Background
The department of Foreign Languages was established in 1987 when the then department of Languages and Linguistics was split into three. Since then, it has steadily grown in terms of number of students, staff programmes and partnerships.
Statement
Languages of national and international coverage play an increasingly important role in the areas of business, diplomacy, culture and academics. In keeping with the Kenyatta University mission and vision, the Department of Foreign Languages is committed to providing quality education and training that are competitive and responsive to global needs. Consequently, the department continues to ensure that its programmes are tailored to meet the dynamic needs of its students and other stakeholders.
Vision
The vision of the department of Foreign Languages is to become the gateway into the international arena by providing the opportunity to Kenyans to communicate with the world.
Mission
The specific mission of the department is the attainment of academic excellence in Foreign Languages, to train Teachers of Foreign Languages in Kenya and multilingual professionals for the Global workplace.
Objectives

• To equip students with reading, writing and speaking skills in order to empower them to communicate fluently, to teach, and to do research in French.
• To expose students to cultures of different people such as French, German, Japanese, Korean among others.
• To provide students with skills that will give them flexibility in their search for employment in the national and international job market.

Key Milestones
The department is endowed with qualified and experienced staff drawn from both within and outside the country.
Through memoranda signed between Kenyatta University and other learning institutions of international standing, the department collaborates with University of Stendhal Grenoble 3, Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie, Alliance Française (Nairobi), Goethe Institute, the German Academic Exchange Programme (DAAD), the Japan foundation, the Japanese Language and Cultural Centre and the Korean Language and Culture Centre among others.
Besides collaborating with various learning institutions, through the university, the department works closely with foreign embassies in Kenya such as the Embassy of France, the Embassy of South Korea, the Embassy of Japan and the Embassy of Italy. Most members of staff have been trained by governments represented by these embassies.
Over the years, the department has expanded its facilities to include: The Francophone partner Digital Centre, Language Laboratories, French Resource Centres, German Resource Centre, Japanese Resource Centre and Korean Language and Culture Resource Centre.
Courtesy of the Department of Foreign languages, Kenyatta University is the first and so far the only Anglophone University in the region that is a member of the Agency of Francophone Universities (AUF). By virtue of this status, the University hosts the Francophone partner Digital Centre that was officially commissioned on 1st February 2017 by the AUF Indian Ocean regional director, Mr. Phillipe Bataille.

• Dr. Milcah M. Chokah
• Dr. Vincent O. Were
• Dr. James Meja L. Ikobwa
• Dr. P. M. Nzunga
• Mr. Laurent Ngendahimana
• Mr. Dismas Nkezabera
• Mr. Richard Kiruri Gachie
• Mrs. Lydia Wamuti
• Dr. Anne N. Hinga
• Mr.Takahashi Tomoya

• 11th -13th February 2015 – International Conference on Foreign Languages
• 22nd March 2015 – Francophone Day

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES 2015/2016 ACADEMIC YEAR ALMANAC

Undergraduate programmes

Certificate In French         
Certificate In German       
Certificate In Japanese      
Certificate in Korean languages

Beginners Course in Portuguese

Beginners Course in Japanese Language and Cultural Studies

Beginners Course in Korean
Diploma In Japanese      
PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE COURSE DESCRIPTION      
Bachelor Of Arts(BA) in German      

Bachelor Of Education (BE.D) in German       

Bachelor of Arts (BA) in French

Bachelor of Education (B.ED)  in French

Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Japanese
FRENCH FOR BEGINNERS COURSE DESCRIPTION      

Postgraduate programmes

PhD (French)

Master Of Arts - French     

Masters in Teaching French as a Foreign Languages        

Master in French Didactics

Credit hours
For Bachelors and Masters programmes – 35 credit hours
For Certificate programmes – 35 credit hours

Modes of study

• Full time
• IBP
• Open Learning

PROGRAMME D'ETUDES

• En plus des cours obligatoires offerts dans chaque année d'études, les étudiants du programme
• B. A. prennent deux cours au choix en troisième et en quatrièmes années.

EXIGENCES DES COURS
Tous les enseignements, les devoirs et les examens sont en français.

DURÉE DU PROGRAMME
Pour couvrir tout le programme de B. Ed/ B.A., quatre années règlementaires sont exigées.

EXAMENS
Tout étudiant inscrit au programme doit passer des examens dans toutes les unités enseignées. Des examens finaux comptent pour 70%, tandis que l'évaluation continue compte pour 30%. Le classement doit être en conformité avec le règlement commun de l'Université pour le Programme B. Ed, / BA

Postgraduate research

• Damien Abong’o – Analyse Sémio-linguistique des emballages et étiquettes de médicaments en vente libre a Nairobi. (MA thesis) – Completed in 2015
• Dismas Nkezabera – Problématique de l’intégration des TIC dans la didactique du français au Kenya : Le cas des centres de ressources du français. (PhD) – Ongoing
• Hillary Mulama – Difficultés Liées à la Prononciation du Français : Le cas des apprenants de  l’école secondaire au Kenya. (PhD) – Ongoing

Visiting scholars
French, German, Japanese, Portuguese and Korean scholars visit the Department from time to time to train members of teaching staff and students.

The Vice-Chancellor with the French Ambassador are  having a brief talk during the official opening of the French resource centre on 18th November 2009	The Vice-Chancellor with the French Ambassador planting a tree after official opening of the French resource centre on 18th November 2009.
Mr. John Mulwa, the technician with students in the Language Laboratory	Pang Sijia (French student) receiving a certificate as the best student in French from the Alliance Française de Nairobi Executive Director Mr. Herv Braneyre.
Departmental staff with Japanese language students displaying prizes