Languages Not Taught at Georgetown

Students may seek language instruction outside of Georgetown for languages not offered on campus. Those courses, however, are not eligible for Graduate School scholarships and are the responsibility of the student, with the exception of a limited number of scholarships to support students studying Southeast Asian languages offered at Johns Hopkins SAIS. If you are interested in taking Indonesian, please contact the Associate Director of Academic Programs.

Students seeking to demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language not offered at Georgetown should note that GHD is not obligated to obtain an examiner for any and all languages spoken. If an examiner cannot be identified and secured after a reasonable effort, the student may need to choose an alternate language. For students looking to set up an ad hoc exam for a language not taught at Georgetown, they should:

• seek out Georgetown faculty members who might have proficiency in the desired language and request assistance administering the exam (this person does not need to be part of a language department, but should be a native speaker)

• if successful in locating a Georgetown faculty member, consult further with the GHD Associate Director of Academic Programs;

• if unsuccessful in locating a Georgetown faculty member, widen search to other universities and institutions in the area;

• note: examiners cannot receive payment for their services, however, and

• examiners must be approved by the GHD Associate Director of Academic Programs as appropriate;

• once examiner is identified, consult further with the GHD Associate Director of Academic Programs.

What the outside examiner should know:

In order to graduate from GHD, each candidate must successfully complete a foreign language oral proficiency examination consisting of translation work and conversation on current affairs topics. For the purposes of this graduation requirement, oral proficiency is defined as the ability to speak the foreign language in a clearly participatory manner and with sufficient fluency and accuracy to discuss political, economic and international issues. The linguistic skills necessary to function at this level include the ability to narrate and describe with paragraph-length connected discourse in past, present and future time frames. Evaluation information is also given to outside examiners as guidance.

The language ballot is completed in part by the student, and in part by the examiner. The student would type in their information and bring a copy of the ballot for the examiner to use; it calls for the examiner's name and information and results of the exam. It should be completed and returned to the GHD Associate Director of Academic Programs directly.

Students may also choose to register for an ACTFL-OPI (Oral Proficiency Interview) in the place of a Georgetown- or outside-proctored exam. Testing is available in a wide variety of languages, and students should select GHD as the host institution when registering. Students are responsible for paying the $65 fee should they decide to go this route.