Depending on the combination of languages, students may also need to register in an Independent Study to complete the Senior Seminar requirement. Students interested in linguistics should take LING 301 no later than their junior year.
Placement Information
Students who have previously studied a language offered at Occidental should take the placement exam for that language as early as possible.Sample 4-Year Plans
Group Language with Spanish (starting at SPAN 101) and Linguistics
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Group Language with Japanese (starting at JAPN 202) and French (starting at FREN 101)
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Curricular Notes
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For Chinese, French, German, Japanese, and Russian, students must take the 202-level course plus four additional courses numbered above 202.
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For Chinese, only one course can be taught in English
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For Japanese, only one course can be taught in English.
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For Linguistics, students must take LING 301 and a second linguistics course; one semester of a language that is categorically different from the language with which they satisfied the Core Language requirement; and two additional courses with a language focus. See Catalog for full details.
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For Spanish, students must take SPAN 202 or SPAN 211 plus four additional courses numbered 300 and above. Two of these courses must be in either literature or linguistics. One course must be numbered 340 or above. Only one course may be taken in English.
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For Russian, two of the required courses can be in related areas such as history, art history, language learning/linguistics.
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Group Language majors must take one methods or theory course in addition to the courses taken for their two group areas: LING 301, SPAN 490, GERM 370, JAPN 273, CHIN 273.
Group Language Transfer Student Advice
Transfer Course Limit for Transfer Students: 3 courses/12 units
Expected preparation for transfer students wanting to major in Group Languages:
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Transfer students entering as Rising Juniors should be at the 202-level or higher in each language they intend to focus on for the major, and should have completed as many Core requirements as possible since the major requires 11 courses.
General advice for transfer students wanting to major in Group Languages:
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The Senior Seminar (a course in one of the languages for the major numbered 490), and any independent study for the comprehensive requirement must be taken at Occidental.
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Rising Juniors starting in the spring should strongly consider the feasibility of majoring if they are not already at the 202-level and still have several Core requirements already fulfilled.
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Transfer students should complete the languages at the 202-level as soon as possible, because it serves as the prerequisite for almost all the other courses in the major.
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Online courses in language will not transfer and count toward the major.
What courses should a transfer student take during their first semester at Occidental?
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Rising Junior transfer students starting Occidental should enroll in the 202-level of the language(s) they intend to focus on for the major in their first semester if not already completed, otherwise they should enroll in a 300-level course. In addition, for Group Language with Linguistics they should enroll in LING 301 in their first semester. They should also make sure to complete all their Core requirements as soon as possible while taking courses to progress through the major.
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Students starting as sophomores or mid way through their sophomore year should continue in their language study at the level appropriate given their prior coursework. For Group Language with Linguistics they should enroll in LING 301 as soon as possible, and preferably in their first semester. They should also plan to enroll in courses that meet Core requirements to set them on a path to have completed all Core requirements that cannot be met with courses in the major by the end of the sophomore year.