Language Instruction Opportunities
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 GlobalStudents@exchange.law.nyu.edu to let us know where your interests lie and which of our offerings you have considered.
Courses
Intermediate Spanish for Law Students course: Spring 2013
NYU School of Law is offering a Spanish language course in cooperation with the NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies. Even though the course is not for credit, students will have a transcript record from SCPS and may be able to apply this course toward a language certificate from that school.
Course Description: This course is designed to develop intermediate listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in Spanish in order to facilitate effective communication between professionals and their clients in legal settings. Special emphasis is placed on the acquisition of vocabulary, concepts and structures involved in client meetings and witness depositions. Discussions also focus on the culture behind the language, common professional practices across the Spanish-speaking world and learning strategies necessary to acquire a foreign language for professional purposes.
Language level: This course is for students at the advanced beginner level on the ACTFL proficiency scale.
Asia Law Society’s Legal Mandarin Program: Spring 2013
The Hauser Global Law School Programs will fund the Asia Law Society’s Mandarin Language Program for the Spring 2013 semester. For the past two years, the Legal Mandarin Course has been a flagship program run by Asia Law Society. This offering has drawn high student attendance consistently, from 10-20 J.D.s and it 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.
Course description: This course is taught by LL.Ms with direct experience practicing in Asia. The course aims to expose J.D. students to immersive legal conversations conducted in Mandarin Chinese. Each week, the course will tackle a different subject in Chinese law, such as the structure of PRC legislation, general principles of an IPO deal in Hong Kong, human rights in China, or the basic terms of commercial contracts. In each subject, a vocabulary sheet and slides will be distributed to help students improve their legal fluency while learning about a substantive area of Chinese law.
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.
The course is open to all J.D. and LL.M. students.
The class will meet on Fridays from 5:00 p.m to 6:30 p.m, for 12 meetings in total throughout the semester starting on Friday, February 1, 2013 in Furman Hall 120. It 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. A tentative semester-long curriculum will be distributed at the first class.
For more information about the course and application procedure 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 Records and Registration website.
NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies
The SCPS offers a variety of credit and non-credit language courses. For more information please visit: http://www.scps.nyu.edu/academics/departments/foreign-languages.html
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 (http://library.nyu.edu) click on "Articles via 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.
Other Options
Speaking Freely Program
The NYU College of Art & Science offers language coaching sessions to all NYU undergraduate and graduate students and staff free of charge through the Speaking Freely Program. The 75-minute language coaching sessions meet once a week for ten weeks each semester at various locations on campus. No books are required and there’s no pressure of grades. For more information please visit: http://speakingfreely.cas.nyu.edu/page/home.
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.