[media-credit name=’CASEY SKEENS/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]As a national leader in foreign language studies, the University of Wisconsin made an effort Tuesday evening to help UW students discover the plethora of opportunities available to students who can communicate in different languages.

The UW Language Institute, in collaboration with the Cross College Advising Service and the Division of Housing, sponsored a World Language Evening at Gordon Commons. The event offered information on UW's language courses, study-abroad opportunities, careers and internships as part of the effort to bridge language barriers around the world.

"The purpose is to be able to let students be aware of the opportunities that will be opened up to them if they learn a foreign language," said professor Antonia Schleicher, who chairs the African Languages and Literature department. "If students of the university actually take foreign language seriously, they will be able to fill the gap."

The event allowed students to talk to representatives from numerous organizations and language departments at stations set up throughout the room, such as the Department of African Languages and Literature, AIESEC, an international leadership organization, and STA Travel.

"We teach over 60 languages here," said Diana Murphy, assistant director of the UW Language Institute. "We are really a national leader in that area."

Schleicher welcomed students by sharing a few of her thoughts about the importance of foreign language in today's world and discussing the various opportunities that learning languages can afford students.

Schleicher pointed to General Motors CEO Rick Wagner as one example of the benefits to taking foreign languages in college.

According to Schleicher, Wagner took Portuguese by chance and ended up landing a job for the company in Brazil soon after graduation.

"Aside from the professional opportunities, it is being able to understand other people," Schleicher said. "And since 9/11, there are so many opportunities to learn languages — the government is pouring a lot of money into critical languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Urdu and lots of others."

Among the students who attended the event was sophomore Quinn Kampschroer, who hopes to study abroad and perhaps teach English in China upon graduating.

Kampschroer said he feels the Chinese Department at UW is very strong.

"I've learned more in two semesters of Chinese than I think I would in four semesters of Spanish or Portuguese," Kampschroer said.

However, not all students take advantage of the language programs that the university has to offer.

"I wish I had taken an African language while I was a student," said Alison Brucher, a recent UW alumna who plans on working abroad in the near future. "Especially after what was just said tonight, I think you really need to know the language [when you go abroad]."

According to Schleicher, the language program at UW is improving, and many programs, such as Arabic and Chinese, are growing rapidly.

"We are hoping to have six sections of beginning Arabic next fall," Schleicher said. "We've never had that before."

Schleicher attributed some of this growth to her belief Americans are starting to realize that the whole world doesn't speak English.

"Don't let people fool you that English is everywhere," Schleicher said.