Foreign Language Requirement

Are you planning to begin a new language at Swarthmore?

1. The Foreign Language Requirement

To fulfill the foreign language requirement, a student must either have:

• successfully studied 3 years or the "block" equivalent of a single foreign language during grades 9 through 12 (work done before grade 9 cannot be counted, regardless of the course level);
• passed either the final term of a college-level, yearlong, introductory foreign language course or a semester-long intermediate foreign language course; or
• learned English as a foreign language while remaining demonstrably proficient in another.

If you need to complete the language requirement, please contact our department so that we can assist you:

• For Arabic and French, please email Jessica Bawgus.
• For Chinese, German, Japanese, and Russian, please email Bethanne Seufert.

New students in our department will be referred to faculty in the relevant languages to ensure that they are placed in the appropriate language course at Swarthmore. Please note that a placement test is required for all students with previous language experience who are planning to take classes at Swarthmore, irrespective of AP or IB scores.

2. Languages Not Taught At Swarthmore

The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, in consultation with the Registrar, are requiring students who learned English as a foreign language while remaining demonstrably proficient in another language that is not taught at Swarthmore to take the UPenn Proficiency exam* if they want that language to meet the Swarthmore Language Requirement.

This applies to a student who has taken courses in a language not taught at Swarthmore at the college level but who does not have the required material to ascertain that the achievement matches Swarthmore's equivalency of a "yearlong, introductory foreign language course or a semester-long intermediate foreign language course".

*For languages not covered by proficiency tests at UPenn, consult Brigham Young University's extensive FLAT (Foreign Language Achievement Test) options.

If you have already fulfilled your language requirement. 

The Department encourages you to use your time at Swarthmore to become truly proficient in that language with introductory and/or advanced content courses. Many of these courses fulfill the Writing Course requirement, and will provide you with the necessary tools to study abroad in full immersion.

Please note that students planning to participate in study abroad programs are expected to demonstrate linguistic skills that are beyond the language requirement, and to have pursued College level language study at Swarthmore.

Alternatively, students who have completed the language requirement are encouraged to study a new, additional language during their time at Swarthmore.

Are you planning to begin a new language at Swarthmore?

For students to develop a useful proficiency in a foreign language during their time at Swarthmore, the department of Modern Languages and Literatures strongly recommends that new-language learners start with a beginner class during their first year. When this is not possible, MLL faculty can recommend programs of study to catch up with this sequence during summer study or while studying abroad.