Foreign Languages

To be able to communicate in a foreign language is a fundamental asset in any profession, from careers in education, translating, and interpreting, to those in international studies, health, business or law. The knowledge of a foreign language is also useful for traveling and research in many parts of the world. The School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts offers four foreign languages for UC Merced students: Chinese, French, Japanese and Spanish.

All lower division courses in Chinese, French, Japanese and Spanish are content-based, learner-oriented and follow the communicative learning approach. In addition to helping students develop skills to communicate in the target language, these courses attempt to promote a cultural awareness of the countries and communities where the languages are spoken.

The Spanish language program at UC Merced offers courses at the lower and upper division level plus a minor in Spanish. Lower division course offerings include introductory and intermediate courses and courses for Spanish heritage speakers who would like to improve their oral, writing and reading skills. At the upper division level, the Spanish program offers a wide variety of courses that provide students with the opportunity to broaden their knowledge of the language and of Hispanic cultures, as well as to learn the vocabulary and expressions commonly used in specific professions. Consult the Minors section of this catalog for information on the minor in Spanish.

To ensure appropriate placement in our foreign language courses, students with previous academic instruction in the language that they would like to study are encouraged to take the placement exam for that language. Spanish heritage speakers who wish to improve their oral, writing and reading skills should not take the Spanish placement exam, but register in SPAN 010 -SPAN 011 . Students should have fulfilled the requirements (SPAN 004  or SPAN 011 ) or equivalent to register in an upper division Spanish course. For information about placement exams please go to orientation.ucmerced.edu or speak to a UC Merced academic advisor. You can also contact the Foreign Languages Program Coordinator for questions related to the placement exam or any other foreign language issues.

See the SSHA Advising website for more information on Foreign Language Placement: ssha-advising.ucmerced.edu/policies/foreign-language-placement-guidelines.