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Modern Languages Placement Guidelines

We want each student to begin in the class that is just right for them! To do that, we have developed the guidelines below that give you a good idea of what your language placement would be at AU. While we follow these guidelines the vast majority of the time, special situations do arise, and the Modern Languages’ Program reserves the right to place a student in a different class from that listed below if necessary.

Students wanting to major or minor in a language, and bilingual or heritage speakers of Spanish (those who attend secondary school in English but speak Spanish at home), are encouraged to email Lisa Welsh to take a placement test that helps ensure their first class is a good fit.

AU aims for its graduates to have a global perspective, and for them to be generous individuals who show a Christ-centered hospitality to people from other cultural backgrounds. Since the study of cross-cultural interactions is embedded in our language classes, 1 second-language class is required in AU’s Liberal Arts core curriculum and all new Ravens receive a language placement from our department.

Students who took Levels 1-3 in a language by the end of their Sophomore year of high school with As and Bs are typically placed into a Beginning II class at AU. Students who took Levels 1-3 in a language by the end of their Junior or Senior year of high school with As, Bs, or Cs, are also typically placed into a Beginning II class.

The beginning French/German/Spanish II course is NOT the equivalent of a 4th year of language, rather, it will review years 1-3. Students receiving this placement may opt to take Beginning I in another language instead by contacting Lisa Welsh.

Students who took Levels 1-3 in a language but who did not meet these grade requirements typically will be placed into Beginning I of the language they studied, or they may contact Lisa Welsh to switch to Beginning I of another language.

Students who took Levels 1-4 of Spanish will take a placement test to determine their best fit. We want each language class to challenge students without overwhelming them, so it is important that advanced learners go to the level that is suited to them. We understand, however, that higher levels of Spanish teach more conceptually challenging material. Thus learners who place into Intermediate Spanish II or Advanced Spanish Composition, and who pass the class, receive credit for this course and for the course prior to it. They then earn 8 hours of college credit instead of the typical 4.

Because of the lower demand in Indiana for French and German, students who took Levels 1-4 of French or German may:

Complete Beginning II of the language they studied
Complete Beginning I of another language
Contact the Chair, Dr. Brandan Grayson, to see about opportunities to take the appropriate course for them through one of our partner universities or abroad. This may be done as part of your regular AU schedule depending on the partner university’s course offerings.

International Students who have completed their secondary schooling (high school) in a language other than English may either take a Modern Languages’ class (this can be in their native language but if so, testing will be required), or take MLAN 2000: Language and Society, a sociolinguistics course.

Modern Languages

Spanish Major

Academics