All students are required to demonstrate, while in high school, third-level proficiency in a single modern or classical foreign language. Students who have not met this requirement at the time of matriculation will have a MAPS deficiency. They may make up the deficiency only by passing an appropriate third-semester college course or by passing a CU Boulder-approved proficiency examination. Students who take approved CU Boulder course work to fulfill this requirement must take the course for a letter grade and receive a passing grade of D- or higher.

Students who are under the core curriculum but not subject to MAPS must complete the foreign language requirement to meet degree requirements.

Questions about placement should be referred to the appropriate foreign language department.

The goal of the language requirement is to encourage students to confront the structure, formal and semantic, of another language, significant and difficult works in that language, and one or more aspects of the culture lived in that language. This enables students to understand their own language and culture better, analyze texts more clearly and effectively and appreciate more vividly the dangers and limitations of using a translated document. The language requirement is a general education requirement and so concentrates on reading. In some languages, other abilities may be emphasized as well. Understanding what it means to read a significant text in its original language is essential for general education according to the standards of this university.

Courses offered at CU Boulder that satisfy this requirement include the following:

  • ARAB 2110-5 Second Year Intermediate Arabic 1
  • CHIN 2110-5 Intermediate Chinese 1
  • DANE 2010-4 Intermediate Danish 1-DILS (added 12/2015)
  • FINN 2010-4 Intermediate Finnish 1-DILS (added 12/2015)
  • FREN 2110-3 Second-Year French Grammar Review and Reading 1
  • FRSI 2110-4 Intermediate Farsi 1 (formerly FRSI 2010)
  • GREK 3113-3 Intermediate Classical Greek 1 (formerly CLAS 3113)
  • GRMN 2010-4 Intermediate German 1
  • GRMN 2030-5 Intensive Intermediate German
  • HEBR 2110-(3-4) Intermediate Modern Hebrew I (12/2015: formerly Intermediate Hebrew 1)
  • HIND 2110-5 Intermediate Hindi 1 (formerly HIND 2010)
  • INDO 2010-4 Intermediate Indonesian 1
  • ITAL 2110-3 Intermediate Italian Reading, Grammar, and Composition 1
  • JPNS 2110-5 Intermediate Japanese 1
  • KREN 2110-5 Second-Year Intermediate Korean 1
  • LATN 2114-4 Intermediate Latin 1 (formerly CLAS 2114)
  • NORW 2110-4 Second-Year Norwegian Reading and Conversation 1
  • PORT 2110-3 Second-Year Portuguese 1
  • RUSS 2010-4 Second-Year Russian 1
  • SLHS 2325-4 American Sign Language 3
  • SPAN 2110-3 Second-Year Spanish 1
  • SPAN 2150-5 Intensive Second-Year Spanish
  • SWED 2010-4 Intermediate Swedish 1—DILS