Foreign Language at Truman
 

Foreign Language Requirements

All students who seek the Bachelor’s degree at Truman must satisfy the foreign language requirement of elementary proficiency, as specified in the Liberal Studies Program. Satisfaction of this requirement is defined as successful completion of the second semester of the foreign language or equivalent proficiency as demonstrated on waiver exams in one of the foreign languages offered at Truman. Candidates for the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Music, and Bachelor of Science in Linguistics degrees must achieve intermediate proficiency in one of the foreign languages offered through the intermediate level at Truman. Students should check their degree program to determine if there are additional degree requirements in a foreign language. Intermediate proficiency is defined as successful completion of the fourth semester of the foreign language or equivalent proficiency as demonstrated on waiver exams. Ideally, the foreign language requirement should be completed by the end of the sophomore year.

International students who are candidates for a degree that requires intermediate proficiency in a foreign language should consult the International Student Admission Policies and Other Guidelines section found in the Admission pages of the General Catalog. NOTE: For languages not taught at Truman, contact the Department Chair of Classical and Modern Languages.

Foreign Language Waiver

Students placing into a foreign language at a level higher than that required by their degree program may fulfill their foreign language requirement in any of the following ways: 1) take the course in which they are placed even though it is at a higher level than required, and by successfully completing this course fulfill the foreign language requirement; 2) take the appropriate waiver examination in those languages which offer an on-campus exam, and by passing this examination fulfill the foreign language requirement, but no credit will be granted; 3) take the CLEP exam for French, German, or Spanish, and if an appropriate score is earned, the student may waive the foreign language requirement. For French and German no credit is granted for such a waiver; for Spanish, University credit will be granted, depending on the score earned by the student.