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The Stanford Language Center oversees all language instruction at Stanford University. As a unit within the Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages (DLCL), the Language Center is dedicated to ensuring that Stanford’s language programs are of the highest quality.
The center supports the university's academic mission by developing and administering the proficiency tests necessary to implement the university-wide undergraduate language requirement. It also provides essential technical assistance and support to the graduate students, academic staff, and faculty who deliver language instruction, while taking a national leadership role in research and development efforts in language learning.
The Language Center coordinates foundational language acquisition, helping students achieve the language skills needed to enhance their academic programs and enabling them to live, work, study, and research globally:
The Undergraduate Language Requirement: All Stanford undergraduate students are required to complete one year of college-level study or the equivalent in a foreign language. For students who have fulfilled the language requirement opens in a new tab with official test scores or transfer credit but wish to pursue further study, the Language Center administers placement tests to determine the most appropriate course of study.
Extensive Language Offerings: The Language Center offers instruction in more than 40 languages every year, many through the advanced levels.
Integration with Majors and Minors: While language acquisition courses are offered through the Language Center, formal majors and minors in languages, literatures, and cultures are housed within the five departments of the DLCL (Comparative Literature, French & Italian, German Studies, Iberian and Latin American Cultures, and Slavic Languages and Literatures) and the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures (EALC).
Graduate Enrollment: Graduate students from all Stanford departments and schools are welcome to enroll in language courses to support their research.
Stanford's language programs are characterized by rigorous, internationally recognized standards for testing, curriculum design, and skill development:
ACTFL-FSI Scale Standards: The Language Center aligns its first-year (30-week) proficiency objectives opens in a new tab in listening, speaking, reading, and writing with the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages-Foreign Service Institute scale.
Cognate vs. Non-Cognate Pathways: For English-cognate languages (such as French, German, and Spanish), first-year proficiency objectives are set at the intermediate-mid level. For non-cognate languages, first-year objectives are set at the novice high level.
Quarterly Assessments: The Center conducts quarterly performance assessments of students in our language programs to systematically verify that they meet or exceed these high national standards, while accommodating unique program traditions and student interests.