Placement in Foreign Language Courses

Guidelines for Beginning Students

Students who want to begin study of a foreign language at Brooklyn College should follow these guidelines for registration.

• Most basic language courses are listed with numbers beginning with “10” (e.g., 1010, 1015, 1020, etc). Beginning Latin, however, is numbered 2101, and beginning Greek is 2001. Language courses form sequences in which each course is the prerequisite of the next.
• Beginning courses are not open to students with prior knowledge of a language. For this reason, students wishing to register for SPAN 1010 or FREN 1010 are currently required to obtain departmental permission, which will be granted only after review of the student’s record to ensure they have not previously studied the language.
• For specific information on course content and prerequisites, students should consult individual course listings in the Brooklyn College Bulletin.

Guidelines for Continuing Students

Students who want to continue foreign language study begun in high school should follow these guidelines for registration.

• Students who have completed three or four years of foreign language study and have passed the Regents Level 3 examination with an 85 or higher should request permission to register for a Level 4 course, numbered 2000 or above.
• Students who have completed three years of foreign language study but did not take the Regents Level 3 examination or scored below an 85 should register for 1030.
• Students with 2 years of high school language experience normally enroll in Level 3, and students with one year of high school language experience normally enroll in Level 2.
• Students who have completed less than one year in high school normally enroll in Level 1.

Students unsure of their placement are encouraged to fill out the Language Other Than English (LOTE) Placement Survey and Permission Request form.

Any questions regarding placement should be directed to the department office, 718.951.5000 ext. 5451.