Educational Institutions Offering Free Foreign Language Instruction Online

About this article
Educational institutions offering free online language courses include Utah State University and Carnegie Mellon University. Courses include French, German, Japanese and Spanish, and most course materials can be downloaded online.
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Free Foreign Language Classes

Free foreign language classes are available from myriad websites and universities. Students can study different languages simply with an internet connection and a laptop or home computer.

Spanish Programs

This website offers a free online course in basic Spanish concepts and comprehension. The program makes available nearly 500 lessons. Topics include greetings, grammar, and verbs. Students can take quizzes to assess what they have learned.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MIT offers students the chance to learn about various foreign languages for free. Students can choose from languages like French, German, Chinese, and Japanese. The Japanese course has online resources with six lessons of practice materials. Study materials for the German course include 15 weeks of PDF files of handouts and classroom activities.

Open University

Open University provides a plethora of resources for students looking to study Spanish. Included are grammar tutorials, Spanish dictionaries, Spanish study aids, and online Spanish lessons. The advanced German course is designed for students who already know the language to increase their German speaking skills.

Carnegie Mellon University

This university offers two elementary French courses for interested students. Topics covered include origins, age, personality, my family, my neighborhood, modes of transport, and political opinions. Required materials for the courses will be chat and videoconferencing software.

About.com

This website offers online lessons in German for students looking to learn the language. Lessons will cover topics such as pronoun usage, verbs, adjectives, numbers, and nouns. Quizzes will help assess your knowledge.

Utah State University

Utah State University offers language language courses online for free in Chinese and Latin. For the Chinese course, students can access PDFs of worksheets and video lectures. In the Latin course, students will be able to browse a multitude of lessons on the subject, based on the textbook An Introduction to Latin, Based on Ancient Authors 3rd Edition. Lessons will cover things like nouns and adjectives, prepositions, and verbs.

Free Online Foreign Language Courses At a Glance

Course & School Program Level Format Assignments Quizzes & Exams Downloadable
Basic Spanish course from SpanishPrograms.com Beginner Online lessons Yes Yes Yes
Spanish I course from MIT Undergraduate/graduate Texts/in-class activities Yes Yes Yes
French I course from MIT Undergraduate/graduate Textbooks Yes Yes Yes
German I course from MIT Undergraduate Texts/projects/study materials Yes Yes Yes
Chinese I course from MIT Undergraduate Textbooks/reports Yes Yes Yes
Japanese I course from MIT Undergraduate/graduate Texts/online lessons Yes Yes Yes
Spanish resources from Open University Beginner-advanced Online resources/lessons/tutorials Yes Yes Yes
German course from Open University Advanced Text Yes No Yes
Elementary French I course from Carnegie Mellon University Beginner Online lessons Yes Yes Yes
Elementary French II course from Carnegie Mellon University Beginner Online lessons Yes Yes Yes
German for Beginners course from About.com Beginner Online lessons Yes Yes Yes
First Year Chinese II course from Utah State University Unspecified Texts/video lectures Yes No Yes
Beginning Latin course from Utah State University Unspecified Online lessons Yes No Yes

Popular Schools

  • Online Programs Available
    1. Grand Canyon University

    Program Options

    Master's
      • M.A. in Communication with an Emphasis in Education
      • M.A. in Communication with an Emphasis in Education
    Bachelor's
      • Bachelor of Arts in Communications with an Emphasis in Interpersonal Communication and Human Relationships
      • Bachelor of Arts in Communications with an Emphasis in Interpersonal Communication and Human Relationships
  • Online Programs Available
    2. Liberty University

    Program Options

    Doctorate
      • PHD: Communication
      • PHD: Communication
    Certificate
      • CTG: Communication
      • CTG: Communication
  • Stanford, CA

    Stanford University

  • Online Programs Available
    4. Penn Foster High School

    Program Options

    High School Diploma
      • HS Diploma
      • HS Diploma
  • Cambridge, MA

    Harvard University

  • Philadelphia, PA

    University of Pennsylvania

  • Durham, NC

    Duke University

  • Notre Dame, IN

    University of Notre Dame

  • University of Maryland Global Campus

Featured Schools

The schools and programs listed below are popular educational options, and tuition varies based on program and location

Grand Canyon University

  • M.A. in Communication with an Emphasis in Education
  • Bachelor of Arts in Communications with an Emphasis in Interpersonal Communication and Human Relationships

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Liberty University

  • PHD: Communication
  • CTG: Communication

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Penn Foster High School

  • HS Diploma

What is your highest level of education?