Teaching languages at the Technical University during so-called. Příbram period (1904-1945) and in Ostrava (1945-1952) had a form of lectureships, and it was initially optional. In spite of that, the offer was rather broad: Czech, German, French, Russian, English and even Bulgarian, Esperanto and Czech shorthand. The instruction was mostly ensured by secondary school teachers. Lessons were taught from the beginning of the academic year to Easter. There were two types of courses – at the elementary and intermediate level. Courses were opened for a minimum number of ten students. As early as in the period of the First Czechoslovak Republic, on the basis of a decision of the Ministry of Education, teaching English, French, German or Russian language became compulsory, if any of these languages was not the mother tongue of the student.
After World War II, German was excluded from the selection of languages for some time. Later, Russian became a compulsory language for all students. On 1 October 1952, organizational form of language lectureships finished at the VŠB, and the Department of Russian Language was established as a university facility. In the beginning, there were only three internal teachers. On 1 February 1955, the Department of Languages in the present-day concept was the establishment under the official name of the Department of Languages at the VŠB Rector's office. The compulsory subject was recorded under “Russian for Engineering” in the student's record book. During the second half of the 1950s, the study of one Western language was reintroduced (in addition to Russian, which was still a compulsory subject). At the end of the 1960s, in the academic year 1969/1970, the department already had 10 members - internal teachers.
During its history, the department has also undergone changes in the organizational integration into the structure of the entire university (several times it was part of one of the faculties of the VŠB, however, it has always kept the character of a university facility). During more than fifty-year history, a number of teachers have worked in the department, some of whom have also achieved nationwide fame (e.g. Josef Jařab, Julius Chromečka). Vera Barandovská-Frank has been successful abroad.
In May 2014, the Department of Foreign Languages moved from Dr. Malého street in the city centre, where it had been based from 1 September 1990. Currently, it has its seat in the main building of the VŠB - Technical University in Ostrava Poruba, and language learning also takes place in the classrooms of the Faculty of Economics and the Faculty of Civil Engineering.
In the academic year 2014/2015, 28 internal teachers and three members of non-teaching staff work at the Department of Foreign Languages. Since 1 July 2012, Mgr. Andrea Wlochová, Ph.D. has been the head of the Department. 5 teachers have a scientific degree Ph.D. and 6 teachers are doctoral students. The teachers also increase their qualifications through participation in conferences, webinars, workshops, completing vocational and practical courses. Currently, these languages are taught: English, German, Russian, French, Spanish, Czech for foreigners, and there have also been two semesters of Japanese (taught by a native speaker). The department is a university facility and ensures instruction for all seven faculties of the VŠB - TU of Ostrava in all forms of education. Internally, it is divided into individual sections.