Language courses taken at Brown are usually required to be taken for one year. Most introductory language courses are year-long (except for Spanish – Hispanic Studies) and some departments at Brown extend this to second year language as well.
RISD students may register for the Brown language course and be graded for the fall semester; however, if you do not register for the second half of the course, your grade will be counted as an NC (No Credit) grade for the independent semester. As a reminder, all RISD students must complete a minimum of 12 credits each semester. Courses graded as Audit, Withdrawan, No Credit, or Failure do not count as completed credits.
A waiver form is required to request to take only the first half of a year-long language course. If the waiver is granted, then students are not required to take the second half of the course. Students should communicate with the Brown instructor prior to registration as this request is not always granted. Seniors who need credit from the fall language course should only register for the course if their waiver is approved to receive independent credit for the fall. Students who will not graduate in spring may plan to take the second half of the year-long language course in the following year to receive credits (although this is not advised as mentioned above since the student will earn an NC grade in fall).
The Independent Credit for First Half of Year-Long Course form located online here must be completed and submitted by the Brown department or instructor to the Brown Registrar.
Language placement exams at Brown
RISD students who wish to take a language course other than an introductory class may need to take a language placement exam. Students should contact the relevant language department at Brown for the dates and times of the placement exams.
Placement exams need to be taken prior to the course for the fall semester.
RISD Registrar 