.

• Modern Greek is offered in the Department of Classics. Spoken primarily in Greece. This is the modern form of the language in which the greatest literature of the ancient West is written. Modern Greek is different from Ancient Greek, the language of the Christian Bible, but the two are closely related, and one can be used as a stepping stone to the other. At Maryland, there is currently no major, but elementary and intermediate levels of the language are offered.

• Hebrew is spoken primarily in Israel, and is also a primary language for study of the Western religious tradition. Israeli culture combines many features of the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East in a way not seen anywhere else - perhaps a model for the future of our complicated world. At Maryland, Hebrew has no major as yet, but it has three years of language courses and rich offerings in literature and culture.

• Japanese is spoken mainly in Japan, home of the anime movement (and many other unique cultural traditions). It has been heavily influenced by Chinese, but is basically a totally unrelated language. Maryland's program has both a major and minor, and a large selection of courses in language, literature, linguistics, and civilization.

• Korean is spoken in the two halves of the ancient Kingdom of Korea, located between China and Japan, but quite different from both of them. Korea has been divided into two countries for more than half a century, and their eventual reunification is expected to be a major political event that will profoundly affect the balance of power in East Asia and around the Pacific. Although it is small, Korea's influence on the rest of the world is likely to grow because of its close relationship with China. Maryland currently offers instruction in language, linguistics, and history; a major is in the planning stage.

• Russian is spoken not only in Russia, but also all over Central Asia and in many parts of Eastern Europe. At Maryland, Russian has a major and minor, with offerings in language, literature, linguistics, film, and civilization. Maryland's Russian Program is part of the National Flagship Initiative for Russian.

• A number of other critical languages are taught through the FOLA self-instructional program. They do not yet have majors or supporting coursework in literature, history, or linguistics. But they may in the near future.

For more information about Maryland's courses, please contact the individual programs.

For more information about individual languages, try the Ethnologue for basic factual information.

This page was prepared by Prof. David Prager Branner, in order to help interested students learn more about these amazing languages. Professor Branner teaches Chinese linguistics, and has studied standard Chinese, ancient Chinese, and Chinese dialects since 1980. He is still excited about them and about hard languages generally, and wants to share his enthusiasm with other people. Please contact him directly if any of this sounds interesting.

© 2005 by David Prager Branner