Start Here: Language Courses FAQ

Departments have different rules regarding placement exams. You can find information about placement exams for different languages, or consult the department’s undergraduate advisor: we have compiled a complete list of names and contact information.

It depends! UC Berkeley offers courses in nearly 60 languages—this is highly unusual, and worth taking advantage of during your time here. Check out this page to see all the languages offered and how they fit in planning your major and minor, including many less commonly taught languages.

The sooner, the better! While many study abroad programs offer elementary courses in a country’s major language as a way to enhance an experience abroad, students who are more advanced in their language study can enroll in local universities, granting them a whole other level of immersion.

More advanced language skills bring new opportunities in the field of research and internships. Take a look at this profile on how a student who had reached advanced levels in Japanese took advantage of her language skills and semester abroad to get her foot in the door on research experience.

No: Many elementary and intermediate level language courses are 5 units, but not all.

• 4 unit courses include: All African (Swahili, Igbo, Amharic), Scandinavian (Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish), and Celtic languages (Modern Welsh and Irish).
• Additionally, the following elementary languages are fewer than 5 units: Akkadian, Armenian, Biblical Hebrew, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Cantonese (including for heritage speakers), Accelerated Chinese for heritage learners, Egyptian hieroglyphics, Greek (ancient and modern), Hungarian, Latin, literary Mongolian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian for heritage speakers, Spanish for bilingual speakers, Taiwanese, Telugu, and Ukrainian.
• Most advanced level courses are typically 3 or 4 units.

No: There is a great variation between how language courses are structured, even at the elementary level.

• Some elementary courses meet four days a week (e.g. Cantonese, accelerated Chinese for heritage speakers, Finnish, Japanese, Latin, Polish, Portuguese for Spanish speakers, Tibetan)
• The following meet three days: Elementary: Arabic, Danish, Ancient and Modern Greek, literary Mongolian, Norwegian, Polish, Spanish for bilingual students, Swedish, Telugu, Ukrainian.
• And some meet twice weekly: Akkadian, all African languages, some Armenian, ASL, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Cantonese, Egyptian hieroglyphics, Biblical Hebrew, Intermediate Hindi, Hungarian, some Intermediate Italian, Old Norse, Taiwanese, Modern Welsh.
• Most elementary courses offered by EALC and the Romance languages meet five days a week for an hour, as do Filipino, Indonesian, Persian, Russian, Thai, Turkish and Urdu. 
• Many intermediate and advanced courses meet two or three times a week. Check the schedule of classes for more information.

No: Many languages (Amharic, ASL, Finnish, Hungarian, Igbo, Taiwanese, Thai, Welsh and Yiddish) offer online only courses. Alternatively, some languages offer students blended learning opportunities, where the same class meets in person some days of the week and either asynchronously or synchronously others. Examples of this innovative course structure are offerings in Arabic, Chinese, Filipino, Hebrew, Indonesian, Korean, Japanese, and Italian.

We advise all incoming students to consult resources on the new L&S Language Requirement and how to fulfill it. For students entering FA26 or after, please note that the previous metric—three years of high school study—no longer fulfills the requirement. You can satisfy the L&S Language Requirement by completing at least three years of secondary school in which the primary language of instruction was a language other than English, starting from grade 6 or above, as verified by transcripts.

Otherwise, to fulfill this requirement, you can take a dedicated proficiency exam or take a language class. You can take a language class in a language you're already studying or you can start something new with one of the 57+ additional languages we teach on campus!

In languages as in all courses, you’ll find that each instructor has their own approach to teaching and grading. Students who take language courses frequently highlight the greater personalized attention given the smaller class sizes, which not only fosters a sense of community but also helps all students to achieve their goals. (For an example of the difference small classroom sizes make, check out this student’s interview on her experience as a language major.)

You can also consider taking a language course Pass/No pass (remembering that Pass grades may account for no more than one third of your total units required to reach the 120 overall minimum). Please note, though, that if you are taking a course to fulfill your L&S Language Requirement, you need to take it for a letter grade.

Yes! Nearly every language department on campus offers a minor. You can find information about minoring in a language and other relevant links and contacts on our website. For many, this makes sense given that language study can add regional specificity and knowledge to a disciplinary focus.

For an example, see how this student minoring in Spanish describes how it elevated his experience and gave him a valued perspective in the classroom as a political economy major. Remember, if you want to minor or major in a language, start early—otherwise, you may discover that certain opportunities are no longer available.

Yes: around 60% of language majors are double majors. For some, this can happen organically—for example, an Arabic major found that her deep exploration of the language naturally led her to a second major in linguistics. This in turn paved the way for her acceptance to a master’s degree program specializing in speech pathology and bilingualism. You can find information about majoring in a language and relevant information here.

For others, the choice to double major in a language honors their passions and interests. One past member of the BLC’s Undergraduate Advisory Council, for example, balances her Molecular and Cell Biology major with a second focus in Ancient Greek and Roman Studies.

Languages open doors: Many career fields place a premium on proficiency in a language other than English, whether you want to work in the fields of policy, community organizing, journalism, computer science, research or global affairs. Advanced abilities in a language other than English can be a requirement in some graduate programs, and some students are able to fund their graduate studies through language fellowships.

Beyond career purposes, many students who study languages report that it becomes an important source of personal satisfaction and a way of connecting to communities and better understanding themselves.