Foreign Language Requirement

The faculty considers competence in a foreign language essential for an educated person. Studying a language other than one’s own helps students understand the dynamics of language, our fundamental intellectual tool, and enables students to understand another culture. The sooner a student acquires competence, the sooner it will be useful. Hence, work toward the foreign language requirement should be undertaken in the first two years. Courses in foreign languages and/or literature are taught in the College of Arts and Sciences by the following departments: Africana Studies and Research Center, Asian Studies, Classics, German Studies, Linguistics, Near Eastern Studies, Romance Studies, and Russian.

The language requirement may be satisfied in one of the following ways:

Option 1: Passing (a) a nonintroductory foreign language course of 3 or more credits at Cornell at the 200 level or above or (b) any other nonintroductory course conducted in a foreign language at Cornell. OR
Option 2: Passing at least 11 credits of study in a single foreign language (taken in the appropriate sequence) at Cornell.
Any exceptions to these rules will be noted elsewhere in individual department descriptions.

Students whose speaking, reading, and writing competence in a language other than English is at the same level we would expect our entering freshmen to have in English (as shown by completing high school in that language or by special examination during their first year here at Cornell) are exempt from the college’s language requirement.

Placement

Entering students who have had two or more years of high school study in a language, who have been awarded credit for language work at another college or university, or who are native speakers, bilingual, or have spoken the language at home, may enroll in a course in the same language only after being placed by examination. The placement exam may have been taken in high school (SAT II, taken after the last course, or AP, if the score was 4 or 5) or at Cornell (LP test). Students may, but need not, retake a language test if a year or more has passed since last taking it. Being placed by examination into the first course at a non-introductory level does not earn credit toward the degree. Degree credit is earned only for demonstrated mastery of work equivalent to the first course at an intermediate level at Cornell and placement into the second intermediate course. Students should seek to satisfy the language requirement in their first years at Cornell. Those with test scores one or more years old may be required to take a Cornell placement test if the instructor deems the student is not adequately prepared for the level in which he or she has enrolled.

For additional information on the foreign language placement and testing, please refer to ...

IARD majors wishing to appeal the foreign language requirement should contact Diane Munn.