Language Requirement in Spanish

Welcome to the Spanish Language Program! We look forward to having you in our courses, and we know that you will enjoy them!

If you are taking Spanish to fulfill the Language Requirement, we strongly advise you to start the process in your first year or, if that is not possible, at your earliest convenience, to ensure a successful and straightforward path toward graduation.

The Spanish Language Program has two tracks:

(a) For second language learners, four semesters of Spanish are offered and/or required, as follows:

  1. Elementary Spanish I (UN1101)
  2. Elementary Spanish II (UN1102)
  3. Intermediate Spanish I (UN2101)
  4. Intermediate Spanish II, offered as one of the following courses:
    • Intermediate Spanish II (UN2102)
    • Intermediate Spanish II—Health-related Topics in the Spanish-speaking World (UN2103)
    • Intermediate Spanish II—Topics on Climate Discourse (UN2104)
    • Intermediate Spanish II—Telenovelas and TV Series (UN2105)
    • Comprehensive Intermediate Spanish (UN2120) -- This course is an intensive and fast-paced coverage of both Spanish UN 2101-Intermediate Spanish I and Spanish UN 2102-Intermediate Spanish II

 

(b) For Spanish as a Heritage Language, the two courses needed to fulfill the language requirement are as follows:

  1. Spanish UN1108: Elementary Spanish for Heritage Speakers
  2. Spanish UN2108: Intermediate Spanish for Heritage Speakers

 

Registration Procedures

All students new to the Spanish Language Program at Columbia are required to take a departmental placement examination before registering for a course or provide proof of exemption. Students will then register for the level assigned by the placement test. Please read all placement information carefully here.

All Spanish language courses taught in the Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures are capped at 15 students. 

A. Before classes start:

- When language courses are full, automated waitlists will open. Instructors have no control over who registers for or drops the class, and they cannot add anyone. Should a spot become available, the first student on the waitlist will be added by the system.

B. Once classes start:

- All classes are blocked, including those that are not officially full, and automated waitlists become instructor-managed. No one can register without attending all classes during the Change of Program Period and obtaining the instructor’s permission, even if the Directory of Classes shows that there is room. The Directory of Classes may not reflect the actual number of students registered in a particular section.

- Once classes start, a student’s position on a waitlist in Vergil is no longer relevant. Any spots that may become available are reserved for students on the waitlist who have maintained perfect attendance from day one and who meet the enrollment criteria for the Language Requirement. Instructors will follow a departmental list of priorities.

- At this point, waitlisted students are those who attend class and express their desire to enroll in the course. If a student is on Vergil’s waitlist but does not attend class, they will not be considered waitlisted. Conversely, if a student is not on Vergil’s waitlist but attends class and expresses their desire to enroll, they will be considered waitlisted. Please be advised that having your name on the waitlist for a Barnard or Columbia section of a Spanish course does not automatically guarantee your admission.

- To ensure fairness and support academic progress, the Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures enforces a strict attendance and registration policy during the Change of Program Period for both registered students and students on the waitlist. AFTER THE FIRST WEEK OF CLASS, preregistered students who have failed to consistently attend the first three class meetings, as well as anyone who does not meet the prerequisites, will be required to drop the class. Only at this point will it be possible to determine who may be admitted from the waitlist. You may not register online without going through the attendance-based waitlist, even if a system malfunction allows you to do so. If you register in this way, you will be dropped.

- To reiterate, if you do not attend the first week’s meetings of a class for which you are preregistered or waitlisted, you will be asked to drop the class roster or you will be removed from the waitlist. 

- While you are welcome to contact the Spanish Language Program Director to explain any special need for a course, please be advised that the Director cannot instruct faculty to bypass the waitlist process. In no case will a decision about admission be made before the first week of class has ended.

- If you absolutely need to take a language course in a particular semester (e.g., to meet study-abroad program requirements or to complete requirements toward a degree), please be prepared to rearrange your schedule so that you can enroll in open sections. No exceptions to enrollment caps for a particular section will be made. We strongly advise you to anticipate your study-abroad and other requirements as much as possible and to project and plan your language course needs accordingly.

- If, after following registration and waitlist procedures, you are unable to enroll in a course, please send an email to the Language Program Director. It is useful for us to know if students are placed out of our courses so that we can try to add more sections, if needed, when planning for subsequent semesters.

Please note:

  1. Once students begin taking courses, they must complete the sequence. They may not retake the placement exam in an attempt to place higher or skip a course.
  2. In line with Columbia College policy, all language courses must be taken in sequence for a letter grade (A, B, C, D, or F). These courses cannot be taken Pass/D/Fail. See the full policy in the Columbia College Bulletin ›.
  3. Auditing is not permitted in our courses.

 

Exemption from the Language Requirement in Spanish

You may be able to obtain an exemption from the Language Requirement in Spanish in ONE of the following six ways:

  1. by obtaining a score of above 625* on the department’s online Spanish as a Second Language Placement Examination or an equivalent score on the department's online Spanish as a Heritage Language Placement Examination. Your possible exemption in these cases will be verified by taking another in-person version of either of these two (2) exams, which are scheduled as follows:

    • For the Spanish as a Second Language Placement Examination, please contact Kosmas Pissakos ([email protected]) to schedule the administration of the exam in the department at Casa Hispánica. For questions about the second version of this exam, please contact Dr. Francisca Aguiló Mora ([email protected]). Failure to take the second in-person placement test within one year of obtaining the qualifying score on the first test will result in the invalidation of the first test score.

    *All students receiving a score above 625—whether seeking an exemption or not—must take the second version of the test in person to verify the appropriate level.

    • For the Spanish as a Heritage Language Placement Examination, contact Dr. Francisca Aguiló Mora ([email protected]) to obtain your results from the first exam. She will either indicate the appropriate course for registration or provide information about a possible exemption through a second exam. If you qualify for a possible exemption, you will be scheduled for the second part of the placement exam with Dr. Francisca Aguiló Mora ([email protected]). This qualitative assessment consists of writing and speaking components and will be evaluated by a faculty committee. Failure to take the second, in-person placement test within one year of obtaining a qualifying score on the first test will result in the invalidation of the first test score.

       

  2. by presenting a score of 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement (AP) Spanish Language or Spanish Literature exams. In this case, you may register for a section of Spanish UN 3300 - Advanced Language through Content. Check the topic offerings of this course on Vergil.
    • If you received a score of 5 in either exam you will be awarded three advanced placement credits upon successful completion of a 3300-level (or higher) course in Spanish with a grade of B or higher.

    • Note: No Advanced Placement credit is granted for a score of 4.

       

  3. by presenting a score of 780 or above on the SAT Subject Test. The College Board discontinued SAT Subject Tests in 2021. Students with a score lower than 780 should take one of the two department’s online placement exams and follow the placement advice received.
     
  4. by presenting a score of a 7, 6, or 5 on the International Baccalaureate (IB) Higher Level (HL) exam in Spanish.
     
  5. by presenting the certification of the D.E.L.E Examination (Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera) for either the Intermedio or the Superior levels.
     
  6. by presenting the certification of the CELU Examination (Certificado de Español: Lengua y Uso) for either the Intermedio or the Avanzado levels.

 

Study Abroad and/or Courses Taken Outside the University 

In order to confirm that you have fulfilled the Spanish language requirement, you must take the placement examination in person upon returning to Columbia from a study abroad program and/or after taking courses outside the university. Please make an appointment to take the test with Kosmas Pissakos ([email protected]) in our department.

For transfer of credits for courses beyond the 3300-level, please refer to this page and contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS), Dr. Lee B. Abraham ([email protected]).

 

Advanced Placement (AP) Examination Credit

An Advanced Placement (AP) score of 4 or 5 on the Spanish Language or Literature exam satisfies Columbia’s foreign language requirement. In addition, the department will award 3 points of Advanced Placement credit to students with an AP score of 5 upon completion of a course in Spanish numbered UN 3300 or higher with a minimum grade of B. (No credit is awarded for an AP score of 4.)

Students with Advanced Placement credit who wish to pursue a course of study in Spanish should take Spanish UN 3300, “Advanced Language through Content.” Spanish UN 3330 counts toward a major or minor in Hispanic Studies.

For more information, contact Dr. Lee B. Abraham, Director of Undergraduate Studies ([email protected]).