- BIOE 021: Computing for Bioengineers
- CHN 002: Elementary Chinese II
- CSE 020: Introduction to Computing I
- CSE 021: Introduction to Computing II
- FRE 002: Elementary French II
- JPN 002: Elementary Japanese II
- ME 021: Engineering Computing
- SPAN 002: Elementary Spanish II
- Score of 3, 4 or 5 on one of the following College Board AP exams: Chinese Language and Culture, French Language and Culture, German Language and Culture, Italian Language and Culture, Japanese Language and Culture, and Spanish Language and Culture; or
- Score of 5, 6 or 7 on one of the Higher Level IB exam in a foreign language or literature; or
- Score of 3, 4 or 5 on the College Board AP Exam in Computer Science A.
The Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering
The College has no foreign language requirement for any of its majors.
College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
For the B.A. degree, the foreign language requirement may be satisfied by completing with a minimum grade of C the fourth quarter or the equivalent of one language at UC Riverside or another college or university; or demonstrating proficiency at the fourth-quarter level on the foreign language placement examination administered by the UC Riverside Department of Comparative Literature and Foreign Languages and Department of Hispanic Studies.
For the B.S. degree, the foreign language requirement may be satisfied by completing with a minimum grade of C the third quarter or the equivalent of one language at UCR or another college or university; or demonstrating proficiency at the third-quarter level on the foreign language placement examination administered by the UCR Department of Comparative Literature and Foreign Languages and Department of Hispanic Studies. The exam does not yield credit; it only determines whether the language requirement has been met or in which course of the language sequence a student should enroll. Courses in American Sign Language may be used to meet this requirement. Students continuing with the same foreign language completed in high school must take a placement exam before they can enroll or receive credit in university-level courses in that language.
Courses taken in the department or program of a student's major may not be applied toward the breadth requirements except English Composition, Ethnicity, Foreign Language and World History. However, courses outside the major discipline, but required for the major, may be applied toward satisfaction of these requirements. Students who select a double major may apply courses in one of the majors or departments toward satisfaction of the breadth requirements.
The Dean's Office, in consultation with the Executive Committee of the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, will determine which courses apply to these requirements. It is the student's responsibility to verify those courses that fulfill the subject requirements for the bachelor's degree.
The following majors and programs require foreign language study as listed.
Asian Studies
Required: Two years of basic language instruction in any Asian language.
Languages and Literatures / Classical Studies
Required: Language instruction through the fourth quarter in Latin or Greek, plus upper-division courses in the chosen language.
Languages and Literatures / Chinese
Required: Language instruction through the intermediate level (CHN 6) before beginning upper division work.
Languages and Literatures / Comparative Literature
Required: Proficiency in at least one foreign language, ancient or modern, through the intermediate level (second year).
Languages and Literatures / French
Required: Intermediate Composition and Conversation (French 15B) or the equivalent before beginning upper-division work in the major.
Languages and Literatures / Germanic Studies
Required: Intermediate German (German 4) or the equivalent before beginning upper-division work in the major.
Languages and Literatures / Japanese
Required: Language instruction through the intermediate level (JPN 6) before beginning upper division work.
Languages and Literatures / Languages
Required: Students study two or three foreign languages and also learn about their characteristics (linguistics), the creative use made of them (literature) and the cultures that produced them (civilization).
Latin American Studies
Required: Proficiency in Spanish (SPN 005 level) or in Portuguese to a comparable level.
Linguistics
Required: Six quarters of foreign language; fourth-quarter college-level proficiency must be demonstrated in at least one language. Begin major before end of sophomore year.
Languages and Literatures / Russian Studies
Required: Intermediate Russian (RUSN 004) before beginning upper-division work.
Middle East and Islamic Studies
Required: 6 courses (24 units). Students are required to fulfill the language requirement by taking 6 classes in a language in MEIS (Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Hebrew, Urdu) or pass the proficiency requirement by taking a test administered by the department. Currently UCR offers only Arabic but students can take language classes either abroad (i.e. AUC in Cairo, Boğaziçi University in Istanbul) or in other UC campuses (UCLA, Irvine) upon the approval of MEIS director.
Spanish
Required: Proficiency equivalent to Intermediate Spanish (Spanish 6) before beginning upper-division work.
College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences
The College offers a B.A. degree and a B.S. degree in most majors. The B.S. degree does not have a language requirement. For the B.A. degree, students must complete 16 quarter units in a foreign language. This requirement may be satisfied by completing four quarters of foreign language with a minimum grade of C or demonstrating equivalent proficiency, or completing 8 quarter units in each of two foreign languages with a minimum grade of C or demonstrating equivalent proficiency. Biology and Neuroscience majors must complete four quarters of one language. American Sign Language may be used to satisfy this requirement.
Students who are pursuing a B.A. degree and who have not completed a foreign language course may enroll in a level-one foreign language course. However, students must take a placement exam if they plan to take a course in the same foreign language that they studied in high school. Transfer students who have taken a college-level foreign language course should consult with an adviser.
School of Business Administration
For the B.S. degree, the foreign language requirement may be satisfied by completing with a minimum grade of C the third quarter or the equivalent of one language at UCR or another college or university; or demonstrating proficiency at the third-quarter level on the foreign language placement examination administered by the UCR Department of Comparative Literature and Foreign Languages and Department of Hispanic Studies. The exam does not yield credit; it only determines whether the language requirement has been met or in which course of the language sequence a student should enroll. Courses in American Sign Language may be used to meet this requirement. Students continuing with the same foreign language they completed in high school must take a placement exam before they can enroll or receive credit in university-level courses in that language.
School of Education
For the B.A. degree, the foreign language requirement may be satisfied by completing with a minimum grade of C in the fourth quarter or the equivalent of one language at UC Riverside or another college or university; or demonstrating proficiency at the fourth-quarter level on the foreign language placement examination administered by the UC Riverside Department of Comparative Literature and Foreign Languages and Department of Hispanic Studies. The exam does not yield credit; it only determines whether the language requirement has been met or in which course of the language sequence a student should enroll. Courses in American Sign Language may be used to meet this requirement. Students continuing with the same foreign language they completed in high school must take a placement exam before they can enroll or receive credit in university-level courses in that language.
School of Public Policy
The foreign language requirement may be satisfied by completing with a minimum grade of C the fourth quarter or the equivalent of one language at UC Riverside or another college or university; or demonstrating proficiency at the fourth-quarter level on the foreign language placement examination administered by the UC Riverside Department of Comparative Literature and Foreign Languages and Department of Hispanic Studies. The exam does not yield credit; it only determines whether the language requirement has been met or in which course of the language sequence a student should enroll. Courses in American Sign Language may be used to meet this requirement. Students continuing with the same foreign language completed in high school must take a placement exam before they can enroll or receive credit in university-level courses in that language.
UC San DiegoEarl Warren College
Earl Warren College has no foreign language requirement; however, students are encouraged to continue language study after enrolling at UC San Diego. Foreign language courses may be used to fulfill Warren general education requirements depending on a student's major field of study.
Eleanor Roosevelt College
Students are required to demonstrate basic conversational and reading proficiency in any modern foreign language, or advanced reading proficiency in a classical language; or demonstrate proficiency through an appropriate AP or IB score; or complete the fourth quarter (or equivalent elsewhere) of foreign language with a passing grade. American Sign Language at fourth-quarter level is also accepted.
John Muir College
Muir College encourages students to avail themselves of Muir's general education option to complete one year of a classical or modern foreign language as one of the two yearlong sequences from foreign languages, humanities and fine arts.
Revelle College
Students are required to demonstrate basic conversational and reading proficiency in any modern foreign language, or advanced reading proficiency in a classical language; or demonstrate proficiency through an appropriate AP or IB score; or complete the fourth quarter (or equivalent elsewhere) of foreign language with a passing grade. American Sign Language at fourth-quarter level is also accepted.
Sixth College
Sixth College has no foreign language requirement; however, language study is encouraged. Students may use two courses of foreign language to satisfy the Narrative, Aesthetic and Historical Reasoning area of the general education requirement if noncontiguous to the major field of study.
Thurgood Marshall College
Thurgood Marshall College has no foreign language requirement; however, students may use two language courses to satisfy the lower-division disciplinary breadth requirement if noncontiguous to the major field of study.
All Colleges
The majors below have foreign language requirements that apply to students in all colleges.
Chinese Studies
Required: At least two years of Mandarin Chinese (CHIN 10 A-B-C and 20 A-B-C), or the equivalent.
Classical Studies
Required: Proficiency in Greek, Latin or Hebrew; six upper-division courses that include reading assignments in the chosen language.
German Studies
Required: Two years of university-level courses, or the equivalent.
International Studies
Required: Four quarters of college-level foreign language instruction, or the equivalent.
Italian Studies
Preferred: Six quarters of lower-division Italian (Italian 1A, 1B, 1C, 2A, 2B and 50) or the equivalent.
Japanese Studies
Required: Two years of lower-division courses and six upper-division courses, or the equivalent.
Judaic Studies
Required: Upper-division competence in Hebrew, normally fulfilled by first- and second-year Hebrew language courses or the equivalent.
Latin American Studies
Required: Proficiency in Spanish or Portuguese, normally fulfilled through a placement test, studying abroad or completing a course in Spanish or Portuguese literature.
Linguistics
Required: Linguistics majors must demonstrate proficiency in one foreign language. Proficiency in a language may be demonstrated in one of three ways:
- By passing the reading proficiency examination and the oral interview administered by the Department of Linguistics in French, German, Italian or Spanish; or
- By successfully completing a course given at UCSD representing the fourth quarter (or beyond) of instruction in any foreign language with a grade of C- or better; or
- By scoring 4 or higher on the Advanced Placement exam.
Students are encouraged to satisfy this requirement as early as possible in order to use the language for reference in linguistics courses. Students with native language competence in a language other than English may petition to have English satisfy the proficiency requirement.
Literature
Required: All students majoring in literature must study a secondary literature, that is, a literature in a language different from that of their primary literature. The range of secondary literatures includes ASL, Classical Greek, Hebrew and Latin, as well as French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish. For those concentrating in a foreign literature, English is also an option. Students will satisfy this requirement by taking three courses in the secondary literature, given substantially in the native language. At least one of these courses must be upper division.
The lower-division component within the secondary literatures may be satisfied by: American Sign Language 1E, French 2B and either 2C or 50, German 2B and 2C, Hebrew 2 and 3, Italian 2B and 50, Greek 2 and 3, Latin 2 and 3, Russian 2B and 2C or two courses from Spanish 50A-50B-50C. For majors which concentrate on a foreign language, two courses from English 21-22-23-25-26-27-28-29 are applicable. Literatures of the World and writing courses may not be applied toward the English secondary literature requirement.
Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies
Required: Six quarters of lower-division Russian (first-year Russian LTRU 1 A-B-C and second-year Russian LTRU 2 A-B-C), or the equivalent.
UC Santa BarbaraCollege of Letters and Science
Foreign language is a general education requirement for all majors in the College of Letters and Science. It may be satisfied in one of four ways:
- Completing the third quarter (Language 3) in a foreign language at UCSB or an equivalent course at another college or university (students fulfilling the requirement with this method will require 184 overall units for graduation);
- Earning a score of 3, 4 or 5 on a College Board AP exam in a foreign language; earning a score of 5, 6 or 7 on a Higher Level IB exam in a foreign language; or achieving one of the following minimum scores on an SAT Subject Test in a foreign language: Chinese with Listening—570; French/French with Listening—590; German/German with Listening—570; Modern Hebrew—500; Italian—570; Japanese with Listening—570; Korean with Listening —550; Latin—580; Spanish/Spanish with Listening—570;
- Completing the third year of one language in high school with a GPA of at least C for the third-year course; or
- Passing a UCSB foreign language placement examination at the appropriate level.
In addition, the majors listed below have foreign language requirements or recommendations:
Asian Studies
Required: Two years (or equivalent) of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or any other Asian language taught at UCSB.
Chicana and Chicano Studies
Required: One year (or equivalent) of Spanish.
Chinese
Required: Two years (or equivalent) of Chinese to prepare for upper-division work in the major.
Classics
Required for all emphases: Elementary Greek (Greek 1, 2 and 3) or Elementary Latin (Latin 1, 2 and 3).
Required for the Classical Language and Literature Emphasis: Greek 100 (Greek Prose) and 101 (Greek Poetry), or Latin 100 (Latin Prose) and 101 (Latin Poetry).
Comparative Literature
Required: Two years (or equivalent) of a foreign language. The Interdisciplinary Emphasis requires one upper-division literature course taught in a foreign language. The Foreign Language Emphasis requires three upper-division literature courses taught in a foreign language.
English
Required: Option 1 or Option 2 below.
Option 1: Completion of the fifth quarter (or equivalent) of any foreign language currently taught at UCSB (or other language by petition).
Option 2: Completion of two upper-division foreign literature in translation courses.
French
Required: Two years (or equivalent) of French to prepare for upper-division work in the major.
German
Required: Two years (or equivalent) of German to prepare for upper-division work in the major.
Recommended: Conversational German.
Global Studies
Required: Two years (or equivalent) of a modern foreign language.
Required: One additional year of advanced and/or upper-division courses in the same language, or completion of the first year of a different language.
History of Public Policy and Law
Recommended: Completion of the fifth quarter (or equivalent) of a language appropriate to area of historical emphasis in the major.
Italian Studies
Required: Two years (or equivalent) of Italian to prepare for upper-division work in the major.
Japanese
Required: Two years (or equivalent) of Japanese to prepare for upper-division work in the major.
Language, Culture, and Society
Required: One year (or equivalent) of a foreign language.
Latin American and Iberian Studies
Required: Two years (or equivalent) of Spanish or Portuguese.
Linguistics
Required: Two years (or equivalent) in one foreign language plus one year (or equivalent) in another foreign language from a different language family. Some emphases specify particular languages. Native speakers of languages other than English may petition to count either English or their native language as fulfilling one of the language requirements.
Medieval Studies
A reading knowledge of Latin and a modern European language will be necessary for those who plan to continue their studies on the graduate level. However, it is not required for the major.
Middle East Studies
Required: Completion of one of these five options — two years of Arabic, two years of Modern Hebrew, two years of Persian, two years of Turkish or one year of Biblical Hebrew plus one year of Modern Hebrew.
Music
Recommended: One year of French, German or Italian for most Music, B.M. emphases.
Required: One year of French, German or Italian for Music, B.M. – Piano Emphasis.
Required: One year of Italian and one year of German or French for Music, B.M. – Voice Emphasis.
Portuguese
Required: Two years (or equivalent) of Portuguese to prepare for upper-division work in the major.
Renaissance Studies
A reading knowledge of Latin and a modern European language will be necessary for those who plan to continue their studies on the graduate level. However, it is not required for the major.
Russian and East European Studies
Required: Two years (or equivalent) of Russian to prepare for upper-division work in the major.
Required: Two years (or equivalent) of Spanish and a course in advanced Spanish grammar and composition to prepare for upper-division work in the major; one Hispanic literature course (in Spanish).
UC Santa CruzApplied Linguistics and Multilingualism
Students must take a minimum of two upper-division, 5-credit courses in the student’s target language (Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, or Spanish). The complete Advanced Language Proficiency course list is posted on the department’s web page. Courses used to fulfill the advanced language proficiency requirement cannot be counted toward the APLX electives. Students may petition to have other 5-credit, upper-division courses offered in the student’s target language count toward the advanced language proficiency requirement.
Although languages and applied linguistics does not currently offer upper-division coursework in Arabic or Portuguese, students who have completed the two-year sequence in this language (or demonstrate equivalent proficiency) have the option to, and are welcome to, complete approved upper-division coursework in Arabic or Portuguese through the Division of Global Engagement in order to satisfy the upper-division language requirement for the major in applied linguistics and multilingualism. The department wants to accommodate students having studied Arabic or Portuguese, and satisfaction of the upper-division courses via study abroad is one option to do so. However, participation in study abroad is not a requirement: If students are unable to participate in study abroad for any reason, they are able to choose to fulfill the upper-division language requirement in the Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism major by studying a language that the Languages and Applied Linguistics Department offers at the upper-division level.
Chemistry
Because chemistry is a global enterprise, knowledge of one or more foreign languages or an international experience can be a valuable asset to chemistry students and add greatly to a student’s ability to communicate with other chemists worldwide.
Classical Studies
Required: The major requires the lower-division sequence in elementary Greek or Latin (Greek 1 and 2, or Latin 1 and 2), and at least three upper-division courses in Greek or Latin. The minor requires the lower-division sequence in elementary Greek or Latin (Greek 1 and 2, or Latin 1 and 2) and at least one upper-division course in Greek or Latin (LIT 184A, Introduction to Greek Literature, or LIT 186A, Introduction to Latin Literature).
Global and Community Health, B.A.
The GCH B.A. program requires language competency at the first-year level. Some or all of this requirement may be satisfied upon entry with a language placement test. Students with language experience other than English are strongly encouraged to take the relevant language placement test, so as to support effective academic planning with the GCH B.A. advisor.
Global and Community Health, B.S.
Students intending to major in the global and community health B.S., biomedical concentration should take the Spanish placement examination, offered by the language program, to determine the level at which they should begin the Spanish sequence.
Global Economics
Required: The global economics major requires a foreign language since students who plan to work in the larger world must have fluency in a language other than English. This language should be relevant to their regional area of interest. Students can meet this requirement by completing two years of university-level language courses or by demonstrating an equivalent level of competence through a recognized language test.
History
Recommended: Proficiency in a foreign language is strongly recommended for all history students and is essential for those who plan to pursue graduate studies in history.
History Intensive Major
Intensive majors must pursue training in a second language by completing three quarters of college-level language study (or equivalent) in a single, non-English modern or ancient language (e.g., SPAN 1 - SPAN 3, ITAL 2 - ITAL 4, etc.). Students with prior training in a second language are advised to complete a language placement exam to determine the appropriate level of language course instruction. With prior approval by the undergraduate director, the language training requirement may be satisfied by at least one quarter study abroad with foreign language instruction. Students do not necessarily need to pursue a language related to their region of concentration, but are encouraged to do so when possible. After consultation with the undergraduate director, students can petition for alternative ways by which to satisfy this requirement.
History of Art and Visual Culture
Recommended: All majors are encouraged to study at least one foreign language. Graduate programs in visual studies, art history, and other related disciplines generally require competence in another language besides English. Students are encouraged to consult with their faculty adviser to discuss an appropriate course of language study.
Jewish Studies
Required: Three quarters of lower-division instruction in a Jewish language in any combination of the student’s choosing: elementary Hebrew (Hebrew 1, Hebrew 2, Hebrew 3); second-year Hebrew (Hebrew 4); Hebrew 80, Introduction to Biblical Hebrew; Elementary Yiddish (Yiddish 1, Yiddish 2, Yiddish 3); or equivalent.
Recommended: Jewish Studies strongly recommends that two of the requirements be completed through Hebrew language courses. Students, especially those who plan to continue their studies in graduate school, may wish to gain proficiency in Yiddish, German or Spanish, depending on their area of interest. Students with prior knowledge of Hebrew or Yiddish are advised to complete a language placement exam to determine if they have satisfied any of the elementary language course requirements. Instructions for the placement exam can be found on the Languages and Applied Linguistics website.
Language Studies
Required: Competence in one foreign language equivalent to two years of college-level study, plus one subsequent course taught in the language. Students may choose from Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish. Chinese and Japanese require one additional subsequent course taught in the language (two total). See the UCSC General Catalog for more details.
Latin American and Latino Studies
Required: LALS majors are expected to learn to speak, read and write Spanish or Portuguese, and to use these skills on a regular basis in their upper-division academic work. Majors must take at least two upper-division courses taught in Spanish or Portuguese.
Before taking upper-division coursework taught in the language, students must demonstrate proficiency in Spanish equivalent to the completion of Spanish 6 or Spanish for Heritage Speakers 6. Students who wish to pursue Portuguese may take the Portuguese 1A/1B or 60A/60B series. Students who have achieved fluency in Spanish or Portuguese through life experience may be exempt from this coursework after demonstration of their proficiency.
In addition to Latin American and Latino Studies and affiliated department course offerings, the required two upper-division courses taught in Spanish or Portuguese may be fulfilled through study abroad with prior approval by Latin American and Latino Studies. Students may also pursue internship or field study opportunities to satisfy one of the two required upper-division courses taught in Spanish or Portuguese; however, at least one of the two courses must be fulfilled in a classroom setting. Upper-division Portuguese courses are currently not offered at UCSC and must be taken elsewhere.
Linguistics
Required: Either (1) competence in one foreign language, attained by five quarters or two full years of college-level study or by successfully passing a standard proficiency exam; OR (2) by competence in mathematics and/or computer science, attained by passing two suitable courses. See the UCSC General Catalog for more details.
Literature
Required: The standard Literature major requires one year (three quarters or equivalent) of college-level study of a non-English language or demonstrated reading ability at this level. For the intensive Literature major, in addition to the standard Literature major requirement, students must complete at least two upper-division courses in a second-language literature studied in the original language. In many languages, two years of college-level study (or comparable ability) are needed before a student is prepared to enter an upper-division course. In a few languages (Greek, Latin), less time is needed for this purpose.
Music
Required: In the B.M. program, music majors whose instrument is voice are required to take French 1, German 1 and Italian 1.
Recommended: Proficiency in a foreign language pertinent to the student's research area is strongly recommended for those planning graduate study in music.
Spanish Studies
Required: Students are expected to achieve advanced linguistic proficiency in the Spanish language and the broad cultural competence required for understanding the perspectives and products of the diverse range of Spanish-speaking communities.
