Wayne State University

CLAS Undergraduate Student Foreign Language Requirement

All undergraduate students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (excepting those pursuing a Bachelor of Public Affairs degree) must successfully demonstrate language proficiency in a foreign language.

Students can do so by completing three courses in a single foreign language (the Basic Language Sequence) OR by taking and passing a Language Proficiency Exam.

Bilingual Students

Bilingual students who were born in and completed their secondary education in a country whose language is not English automatically fulfill the Language Requirement.  However, no credit (through course work or by examination) will be granted for elementary- or intermediate-level courses in that language. Bilingual students who satisfy the Foreign Language Group Requirement in this manner will simultaneously fulfill the University's General Education Requirement in Foreign Culture.   You must contact the departmen's Academic Advisor, Darrell Brockway, at (313) 577-3025 or via e-mail at ab2371@wayne.edu,  to have your student record adjusted to indicate you have completed these requirements through being bilingual.

Basic Language Sequence Option

Under this option students must take and pass three course in a single foreign language. Proficiency is proven by completing courses numbered 1010 (1100, 1110), 1020, and 2010 in one of the following languages: Arabic, Armenian, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, or Ukranian.

If you studied a foreign language in high school or at another college or university, you can receive partial or full credit for those courses by taking a qualifying examination or through an interview. Students must complete the sequence to demonstrate proficiency. The Foreign Language  Requirement will be considered satisfied by those students whose test scores place them beyond the intermediate (third course) level.

For a list and description of the Basic Level Course click here.

Language Proficiency Exam

Students can also take a Language Proficiency Exam to fulfill the Foreign Language Requirement.  We offer exams in French, German, Italian, Polish, Russian, and Spanish.

For more information please contact the department's Academic Services Officer, Darrell Brockway, at (313) 577-3025 or via e-mail at ab2371@wayne.edu

Graduate Language Requirement for PhD Students in CLAS Departments

PhD students in Liberal Arts departments can satisfy their departmental foreign language requirement through an examination in a languages offered by the CMLLC that satisfies the requirements of their degree-granting department.  Please consult with your Graduate Director/Advisor as to the requirements of your degree.

For students interested in Latin, they can satisfy their departmental foreign language requirement with Latin in one of two ways:

• Students with a working knowledge of Latin can take a translation exam (2 hours, with a dictionary). A passage of approximately 500 words will be drawn from: Caesar Bellum Civile, Cicero In Catilinam I, Livy Book I, and Suetonius Augustus.

The exam will be administered on the first Friday of each Fall and Winter semester.  Students must register by the end of the previous semester.

• Students with a rudimentary or with no knowledge of Latin should enroll in an appropriate Latin course upon the recommendation of the graduate advisor for Classics - Dr. Jennifer Sheridan Moss.  Students who complete the third semester of Latin with a “B” or better will be considered proficient

For further information on the Latin language option, please contact  Dr. Jennifer Sheridan Moss at (313) 577-6227 or via email at aa2191@wayne.edu