Advising

The College has traditionally had a strong commitment to the teaching of languages. If your first language is English, such experience is a means of access to the cultural and intellectual heritage of the world's non-English-speaking majority. The study of another language is also an effective means of gaining a new reflective understanding of language and communication systems. In this age of growing global interdependency, it is necessary that its citizens be able to communicate and work with people of other cultures. You will find that such a skill is also a highly "marketable" tool.

The College offers forty-three (43) choices of language. You are encouraged to continue a language you have already begun, but you may choose from any of the languages available to you.

The requirement itself is the achievement of fourth-term proficiency in a language other than English. This usually met in one of three ways:

Certified proficiency on a University of Michigan reading and/or listening test. Tests are regularly administered during the Orientation period for proficiency or placement in French, German, Hebrew, Latin, Russian and Spanish. Tests for other languages must be arranged through the appropriate Department Office. On the basis of this test, you may satisfy the requirement or you may be placed into a first-, second-, third-, or fourth-term course.

Credit for a University of Michigan fourth-term language with a passing grade of "C-" or better.

If you have previous experience with a language you plan to continue, you must take a language placement test (see above). If a test in your choice of language is not offered at Orientation, your advisor will help you choose the most likely placement and course for registration; course adjustments can be made during the first two or three weeks of the term if necessary.

Credit for a University of Michigan language course which presumes a fourth-term proficiency in a language (except for 305 and/or 306 in French, German, Italian or Spanish, and Spanish 290/American Culture 224, and Spanish 308.).

In meeting the language requirement, you must earn a grade of "C-" or better in order to proceed into the next course in the language sequence.