Frequently Asked Questions

Placement tests are typically only necessary when students have acquired some untutored knowledge of the language (through travel, family or non-credit courses) and want to advance to courses for which they do not have official credits or prerequisites.

Online Placement Tests are administered during the following dates:

French:

• May 19, 2023
• June 1, 2023
• June 8, 2023
• July 19, 2023

Spanish:

• May 22, 2023
• June 7, 2023
• June 14, 2023
• July 19, 2023

Enrolment at or below the level the student has already attained is not permitted. While students may drop down a level if it has been more than two years since they last took a language course, they may not drop all the way down to 101, for instance, and start again.

The Department of French, Hispanic and Italian Studies reserves the right to refuse enrolment to any of its language courses to students who have, in the view of the Department, a level of competence unsuited to that course.

Students are strongly encouraged to take each language course in the correct sequence (e.g. 101 & 102, 201 & 202, 301 & 302, and other groupings). They are really a single, continuous program of study divided up for scheduling convenience into one-term components.

To join any of the second components without having taken the first half (e.g. taking 102 without 101) can be awkward and challenging, since you will be starting halfway through a textbook.

Students are strongly encouraged to take the prerequisites for each course to enhance preparedness and understanding of the materials.

Although SSC will not refuse your enrollment, it is best to confirm your enrollment with the Student Program Coordinator using the Contact Form below if SSC has raised a warning. The instructor may decide to remove you from the course if you are deemed insufficiently prepared.

Students who are currently majoring or minoring in French (before the change), who have taken 300- and 400-level courses along with their prerequisites (e.g. FREN 328, FREN 353 or FREN 370), may not backtrack to taking FREN 401 and 402 for credits. However, if you have been progressing to the newly renumbered courses, such as FREN 401, you will earn upper-level credits since the course is now being taught as upper-level.

If you have already declared a minor or major in French Studies before the change, and if you already completed some required 300- and 400-level course along with their prerequisites, FREN 401 and FREN 402 may be waived so that you can register for 4th year courses.

For example, let's say you need to take FREN 442 to complete the minor, but the prerequisites are FREN 328 and FREN 402. If you have taken FREN 328, the prerequisite of FREN 402 is going to be waived because it is assumed that you have exceeded the B2 level. This process needs a manual adjustment in DN. Please contact fhis.undergrad@ubc.ca.

We understand that you may have already been preparing to do the minor or major based on the old program requirements and you have already been progressing quite a lot to complete the program. In this case, you have two options. If you prefer to stick to the old program, please contact our Student Programs Coordinator (fhis.undergrad@ubc.ca) so that we can assess your case. If you prefer to declare the new program, you can simply choose FREL when you declare it and follow the pathway. You may need to take one or two more courses, but you will benefit from the new curriculum to broaden your knowledge and perspective on French Studies.

If you are looking to obtain minor or major in French Language, Literatures and Cultures, we strongly recommend you take FREN 352.

Based on the course equivalency table, FREN 311 and FREN 321 will not count towards the old requirement of 300- or 400 level French courses. If you have already completed FREN 220, 221, 222, 223, you cannot retake FREN 311 or FREN 352. If you have completed FREN 355, you cannot retake FREN 321. But FREN 331 and FREN 341 are new courses, so you are welcome to take them if you are interested.