The ability to communicate in languages other than English can be valuable in a range of professional settings, including wholly domestic areas of legal practice. NYU offers students interested in improving or developing foreign language skills a variety of options. They are listed below for your reference. The best option for any given student will depend on their level of proficiency, preferred mode of learning, schedule, and professional goals.
The Law School and the University frequently re-evaluate the mix of language training courses and tools offered to students. To assist us in that process we ask that students interested in foreign language training contact law.globalstudents@nyu.edu to let us know where your interests lie and which of our offerings you have considered.
Spanish for Lawyers: Fall 2023 and Spring 2024
NYU School of Law offers a Spanish for Lawyers course for the fall and spring semesters of AY 2023-2024. While this is a two credit class, credits will not count towards the law degree nor GPA.
Course description: Please see the course description and requirements to be eligible for the class here.
Eligibility: Please see requirements listed in the course description. The class is open to all full-time and upper-class students (i.e. this does not include 1L students). Requests from part-time students will be considered on a case-by-case basis and they require the approval of the faculty director from the student’s program. Part-time students may also incur additional charges and immunization requirements.
Language Level: This course is intended for students at the intermediate high level on the ACTFL proficiency scale
Haitian Creole for Lawyers
NYU School of Law offers a Haitian Creole for Lawyers course annually in the fall semester. While this is a two credit class, credits will not count towards the law degree nor GPA.
Course description: Please see the course description and requirements to be eligible for the class here.
Eligibility: The class is open to all full-time and upper-class students (i.e. this does not include 1L students). Requests from part-time students will be considered on a case-by-case basis and they require the approval of the faculty director from the student’s program. Part-time students may also incur additional charges and immunization requirements.
Language Level: This course is intended for students with limited-to-no experience with Haitian Creole, although students of all levels are welcome.
Asia Law Society’s Legal Mandarin Program
The Hauser Global Law School has funded the Asia Law Society’s Mandarin Language Program since the 2012-2013 academic year. This offering has drawn high student attendance consistently and has created informal points of connection between the J.D. participants and the L.L.M. teachers. For J.D. students who hope to eventually practice in China, these informal connections can bring about learning opportunities that last outside of the classroom as well. The course has helped to encourage a base from which students interested in working in or with China can network and get to know each other, while cultivating skills that will be vital to any later career with Asia.
This program is taught by LL.Ms with direct experience practicing in Asia and is open to all J.D. and LL.M. students. It aims to expose J.D. students to immersive legal conversations conducted in Mandarin Chinese. Each week, the instructors will tackle a different subject in Chinese law. The fall curriculum will consist of academic / background courses such as Contract Law, Chinese Tort Law and Human Rights. Each class is composed of an hour of lecture, half an hour of structured discussion, a power point presentation and a vocabulary sheet that will be distributed to help students improve their legal fluency. Additionally, there will be extracurricular activities to supplement the formal classroom discussion. The goal of the Legal Mandarin Program is to help NYU Law students achieve fluency in spoken Mandarin Chinese, with particular focus on the vocabulary used in a professional legal environment.
Legal Mandarin is open to all J.D. and LL.M. students. The course is based on a drop-in model and weekly attendance is not recorded, so students are free to either attend every week or to pick and choose individual sessions that are of interest. For more information please email Asia Law Society at als.nyu@gmail.com
The NYU College of Arts & Science
Each semester, 50 full-time students will be able to register (first come first served) for a foreign language course in the College of Arts and Science (CAS). These language classes are limited to beginning, elementary, intermediate, and advanced classes. The program is not open to language and literature courses or other types of disciplines combined. For more information please visit the Office of Records and Registration's webpage.
NYU School of Professional Studies
The NYU School of Professional Studies offers a variety of credit and non-credit language courses. For more information please visit the SPS website.Please note that tuition is charged for these courses.
Learning Software: Mango
NYU Libraries acquired Mango, an online language-learning system. Mango helps users learn languages including Arabic, Spanish, French, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, German, Mandarin Chinese, Greek, Italian, and Russian. It also provides users with instruction on pronunciation, grammatical correctness, and cultural notes.
To access Mango from the library homepage click on "Articles & Databases" and then on “Databases A-Z”, Mango will be listed under “M”. The system will prompt you to create a profile before you can access it.
Language Tables
The possibility of having language tables for our students is currently being explored. As soon as these options take shape, we will post them here for your reference.