Non-Credit

We offer non-credit language learning opportunities to Denver metro community members, DU students and employees. Our classes are dedicated to lifelong learners, professionals, and academics who want to practice their language skills, discover opportunities to study less commonly taught languages and develop a language skillset for their personal or professional use.

Our programs include community classes, small study cohorts of less commonly taught languages, and individual, self-directed language study formats for a special focus. Please contact us to find the best program for your needs.

Community Language Courses

Our instructor-led community courses run in the evenings and provide learners the chance to study various languages in an encouraging and fun group environment.

Register for Community Courses

Course Offerings

 
  • Beginners’ Courses

    Intended for learners with little or no exposure to the language of interest, this non-credit course covers the basics of the language of interest focusing on developing communication skills. To complete this course curriculum in its entirety, learners should expect to enroll in the fall, winter, and spring sessions. However, learners with some exposure can join at any time. In each 10-week course, learners will meet for 90 minutes weekly with a DU language instructor who will guide learners’ studies and provide opportunities for engaging in conversation during weekly meetings.

    2022–2023 Schedule

    Fall 2022

    Sessions start the week of September 12th. The CWLC offers Beginners' Courses in Arabic, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.

    Winter 2023

    Sessions start the week of January 9th. The CWLC offers Beginners' Courses in ASL, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Russian.

    Spring 2023

    Sessions start the week of April 3rd. The CWLC offers Beginners' Courses in ASL, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Russian.

    The registration fee is $300 per quarter. Graduate students from Korbel can benefit from a 50% discount. Please contact the Center at cwlc@du.edu to obtain the discount code and register here.

 
  • Let’s Practice Courses

    Intended for learners with an intermediate level of the language of interest, this course is designed to increase learners' fluency in the language of interest as applied to everyday situations. Learners will also identify common cultural patterns and describe various cultural viewpoints. Over the course of 10 weeks, learners will meet for 90 minutes weekly with a DU instructor who will guide their studying and provide opportunities for engaging in conversation during weekly meetings. Learners may be asked to view videos, listen to songs, or read articles to discuss in class.

    2022–2023 Schedule

    Fall 2022

    Sessions start the week of September 12th. The CWLC offers Let's Practice Courses in Arabic, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.

    Winter 2023

    Sessions start the week of January 9th. The CWLC offers Let's Practice Courses in Arabic, Italian, and Spanish.

    Spring 2023

    Sessions start the week of April 3rd. The CWLC offers Let's Practice Courses in ASL, Arabic, Italian, and Spanish.

    The registration fee is $300 per quarter. Graduate students from Korbel can benefit from a 50% discount. Please contact the Center at cwlc@du.edu to obtain the discount code and register here.

 
students sitting

Language For You!

Our For You! program is designed to give you the opportunity to study less commonly taught languages not available through traditional classroom instruction at the University of Denver. Flexibility is one of the key components of this program, responding to your language needs and language acquisition capabilities. Your study is guided with the support of a Language Partner who is a native speaker of the language you wish to study.

Our For You! program combined self-directed study, weekly meetings one-on-one with a Language Partner, and weekly meetings with other learners and the Language Partner to practice active conversation, ask questions, and develop cultural insights. The CWLC Associate Director and the Language Partner will provide guidance in setting goals, monitoring progress, and providing learning material, such as sample curricular outlines and material lists. 

Tuition: $400 | Materials Costs: Vary

Interested in sharing your language and culture? Complete this form if you would like to be considered as a language partner and work for the CWLC.

Interested in learning a less commonly taught language that you don't see in the list below? Complete this form to let us know about it!

Questions about registration? Email Associate Director Ethel.Swartley@du.edu or cwlc@du.edu.

  • Participation in the program helps you:
    • shape and achieve your academic and career goals
    • prepare for travel, study abroad, work abroad, and other field experiences
    • build rewarding intercultural relationships
  • Programs available during the 2022-2023 academic year
    • Farsi for You! (NEW winter 2023)
    • Hindi for You!  
    • Korean for You! (NEW winter 2023)
    • Portuguese for You! (NEW winter 2023)
    • Swahili for You!
    • Turkish for You! (NEW winter 2023)
    • Vietnamese for You!

    Interested in learning a less commonly taught language that you don't see listed above? Complete this form to let us know about it!

    Visit this page to register!

Languages for Professions

Languages for Professions courses aim to help learners further their language skills and cultural competencies in specific academic disciplines and professional contexts. In these courses, students will complete tasks related to a given professional domain and discuss situations relevant to their field of study or their professional setting.

Examples of course in development are Spanish for Health and Human Services and French for Professional Communication.

Courses are open to undergraduate, graduate students, and community members with an intermediate mid-level of language proficiency. Courses are taught in the target language. 

Please contact Virginie Cassidy at Virginie.Cassidy@du.edu if you are interested in the development of other courses.

  • French for International Relations 1

    Are you ready to communicate effectively in French and to develop intercultural competencies required to pursue collaboration, problem-solving and decision-making in the context of international relations?

    Examples of tasks are: communicate professionally with your future colleagues, organize an event and design official invitations, report on current events of the Francophone world, identify a mission and convince partners to join your project, describe the humanitarian/political situation of a Francophone country. 

female student with a laptop

Languages for Specific Purposes

We work with DU departments to develop non-credit Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP) classes to support your specific needs, such as international service-learning courses, travel courses, interterm courses, and international internship programs. These classes focus on language and culture basics, preparing you for specific international and intercultural experiences. Past classes include:

  • Bosnian Basics for the Graduate School of Social Work's Global Practice Bosnia summer program
  • French for Geneva for the Josef Korbel School of International Studies' Korbel in Geneva Program
  • Hindi Basics and Tibetan Basics for the Office of Special Programs' International Service Learning Dharamsala winter interterm course

Classes may be open to all or limited to students enrolled in specific programs and meet three hours a week for 10 weeks. If you have a need for language preparation for a specific group or program, please contact us about developing an LSP opportunity for your students.

Please contact the Center for World Languages & Cultures for more information and to register at 303-871-4601 or cwlc@du.edu.