Foundation
The College of Languages is the only college specialized in teaching many live international and local languages; having no equivalent in Iraq. It was first established in 1958 as The Higher Institute for Languages with a three-year study period. A Higher Diploma was granted by the Higher Institute for Languages at the end of the study period.
The First Turning Point in the History of the College of Languages
Students of the Higher Institute for Languages organized a general strike demanding the conversion of the Higher Institute into a college. As a result, the Higher Institute was converted into The College of Languages during the academic year 1963-64 with a four-year study period ending with granting a B. A. degree. The first dean of the College was Prof. Dr. Baqir Abdul-Ghani Al-Baldawi; the first departments were the Department of English , the Department of Spanish, the Department of French, and the Department of German. The first students to graduate in the new College (Who were originally enlisted as students at the Higher Institute for Languages) gained their B. A. in the academic year 1966-67.
* Train of the College of Languages at The College of Arts station *
During the academic year 1970-71, the College of Languages was merged with the College of Arts; the academic departments were turned into the Department of European Languages and the Department of Oriental Languages. The first graduated students gained their B. A. in the academic year 1974-75.
Independence and Establishment of the College of Languages
In the academic year 1987-1988, the Department of European Languages and the Department of Oriental Languages separated from the College of Arts to form the nucleus of the College of Languages, which expanded in teaching languages to include eleven departments:
1- Dept. of English.
2- Dept. of French.
3- Dept. of Spanish.
4- Dept. of German.
5- Dept. of Italian.
6- Dept. of Russian.
7- Dept. of Persian.
8- Department of Hebrew.
9- Dept. of Turkish.
10- Dept of Syriac.
11- Dept. of Kurdish.
There are keen efforts to open a Department of Chinese and a Department of Translation.
The first dean of the College of Languages was the late Prof. Dr. Imad Al-Din Musa Abdul Aziz.
The history of teaching foreign languages in Iraq goes back to the 17th century when Iraq witnessed the emergence of modern schools that used Turkish as their official language. Schools of Religious Minorities in Iraq adopted other foreign languages in education in addition to the official Turkish language. English entered the educational curricula during the era of the British occupation, and then it enjoyed an important position later on during the monarchy and the republic eras. It keeps its prestige up to the present day, due to the importance of this language and its wide use in the world, in addition to being the language of modern technology. College of Languages is concerned with teaching the mentioned languages, graduating academic competencies in the fields of simultaneous and written translation and teaching foreign languages. College of Languages is not only interested in the undergraduate studies, but it has opened the door for post- graduate studies in the nineties of the last century. The College, today, enjoys self-sufficiency of senior professors who have provided Iraqi and foreign universities with academic competencies. College of Languages has a well-referred academic journal “The Journal of the College of Languages” that publishes academic specialized researches on foreign languages and their teaching. This academic approach has emerged clearly during the last two years by holding academic symposium, academic conferences and cultural days for its departments. It seeks to deepen these academic activities and raise the College to the best levels.
