Department of Modern Languages

Languages serve as the window to your world. The Department of Modern Languages offer courses in French and Spanish, meeting the demand for global citizens who can readily navigate the needs of international employers, associates and clients around the world.

Associate of Arts, Modern Languages Emphasis

Diploma in General Studies

What languages you can study at OC

French

Associate of Arts French Emphasis features language, literature and oral practice.

Spanish

Associate of Arts Spanish Emphasis includes four class levels and oral expression.

Courses

The study of language offers a unique blend of personal, professional and academic rewards. It broadens cultural horizons and helps to develop critical thinking and communication skills.

Faculty

Freeda Wilson

Modern Languages - Chair
Office: B Building 230
Campus: Kelowna
Phone: 250-762-5445 ext. 4462
Wilson, Freeda

I joined the Department of Modern Languages in 2006. An avid traveller, I love learning new languages and experiencing new cultures. I speak French, Spanish and Portuguese, and am a Scuba Instructor. When I am not teaching, you can find me scuba-diving, kayaking and hiking. My research interests revolve around the teaching and learning of languages. 

Credentials:
MA Translation (Spanish-English), University of Portsmouth
MA Interdisciplinary Studies (French and English), University of British Columbia
BA French, Okanagan University College
Diplomado en Enseñanza de Español como Lengua Extranjera, Universidad Externado de Colombia
DELE Accredited Examiner (A1/A2, B1/B2, C1/C2)

Deborah Boyd

Modern Languages
Office: B Building 216K
Campus: Kelowna
Phone: 250-762-5445

I have worked as a professional translator Hebrew-German-English-Spanish and language instructor in the different countries in which I lived across four continents. Being a polyglot who acquired some languages in early childhood and others in early adulthood, I find it easy to step into my students’ shoes and work together with each learner toward acquiring communication skills and developing communicative abilities in the languages I teach. I can teach because I am an eternal learner, and nothing speaks success to me more than my students’ “aha-moments”, be those in initial understanding or in their application of the language. 

My teaching and research interests are as numerous as they are eclectic, and include the multidimensional impact of translation in historical texts; historic imagination; diachronic linguistics; contact linguistics (Hebrew, Portuñol, Alsatian dialects); language, culture and identity; language and foreign language acquisition; polyglotism; code-switching; teaching and learning methodology; language pedagogy with a focus on how the brain learns; course design and curriculum development; world migrations and culture; transgenerational trauma, and cultural memory and identity.  

Credentials:
PhD in Latin American Studies, University of British Columbia Okanagan
MA in Applied Linguistics, teaching strand, University of Southern Queensland
Bachelor in Translation German-English-Spanish, Schule für Angewandte Linguistik, Zurich-Switzerland, registered certified translator SAL

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