Bonjour, hola, ciao and guten tag were all mispronounced by students Monday afternoon while those better versed in foreign languages sang in Swahili, taught Spanish phrases and inked henna tattoos in Arabic. Though these “hellos” were foreign greetings to some students, these words are a part of everyday life for foreign language students and professors, about 60 of whom visited the “Tower of Babel” event in the LSU Student Union’s Atchafalaya Room. The event featured professors and students from eight of the University’s 13 offered languages who shared experiences in those departments with others. The students at the “Tower of Babel” are among an increasing number of University students who study a foreign language either as part of a major or minor in hopes of developing the skills experts believe are necessary to gain an upperhand in the global job market. “We are becoming everyday closer and closer to being a completely international community,” said Joseph Ricapito, foreign languages and literatures professor who speaks fluent English, Italian and Spanish. AN INCREASING TRENDThe University offers majors in four different foreign languages — French, Spanish, German and Latin — and minors in these four languages, plus another nine — Chinese, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Arabic, Hebrew, Portuguese and Swahili. The Office of Budget and Planning tracks the number of declared majors and minors among University students each year in the Undergraduate Headcount Enrollment Report. According to the 2009 report, there are 55 French majors, 50 Spanish majors, eight German majors and nine Latin majors. Spanish and French saw the greatest increase in the number of students majoring in those languages since 2000, when 36 students pursued a major in French and 29 in Spanish. The number of German majors stayed the same in 2000 and 2009 at eight students, while only Latin majors decreased — from 12 in 2000 to nine in 2009.Six of these languages — French, Spanish, German, Latin, Greek, Chinese and Russian — saw an increase in the number of students pursuing minors in those fields. Only Italian saw a decrease in the number of students seeking a minor in that language, from 28 students in 2000 to 19 in 2009, and the report showed no students declared minors in Swahili, Japanese, Portuguese, Arabic or Hebrew in either 2000 or 2009. USING LANGUAGE DEGREESThomas DiNapoli, German professor, said it’s common for students to double major with one major being in a foreign language. He said history, political science, music and international studies are common majors to pair with a foreign language degree.Blake Stafford, French senior, said he went through four majors before deciding to major in French. Stafford also has a concentration in international studies.”I like global diplomacy-type deals,” Stafford said. “I have thought about being a French diplomat and working with the French consulate in New Orleans.”Melissa Bucher, political science and French senior, said she wants to get an international law degree in France so she can practice law there.”[French] is my first love and my first passion,” Bucher said. “[Majoring in a foreign language] teaches you about other cultures, and it broadens your horizons a lot more. It makes the world more accessible to Americans and makes other cultures available to us, which is important.”DiNapoli said French is a popular language in Louisiana because of the state’s French history and culture, but overall, Spanish is the most popular language nationally. He said Chinese is becoming increasingly popular as well.Darlene Navarro, international studies junior, said she minors in Chinese because of its growing importance internationally.”A lot of people are ignorant about other cultures,” she said. “You get to expand your knowledge and open up and see something entirely different.”Ricapito said Italian is not as popular to study as Spanish because only one country speaks Italian compared to many regions that speak Spanish, like Spain, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, South America and places in the Philippines.”The flexibility is greater in the Spanish field because there are so many more applications that you can do for Spanish,” he said. “Everything touches on the context that we have in Spanish-speaking countries. That doesn’t happen in Italian. People love Italian because they love Italy.”JOB MARKET ADVANTAGESLeder said in addition to majoring in a foreign language, studying abroad will provide a student with a cultural experience not found in a classroom and will show potential employers a student is independent, confident and open to different cultures.Sara Crow, Career Services assistant director, said speaking a foreign language is never a disadvantage in the job search process.”It depends on what type of job you’re looking for [and] whether or not being bilingual is a distinct advantage to you,” Crow said. “The work place is increasingly global. It is an asset.”Crow said foreign language majors help dispel the stereotype that Americans only speak English.”Being able to speak and  understand another language impresses employers,” she said. “It shows that you’re interested in other cultures [and] growing your own skill sets. It shows a certain level of commitment and responsibility.”INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONThe LSU Student Activities Board’s Multicultural Awareness Committee, along with Student Government, the International Student Association and the International Cultural Center, organized an International Education Week from Nov. 16 to Nov. 20, kicking off with the “Tower of Babel” event Monday.The Foreign Languages and Literatures Department and the French Studies Department presented aspects of the different languages’ cultures. Every 15 minutes, the professors of Latin, Greek, Swahili, German, Spanish, Italian, French and Arabic languages taught a short language lesson so students could learn phrases in a new language. The Swahili students performed a song in the language, Arabic students henna tattooed students’ names in Arabic and Gundela Hachmann, German professor, spoke about her experience when the Berlin Wall came down.”[The event] showcases all of the wonderful languages and cultures that the departments have to offer,” said Andrea Hulse, German professor. “I’d like for students to learn that there are more similarities in cultures than we know.”- – – -Contact Mary Walker Baus at [email protected]