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Placement Guide

The following are suggestions to help students and advisors know which level of a FL course the student should register for initially (students should compare their abilities with the descriptions below and sign up for the course that most closely matches their proficiency). Students should send an email to languages@georgiasouthern.edu to request an appointment for a placement interview and to obtain override authorization into the course. Note that, because courses are sequenced, it is a huge advantage to students to take a FL class their very first semester or as soon as possible.

Choose...If...
FL 1001You have no previous language-learning experience all the way to the ability to say and write a few words/phrases.
FL 1002You can say and write simple sentences confidently in the present tense; can ask and answer simple questions; have an awareness of past-tense verbs.
FL 2001You can speak and write in the present tense with relative ease, have an awareness of past-tense narration and can utilize some past-tense verbs accurately; can ask and answer questions related to daily life; can manage a simple conversation, albeit with difficulty.
FL 2002You can speak in the present tense with ease and can successfully attempt some past-tense narration (tell a story in the past); can confidently ask and answer questions related to daily life; can conduct a simple conversation with relative ease.
FL 3000 levelYou can narrate completely (beginning, middle, end) an experience in the past, although perhaps with grammatical errors and lexical gaps.

Note: You may place out of 1001, 1002, 1060, 2001, 2002, and/or 2060 courses and still get credit for them. If you have taken an offered language previously, you should attempt to take the course that best fits your current abilities—you do not need to and should not start in 1001, if you don’t need to. If you take a higher course and receive a C or better (must be a Georgia Southern course; cannot be an eCore or transfer course from another institution or AP/IB/CLEP credit), you may petition to get credit for the lower course(s) through Credit by Proficiency. For more information about the process click here and/or talk to Department of World Languages and Cultures staff for more information.

Last updated: 1/23/2023