Languages - Flinders University

Add a language to your degree and develop the skills to kick-start a global career by learning French, Indonesian, Italian, Modern Greek or Spanish.

The ability to speak another language will open huge career opportunities for you. You’ll stand out compared to other job applicants and you’ll have an appreciation and understanding for other cultures.

You’ll travel to other countries like a local, rather than a tourist and could work locally or internationally as an interpreter, foreign correspondent, foreign language intelligence analyst or international trade officer.

You’ll be a problem-solver, a multi-tasker, empathetic and creative. Learning a language activates a part of your brain that will benefit you personally and professionally.

As a global citizen you’ll use your language and analytical skills to communicate ideas and messages to a range of audiences, and you’ll bridge the gap between local and global markets.

Five stars
in Humanities, Culture & Social Sciences for skills development and student support.

(The Good Universities Guide 2023 (postgraduate))

No.1 in SA
in Humanities, Culture & Social Sciences for median graduate income, overall educational experience and skills development.

(The Good Universities Guide 2023 (undergraduate), public SA-founded universities only)

Study options

Diploma in Language

The Diploma in Language consists of 3 years of part-time study and can be undertaken as a standalone course or concurrently with most bachelor degrees at Flinders.

Language major/minor

Develop strong language skills combined with a sound cultural understanding by studying a three-year sequence as part of a dedicated Bachelor degree.

Language elective

Study a language as an elective as part of most undergraduate degree offered at Flinders if you’re interested in travel or pursuing a career overseas.

Culture elective

Immerse yourself in the culture of your interest, with or without previous knowledge of the language, with a culture elective as part of most undergraduate degree at Flinders. Culture options include Greek Mythology, Italian Mafia, French Gastronomy, Indonesian Politics and Hispanic Art.

Learn languages as part of these degrees:

Bachelor of Languages

Bachelor of Arts

Diploma in Language

Master of TESOL

Language options

French

French is spoken in more than 50 countries, including some of Australia’s closest neighbours. It’s one of the most widely taught second languages in the world and it’s a stepping stone to learning a range of other languages.

Major in French

Indonesian

Indonesia is our nearest neighbour and home to more than 260 million people. It has a rich cultural history—and is undergoing a period of unprecedented political, social and economic change.

Major in Indonesian

Italian

Italy has one of the richest cultural heritages in western civilisation and has been a world leader in literature, architecture, painting, sculpture and music for the past 800 years.

Major in Italian

Modern Greek

Hellenism is the western world's cultural heritage; it accounts for literary, philosophical, aesthetic and scientific masterpieces going back thousands of years.

Major in Modern Greek

Spanish

Globally, Spanish is the second most widely spoken language by first language speakers. It is spoken by over 500 million people in more than 20 different countries in four continents. Not surprisingly, it is one of the six official languages of the United Nations and is also an important trading language in the Asia Pacific region.

Major in Spanish

Applied Linguistics

Applied linguistics is concerned with the practical issues of language such as learning and teaching, policy, multilingualism, cross-cultural communication, maintaining languages, and language difficulties.

Major in Applied Linguistics

These languages are also offered cross-institutionally at the University of Adelaide:

Chinese
German
Japanese

Careers

With the internationalisation of the job market, graduates with a qualification in a foreign language will have greater employment opportunities both in Australia and overseas. Potential areas of employment include tourism agencies, foreign language teaching, international trade, finance and commerce, diplomatic and defence agencies, translating services, and international development.

Potential occupations

Studying a language can lead to a multitude of jobs such as international trade officer, translator and interpreter, settlement support officer, international student advisor and foreign language intelligence analyst.

Why study Languages at Flinders?

Add a language to your current degree, or study a Bachelor of Languages
Connect with industry leaders
Take your study global with a semester exchange
Gain practical experience as part of your study
Beginner to advanced levels available
Learn from native language speakers

Hear from our students

“

I believe what excited me to take up a language as one of my topics was to use it in my HASS degree as an add-on, that would benefit my learning in my chosen field. I chose French as I was always interested in learning the language and it is a widely spoken language that can be used in numerous fields. I took beginner French as I was a novice to the language and found it a good stepping stone to learning the language and the culture of the country. The classes were an immersive experience of learning the grammar and culture that were provided by the capable French professors in our language department. My few tips on learning a new language are note taking, memorization, and being present in your classes as it helped me get a good understanding and grasp of the language as well as achieve the grades I wanted.

Arundhati Banerjee, Bachelor of Arts (French) graduate

”

Get inspired

Follow the Languages blog

Teaching staff

Our incredible teaching and research staff are experts in their professions and well-connected to industry.

Discipline Lead Languages / French:
Dr Christèle Maizonniaux

Christèle has a passion for Language pedagogy (Scholarship of teaching and learning), more specifically for French children's/youth literature as a means to learn/study French as a foreign language, a field she has been pioneering in. She has a creative mind and is always keen to stimulate creative skills in others.

Besides this, she also loves bringing people together and is committed to giving her students opportunities in French industries both locally and internationally.

French:
Professor Eric Bouvet

Prof. Eric Bouvet is French-born and passionate about languages. In Australia, he has taught French at all levels, and currently teaches language and culture at Upper Intermediate and Advanced levels.

He has published in the applied linguistics, specifically in the area of language learning strategies which he integrates into his classroom practice. Eric has also taught Applied Linguistics and Migrations Studies. Until recently, he was Dean (Education) for the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences.

Spanish:
Javier Diaz-Martinez

Javier Díaz is involved in the development, teaching, and administration of SPAN, LANG and LING topics with the Discipline of Languages, Linguistics, TESOL and Communication.

Javier has been actively involved in the training and support of language teachers in SA for a long time, and collaborates regularly with teaching professional associations (STASA, MLTASA) and education organisations (SACE Board of SA, Education Office of the Spanish Embassy in Australia), as well as with a number of multicultural community groups.

Modern Greek:
Dr Maria Palaktsoglou

Maria is a Senior Lecturer in Modern Greek language and culture and holds a PhD in Modern Greek Literature.

She was born and raised in Greece and completed her studies in both Greece and Australia. Her experience with the teaching and learning of Modern Greek at University level expands over 25 years. Maria has been involved in the teaching and learning of online topics in Modern Greek since 2012.

Apart from language teaching, Maria has a passion for Greek history and culture, from antiquity through to modern era, and teaches topics such as Greek Mythology and Homer’s Odyssey.

She is a strong advocate for language learning through immersion and has co-developed an in-country program for students of Modern Greek at the University of Crete (Greece).

Modern Greek:
Antonios Litinas

Antonios Litinas has a B.Ed. (Honours) in Teaching from the University of Athens and MA by Research from Flinders University.

He is a teacher of Modern Greek with extensive experience in developing and delivering language topics face-to-face and online.

Currently he is teaching (casual academic) at the Modern Greek Department, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University.

Antonios is developing and delivering online topics in Modern Greek Language.

Italian:
Dr Stefano Bona

Dr Stefano Bona was born and raised in Italy and has a passion for everything moving across boundaries, like intercultural communication interdisciplinary studies - and of course, travel. He spent four years in China and since he moved to Australia he has become a tireless teacher of Italian language and culture, at university and within the community.

He has completed his doctoral research and has published articles on transnational cinema, specifically on Italian-Chinese co-productions and the representation of China in films made by Italian directors.

Indonesian:
Tom Power

Tom Power is a lecturer in the Indonesian language and Indonesian studies. He teaches Bahasa Indonesia from the Introductory to Advanced levels, and also lectures on Indonesian society and politics.

He has researched and published on Indonesian party politics and democracy, and regularly contributes to seminars and conferences in Australia, Indonesia and elsewhere.

TESOL:
Dr Mai Ngo

Dr. Mai Ngo has experience in delivering a richly interactive and personalized approach to learning focusing on student success, through face-to-face and online lectures, seminars, tutorials, workshops and one-to-one consultation, together with topic coordination and curriculum development.

Dr. Ngo has been awarded a number of prestigous scholoarships, including the Australian Government Scholarship Awards for her Master in TESOL in 2000, Master of Business Administration in 2007, Australian Leadership Awards for her PhD studies in 2010 - 2013, and Endeavour post-doctoral fellowship in 2016.

TESOL:
Dr Jeffrey Gil

Dr Jeffrey Gil is involved in the development, teaching, and administration of ESOL and TESOL topics at the undergraduate and postgraduate level. He was also the coordinator of the Chinese program from 2011-2014. Jeffrey has previously taught at university level in China and worked as a language tester using the International Second Language Proficiency Ratings (ISLPR) system.

Take your study global with a semester exchange

Living and studying overseas presents you with the unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the local culture while continuing your tertiary study at one of Flinders University’s 70+ overseas partner universities.

Why wait until you graduate to see the world? Let our program offer you the educational adventure of a lifetime.