Historical overview

The College of Languages is the only institution with a focus on teaching a variety of spoken local and foreign languages that have no equivalent in Iraq. Its first establishment was as a higher institute of languages in 1958. Studying there lasted for three years, during which a higher diploma was awarded, and the first departments there were the departments of Spanish language, French language, German language, and Kurdish language. The instructors there were from abroad.

In order to get the Higher Institute of Languages turned into a college, the students there launched a general strike. The Higher Institute has become the College of Languages as a result. The College of Languages was established in the academic year 1963–1964, with Prof. Baqer Abdel-Ghani Al-Baldawi serving as the inaugural dean. The study period is extended to four years, and a bachelor’s degree is awarded to the graduate. The English, Spanish, French, and German language departments were the first to be established. The first graduates—Higher Institute graduates—graduated in the academic year 1966–1967.

In the academic year 1970-1971, the College of Languages was merged with the College of Arts, and the scientific departments were transformed into the Department of European Languages and the Department of Oriental Languages. The first graduates graduated in the academic year 1974.

The College of Languages was founded in the academic year 1987–1988 when the Department of European Languages and the Department of Eastern Languages were separated from the Faculty of Arts. The College of Languages has grown to include eleven departments that teach eleven different languages. (Department of English Language Department of French Language Department of Spanish Language Department of German Language Department of Italian Language Department of Russian Language Department of Persian Language Department of Hebrew Language Department of Turkish Language Department of Syriac Language and Department of Kurdish Language) The first dean of the college was the late Professor Dr. Emad El-Din Musa Abdel Aziz, and there are vigorous efforts to open the Chinese language department and the translation department. The history of teaching foreign languages ​​in Iraq dates back to the seventeenth century when Iraq witnessed the emergence of modern schools that used Turkish as their official language, and minority schools adopted Religious in Iraq other foreign languages ​​in education as well as the official Turkish language. The English language entered the educational curricula during the days of the British occupation, and it occupied an important place later, i.e. during the days of royal and republican rule, and to this day because this language is significant, widely used, and because it is the language of contemporary technology. Teaching the aforementioned languages and fostering scientific expertise in the areas of simultaneous translation, interpretation, and education are all priorities for the faculty of languages. In the 1990s, the Faculty of Languages opened the door for admission to postgraduate programs as well. Now it enjoys self-sufficiency of the senior professors who have provided Iraqi and foreign universities with scientific competencies. The College of Languages has a scientific journal (The Journal of the College of Languages) that publishes specialized scientific research in foreign and local languages.