Many universities in Utah have a language center, but not many offer tutoring for free, by appointment and in nine different languages.
The Language Center, located in room 418 in the Technology Building of the Taylorsville Redwood Campus, offers these services. Still, according to Language Center staff, the opportunity is missed by a large number of students.
“Not many students take advantage of the resources offered in the Language Center,” said Language Center lab aide Jaime Balderas.
SLCC offers a variety of language courses, including American Sign Language, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Navajo, Portuguese, Russian, Samoan, Spanish and Tongan.
According to Language Center coordinator Lin Chen, the hardest part to learning a language is getting the needed interaction and communication with others.
The Language Center provides hands on experience for its students to be able to communicate in the language that is their focus.
“[The Language Center] creates an environment for interaction,” said Chen.
A part of the Language Center’s mission is to help students develop a broader knowledge of culture around the world.
The lab’s computer-based language programs also help students to speak, read, write and understand their target language.
Many language professors require Language Center hours with tutors or for homework, and students sometimes see the hours put into the Language Center as a burden.
“If you see it as a burden it will be a burden, but if you see it as something else it will be something greater,” said first time SLCC Spanish student Emily Merrill.
More information about the Language Center can be found at www.slcc.edu/languagelab.
