FOREIGN LANGUAGE PLACEMENT
If you're wondering if there's a foreign language placement test at Clark, there isn't!
However, there is a Language and Culture Perspective requirement as part of the Program of Liberal Studies. The most common way to fulfill this requirement is with a course or course sequence of your choice in foreign language study.
Many students choose to continue in a language in which they have skills and knowledge. Others choose to begin a new language or take a course that fulfills the Language and Culture Perspective requirement but isn't a foreign language class.
If you have studied a foreign language previously and plan to continue it at Clark, your placement will be based on the number of years of language you have taken in high school. Please see below.
Language Placement Guidelines
Please use the chart below to determine what course level is a good starting point for you, depending on how many previous years of the language you've had.
Our rule is that regular beginning courses (101-102) are closed to anyone who has had two years of that language. The University reviews high school transcripts to make sure you're not over-qualified for a course. However, in Spanish, we do offer an intensive, one-semester beginning course that builds on the experience you've had in high school. Students in these intensive courses have studied the material in the past but may have forgotten much of it. Since their purpose is to refresh knowledge, these one-semester courses move at a faster pace than the two-semester beginning courses.
Students with native or near-native fluency in a language cannot take a lower-level course in that language. Native speakers should consult with the coordinator for each language.
| Previous years of language study | Spanish | French | German | Hebrew | Japanese | Chinese | Latin/Greek |
| none | 011 | 101-102* | 101-102* | 101-102 | 101-102 | 101-102 | |
| 0 - 1 | 011 | 101-102* | 101-102* | 101/102 | 101-102 | 101-102 | 101-102 |
| 1 - 2 | 103 intensive | see instructor | see instructor | ||||
| 2 - 3 | 105 | 105 | 103 | 103-104 | 103 | 103 | 103 |
| 3 - 4 | 105 or 106* | 105 or 106* | 104 | 104 | |||
| 4 - 5 | 106 | 106 or 120** | advanced | ||||
| 5+** | 127 + above ** | see instructor |
*102 must be completed to fulfill the Program of Liberal Studies language perspective (LP).
*Students who have taken four years in a strong program and have done well are encouraged to enroll in 106 or above to get ahead faster in their language study; consult faculty if in doubt.
**Oral and Written SPAN 127 / Ways of Writing: FREN120, are designed for students with a strong high-school background or who have had an advanced placement (AP) class.
If you have questions please contact the following:
Japanese or Chinese: Professor Alice Valentine
French: Professor Beth Gale
German: Professor Robert Tobin
Spanish: Professor Maria Acosta Cruz