Language Requirement
Students majoring in International Studies are required to demonstrate basic proficiency in a foreign language. This requirement may be satisfied in one of the following ways (see below for more information on each):
- Completion of a fourth quarter college-level foreign language class or its equivalent.
- Pass a Language Proficiency Exam
- Earn a qualifying score on one of the following exams: AP Language, AP Literature, IB Language or SAT II Language
- Attend high school outside of the United States where the language of instruction is not English.
- ISP Majors: Language course may be taken for a letter grade or Pass/No Pass. Students must earn either a C- or better or a Pass.
- ISP Minors: To earn minor credit for language courses taken at UCSD, courses must be taken for a letter grade of C- or better.
Language Course Completion: UC San Diego
Completion of a fourth quarter (or higher level) college language course at UCSD.
- Language courses may be taken for a letter grade or P/NP.
- International Studies minors: To earn minor credit for language courses, these courses must be taken for a letter grade of C- or better.
- LIDS 19 does not complete ISP Language Requirement
- In alignment with the Linguistics and Language Program at UCSD, ISP does not accept UCSD Extension courses to fulfill the ISP Language Requirement.
Placement Examinations: Students are required to follow the directions for placement into language courses as determined by the individual department offering the language.
- If you have prior knowledge of a language that you want to continue to study, take the free placement exam (information below) for that language.
- If you have significant experience in a language, are fluent/proficient, or hope to "test out" of a requirement for your major/minor or College, take the free language proficiency exam instead (information here).
Language Placement by AP or IB Credit
If you have AP, IB, or previous college college for a specific course, you can enroll in the next course in the sequence without taking a placement exam.
- For information about AP credit, see AP Chart (PDF)
- For information about IB credit, see IB Chart (PDF)
Note: If you received AP, IB or previous college credit, you will not be given credit for repeating the equivalent course, or for taking a lower level course.
How to Take a Language Placement Exam
| Language | Placement Exam Information |
|---|---|
| American Sign Language | Contact ASL Academic Coordinator Peggy Lott |
| Arabic | Contact one of the Arabic Instructors |
| Chinese | All students must take a placement interview before enrolling in a CHIN course. Click here for more information. |
| French | Take the online placement test |
| German | Take the online placement test |
| Greek | Contact the instructor of Greek language in the Department of Literature |
| Hebrew | Contact the Jewish Studies advisor to schedule placement test |
| Italian | Take the online placement test |
| Japanese |
All students must take a placement test before enrolling in a JAPN course. Follow instructions here |
| See instructor Jeyseon Lee for placement text | |
| Latin | Contact the Classics advisor in the Department of Literature |
| Portuguese | Contact one of the Portuguese Instructors |
| Russian | Contact Rebecca Wells |
| Spanish | Take the online placement test |
| Spanish – Heritage Speakers | Contact the Literature Spanish Language Coordinator |
*All students must take a placement test if they’re interested in taking Chinese or Japanese courses, regardless of their AP score or credit earned from the articulated language courses taken at community colleges.
Note: If students place into the 5th quarter level or higher of a language at UCSD, ISP Advising will waive their ISP Language Requirement in lieu of a Proficiency Exam. Please send placement confirmation to isp@ucsd.edu with your PID and a short note about waiving the ISP Language Requirement.
Language Course Offerings
It is important to note when sequential language courses are offered and create your academic plan accordingly. A helpful tool is located on Revelle’s Website or the Linguistics Language Programs Course Offerings webiste.
Language Sequence Flowchart
- For languages offered through Linguistics Language Program:
- LIxx 1A/AX
- LIxx 1B/BX
- LIxx 1C/CX
- LIxx 1D/DX (meets Proficiency)
- LTxx 2A (meets Proficiency)
Language Course Completion: Transfer Courses
Language Courses transferred to UC San Diego from:
Community College
- Verify articulation to fourth quarter course using ASSIST.org.
- If there is not an articulation posted to assist.org, students will need to submit a petition to the Linguistics Language Program (most languages) or appropriate language department for evaluation of the level equivalency.
- Please note that fulfillment of IGETC does not fulfill the language requirement for the ISP major.
UC University
- Quarter system: International Studies will automatically accept 4th quarter level language course to fulfill our major requirements.
- Semester system: International Studies requires that students transferring from a school on the semester system submit a petition to the appropriate language department to verify the level of coursework.
U.S. University
- All language courses will need to be petitioned through the appropriate language department.
Study Abroad/Non-U.S. University
- All language courses will need to be petitioned through the appropriate language department.
Heritage Language Courses for Bilingual Speakers
Completion of one (1) upper-division Heritage Language course for a letter grade or P/NP will fulfill the International Studies major language requirement.
Refer to Heritage Language Program for more information.
- LIHL 113. Armenian for Armenian Speakers
- LIHL 118. Cantonese for Cantonese Speakers
- LIHL 112. Filipino for Filipino Speakers
- LIHL 132. Advanced Filipino for Filipino Speakers
- LIHL 119. Hindi for Hindi Speakers
- LIHL 139. Advanced Hindi for Hindi Speakers
- LIHL 115. Korean for Korean Speakers
- LIHL 135. Advanced Korean for Korean Speakers
- LIHL 117. Persian for Persian Speakers
- LIHL 137. Advanced Persian for Persian Speakers
- LIHL 114. Vietnamese for Vietnamese Speakers
- LIHL 124. Intermediate Vietnamese for Vietnamese Speakers
- LIHL 134. Advanced Vietnamese for Vietnamese Speakers
Proficiency Exam
Proficiency Exam Process:
See Proficiency Exam Procedures on the Linguistics Language Program website.
Students should take a proficiency exam if they have completed four or more years of foreign language in high school, community college, or if they are bilingual. There are two components to the proficiency exam: written and oral. Test scores are not recorded to the academic history unless both the written and oral proficiency exams are passed.
Refer to Linguistics Language Program website for a list of test administrators and instructions. You can also find more information on the for the Chinese and Japanese proficiency exams at the links below:
AP Language, AP Literature, IB Language or SAT II Language Exam
AP Language Exam (excludes English)
- Score of 4 or 5 on an AP Language exam completes the International Studies language requirement.
- Score of 3 exempts only LIFR/LIGM/LIIT/LISP 1C/ICX.
- See UCSD's AP Credits Chart
- Please reach out to ISP Advisors if your degree audit does not articulate your AP test scores.
AP Literature Exam (excludes English)
- Score of 3 or better completes the International Studies language requirement.
- Scores below 3 do not exempt any coursework at UCSD and students will need to take a Linguistics Placement Exam.
Higher Level IB Language A Exam (excludes English)
- Score of 6 or 7 completes the International Studies language requirement.*
- *Only Higher Level Exams are accepted for credit by the University of California; Standard Level Exams are not given credit. See UCSD's IB Credits Chart.
- Score of 5 on Higher Level A Exam exempts LING 1C/1CX.
- Higher level Language B exams with a score of 5, 6, or 7 equal 8 units of elective credit. Please refer to Language Course Completion: UC San Diego (above).
SAT II Language Exam (excludes English)
- Score of 700 or better completes the International Studies language requirement.
High School Outside of the United States
To clear the ISP Language Requirement, students must meet the following requirements
- Attended at least one year of high school (9th- 12th grade) taught in a language other than English.
- Official High School transcripts sent to UCSD Admissions and posted to formal record.
- Complete the language waiver below:
The International Studies Program does not accept the IGETC Language Other than English Certification.
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