A Message for Students Enrolled in a 111-Level Beginner Course

Welcome to the Department of European Languages and Literatures at Queens College! Many of you will have signed up for your 111 Language Course to satisfy the Queens College language requirement. This is the proper course for you if you are a true beginner at the foreign language you are studying. If you are not a true beginner, and have some experience in the language – (i.e. having studied in a community school, having taken a language in high school, having taken/passed the Regents Exam, having native knowledge of a language, etc.) – you belong in a more advanced course, and should contact the appropriate undergraduate advisor for placement (please see list of advisors on ELL’s main website).

Please note the following policy at Queens College (pg. 40-41 of the Undergraduate Bulletin 2020-2021):

“Students who elect to satisfy their Language requirement with a foreign language course should enroll in the most advanced course in a sequence of courses in a given language for which they are qualified by either placement or previous study. Normally one year of study of a foreign language at the high school level is the equivalent of one semester of study at the college level.”

“It is the responsibility of students to find out from the appropriate department what level of language they should register for and to obtain permission from the department chair if there is any doubt. Students may not receive credit for taking courses below the level of their competency as determined by the instructor or by the placement examination. If the instructor finds that a student is already competent at the level of instruction, this will be reported to the department chair, who will notify the Registrar to cancel credit for the course.”

Please understand that you may not receive credit for a course for which you are overqualified.