- The same person may NOT complete both the academic recommendation and the Language Instructor Recommendation, even if this person is qualified to do both.
- If you are applying for both the Academic Year AND Summer FLAS Fellowships, you may use the same Language Instructor Recommendation if appropriate and relevant. Language Instructor Recommendations must be requested through BOTH applications, if applying to Summer and AY.
- Applicants for intermediate level and above must make every effort to obtain a Language Instructor Recommendation for the language for which you are applying. If you are currently studying or have previously studied this language, the Language Instructor Recommendation should be completed by your current or most recent language instructor, teaching assistant, or tutor. You should ask an instructor who is familiar with your oral, aural, reading, and writing skills to complete the report.
- If you have not formally studied this language with an instructor, you have three options:
- If you use the language through work, you may have your work supervisor or coworker who is also familiar with the language complete this Recommendation;
- You may also contact a local language instructor to see if a proficiency evaluation may be conducted in order to complete the Recommendation. If you are a current U-M student and need such proficiency evaluation, we strongly recommend that you take a placement/proficiency test scheduled at the beginning of the winter term. Many U-M language departments routinely schedule placement/proficiency tests at the beginning of each term.
- We will also accept as evidence of language proficiency results of official proficiency tests such as ACTFL OPI (Oral Proficiency Interview), WPT (Writing Proficiency Test) or other widely recognized proficiency tests (e.g., HSK for Chinese, Japan Foundation JLPT for Japanese, TOPIK for Korean).
Immediate family members and close relatives are not appropriate as a language evaluator even if they are fluent in the language.
- If you are applying for a beginning level language award, you have two options:
- If you have studied other language(s), you must make an effort to obtain a Language Instructor Recommendation for a language you have studied. This gives the selection committee an evaluation of your ability to learn a foreign language.
- As an option of last resort, you may obtain a third Academic Recommendation in lieu of a Language Instructor Recommendation with the prior approval of the FLAS Coordinators.
- If you have any difficulty obtaining a Language Instructor Recommendation, please contact a FLAS Coordinator to discuss your situation.