Stacey Katz Bourns, PhD
Director

617.373.3131
Stacey Katz Bourns, Director, s.bourns@northeastern.edu

The World Languages Center's primary goal is to help students achieve proficiency in the language(s) that they study while also striving to promote an understanding and appreciation of the cultures of the communities that use these languages.

Placement Assessment

Students with prior experience learning or speaking Chinese, French, Italian, or Spanish must take the online written placement exam if they wish to enroll in a class for that language. The links for these exams are now available in the Student Hub.

Students with prior experience in Arabic, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Russian must contact the WLC to make an appointment for a placement assessment interview. 

The results of a student’s online placement or interview assessments are valid for one year only.

Any student with prior experience in a language who registers for a language course without taking the WLC online placement test or a WLC placement assessment will not receive a letter grade for the course. If students believe they have been placed into a class at the wrong level of instruction, they should contact the WLC immediately.

Auditing Language Classes

Auditing language classes is not permitted. Students who are not on the official roster of a class may not attend the class.

Immersion Language Classes

The WLC offers off-campus language immersion classes in a variety of languages during the summer 1 and summer 2 terms. Some of these courses may count toward fulfillment of the BA language requirement or a language minor, with the stipulation that the student receive a grade of C or better.

Study-Abroad Classes

The WLC will authenticate credit-bearing language classes taken in study-abroad programs at accredited institutions in fulfillment of and as equivalent to WLC language classes numbered 1101, 1102, 2101, or 2102. Students must receive approval of language course equivalence from the WLC before embarking on a study-abroad program. Failure to do so may mean that the courses taken abroad will not be accepted in lieu of on-site Northeastern University language courses and thus may not satisfy the language requirement. Credit is granted only for successful completion of these courses.