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Northwestern University

Standard Ways to Fulfill the Language Requirement

NOTE: Students who started taking classes at Northwestern in Spring 2023 or earlier should refer to the relevant language proficiency table. The information below pertains to students who start at Northwestern after Spring 2023.

This table shows ways to fulfill the Weinberg Language Proficiency Requirement by taking Northwestern courses or by doing sufficiently well on an AP or Northwestern exam. For more information on language AP/IB scores, please refer to AP and IB Language Credit on the Language Resource Center webpage.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

Language proficiency
Language Department Course completed with a C- or Better AP Score Other
Arabic Middle East & N. African Studies ARABIC 121-3 none Program Test and Interview
Chinese Asian Lang. & Cultures CHINESE 121-3 or 125-3 or above none Dept. Test and Interview
French French & Italian FRENCH 121-3 or 125-3 or 201-0 5, but take dept test if continuing in French  Dept. Test and Interview
German German GERMAN 102-3, 205-1, 205-2, 221-1, -2, or -3 none Dept. Test and Interview
Ancient Greek Classics GREEK 201-3 none Dept. Test
Hebrew Jewish Studies HEBREW 121-3 none Center Test
Hindi Asian Lang. & Cultures HIND-URD 121-3; 125-2 or 210-0 and above none Dept. Test and Interview *
Italian French & Italian ITALIAN 102-3, or 133/134-3 4 or better Dept. Test and Interview
Japanese Asian Lang. & Cultures JAPANESE 121-3 or 211-1 or above; course required depends on placement none Dept. Test and Interview
Korean Asian Lang. & Cultures KOREAN 121-3; 125-2 (if taken in 2016-17 through 2023-24) or 125-3; or 211-1 or above. Course required depends on placement. none Dept. Test and Interview
Latin Classics LATIN 201-3 5 Dept. Test
Persian (Farsi) Middle East & N. African Studies PERSIAN 121-3 none Program Test and Interview
Polish Slavic Lang. & Literature

POLISH 208-3, 358-1, 358-2 (Before Fall 2019: SLAVIC 208-3, 358)

none Dept. Test and Interview
Portuguese Spanish and Portuguese PORT 121-3 or PORT 115-2 none Dept. Test and Interview
Russian Slavic Lang. & Literature

RUSSIAN 102-3 or above. (Before Fall 2019: SLAVIC 102-3 or above)

none Dept. Test and Interview
Spanish Spanish and Portuguese

SPANISH 121-3, SPANISH 125-0, or SPANISH 127

4 or better on Lang. and/or Lit. exam Dept. Test and Interview
Swahili Program of African Studies SWAHILI 121-3 none Program Test and Interview
Turkish Middle East & N. African Studies TURKISH 121-3 none Program Test and Interview
Urdu Asian Lang. & Cultures HIND URD 121-3 or 210-0 and above none Dept. Test and Interview *

 * Hindi-Urdu - Or IB test score of 5 or above and 10th- or 12th-grade Indian Board Exam (including GCE and IGCSE) results of 70% or above. Students with a Hindi or Urdu IB score of 5, 6, or 7 have satisfied the foreign language requirement. Bring a copy of the scores to the Hindi/Urdu placement coordinator.

Updated 6/13/2024

NOTE: Students who started taking classes at Northwestern in Spring 2023 or earlier should refer to the relevant language proficiency table. The information above pertains to students who start at Northwestern after Spring 2023.