Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (), abbreviated as INALCO, is a French university specializing in the teaching of languages and cultures from the world. Its coverage spans languages of Central Europe, Africa, Asia, America, and Oceania. It is also informally called Langues’O (), an abbreviation for Langues orientales. History 1669 Jean-Baptiste Colbert founds the École des jeunes de langues language school 1795 The École spéciale des langues orientales (Special School for Oriental Languages) is established 1873 The two schools merge 1914 The school is renamed the École nationale des langues orientales vivantes (ENLOV) 1971 The school is renamed the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales or Inalco (National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations) 1982 Études Océan Indien (Indian Ocean Studies) journal begins publication; 1985 Inalco is recognized as a grand établissement 2010 Inalco becomes a founding member of Sorbonne Paris Cité 2011 Inalco centralizes all of its taught courses under one roof at 65 rue des Grands Moulins in Paris Teaching and research Courses The undergraduate, graduate and continuing education courses offered at Inalco allow students to gain: mastery of a language and a thorough knowledge of the corresponding civilization over a degree program; specific expertise to complement other qualifications. These courses lead to career paths in international business, international relations, communication and intercultural training, language teaching and multilingual computing. Bachelor's degrees: courses by language and region that can include a professional specialization. Master's degrees: regional programs targeting a research discipline or professional direction. Doctorate: PhD research at Inalco's Doctoral School. Diplomas: certificates, introductory diplomas, language and civilization diplomas, professional master's degrees. Success and failure Compared to other French universities, many programs at INALCO show high failure rates, i.e. high proportions of students failing the course in their end-of-year exam. This is particularly true among students specializing in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Russian and Arabic, historically the largest departments of INALCO. As an example, with approximate student numbers, indicating rates of success and failure in the first, second and third year of the Department of Japanese Studies. An explanation sometimes given is the difficulty of these courses, or the high level required by INALCO. A more likely cause is the absence of any entrance examination: any student can register in any course, regardless of their true motivation or academic level. Many students select a language out of a superficial interest in a country or culture, or due