The Language Program
The Language Program provides students with courses that will enable them to gain elementary through intermediate-low proficiency in the language of their choice. Students who satisfy the pre-major sequence in French, Italian, and Spanish can then choose from a wide variety of upper level courses in culture, language, literature and linguistics.
Students who have completed coursework in French, Spanish or Italian either at UB or another college will not be allowed to register in a proficiency level lower than that already completed. Students repeating a course in which a failing grade was received must do so prior to registering in a higher level course.
Guidelines for placement, of use to advisors as well as students, may be found here, and this chart showing the movement of lower-level classes may also be helpful. Please note that there will be priority registration in elementary language courses for students who are freshmen and sophomores.
Click on the links below for more information on the preparatory sequence for minors or majors in Romance languages:
Proficiency Exam
Proficiency exams are offered free of charge to current UB students who wish to demonstrate that they have elementary or intermediate-level language proficiency. Passing the proficiency exam will exempt students from the SUNY foreign language general education requirement , although it will not grant credits toward graduation. Students may take this test once during their studies at UB.
The exam is not intended for: students who received scores of 3, 4, or 5 in the AP French, Italian or Spanish language test; students who completed a high school diploma in a country in which French, Italian or Spanish were the language of instruction; students who transferred college level coursework that is currently articulated to UB's elementary (102 or 104) or higher language level courses in DARS.
More information on the proficiency exam is available via these links:
- For French, click here.
- For Italian, contact the RLL department.
- For Spanish, click here.
Language Proficiency Exam Online Registration Form
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