Johns Hopkins SAIS Academics | Language Studies

SAIS students must be able to demonstrate language proficiency in a second language as part of their graduation requirements. With the exception of foreign students whose native language is not English, all M.A. students at SAIS must take and pass examinations in one of the foreign languages taught at SAIS. PhD candidates are only required to take the reading component of the language proficiency exams.

The following chart indicates the languages students may use to satisfy language requirements with respect to particular concentrations:

Any language can be used to satisfy the requirement for the following degree programs:

The Language Studies Program currently uses an ACTFL[1]-based language battery test to measure language proficiency. Four exams have been developed to test each language skill separately: Speaking (Oral Proficiency Interview), Reading, Writing[2], and Listening. In these exams, language proficiency is described and measured in terms of degrees or levels rather than absolute values. ACTFL [3] identifies 10 different levels of language proficiency:

The various languages taught at SAIS differ in regard to the particular proficiency levels required for graduation. These discrepancies are due to the fact that languages differ with respect to the amount of instruction necessary to achieve a specific level of proficiency within a given time frame. Currently, the minimum proficiency requirements for graduation are based on the level of proficiency a student can attain during his or her tenure at SAIS. Within this framework, the minimum levels vary by language and with respect to the language skill being evaluated (e.g., speaking vs. writing).

The following chart describes the minimum proficiency levels by language and skill that a SAIS student must attain in order to fulfill his/her language graduation requirement:

The Language Studies Program at SAIS offers language classes that will assist students in successfully meeting the language requirements for graduation. In addition, our language classes offer a unique opportunity to develop vocabulary and communication skills that are relevant to your academic studies and career goals. For specific information of our classes, please contact the Language Studies Program. The following chart includes contact information for all of our languages.

[1] American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)

[2] The Writing Proficiency Exam is not required for the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Russian, Thai, and Vietnamese.

[3] For a detailed description of the ACTFL language proficiency levels, please refer to the Language Studies Program Manual or to the ACTFL web site (www.actfl.org).

The Arabic Program at SAIS offers an excellent opportunity for students of international affairs to acquire skills in reading, writing, listening and speaking. The program uses authentic materials in preparation for the proficiency exam. The Arabic Program provides classes at the Novice, Intermediate and Advanced levels. Novice courses are designed to meet students’ need to be able to communicate in daily-life situations in modern standard Arabic. Students in the Intermediate courses are expected to read, listen to and discuss subjects related to the religions, politics, cultures and economies of the Middle East.

Advanced-level students attempt to emulate the educated native Arabic speaker. At this stage, students are introduced to the dialects spoken in the Arab world. Students are required to reach the Intermediate-Mid level of proficiency in speaking and listening and the Intermediate-High level of proficiency in reading.

The Chinese Program at SAIS offers Novice, Intermediate and Advanced courses. The Novice course provides students with the essentials of pronunciation (using the Pinyin system of romanization), basic grammar rules, sentence structure and the writing syste (simplified characters). Students acquire the ability to discuss, read and write about simple, everyday topics.

Intermediate courses offer consolidation and improvement in skills that students have begun to acquire in their previous studies. Students gain further knowledge of sentence structure and expand vocabulary in the subject matter of Chinese history, geography, society, politics, economics and international affairs.

Reading comprehension and aural/oral skills are further developed through work with authentic newspaper texts and selected news broadcasts. At the conclusion of the Intermediate courses, students will have mastered between 1,800 and 2,000 characters and are expected to have achieved an Intermediate-High level of proficiency in reading and an Intermediate-Mid level in listening and speaking. Post-proficiency courses allow students to maintain or even raise their level of proficiency.

The English Program at SAIS concentrates on developing communication and research skills at the Advanced level. English courses are offered for students whose native language is not English and who did not pass the English proficiency examinations at the beginning of their first semester at SAIS. In addition, the courses assist students in composing advanced academic prose and in managing advanced classroom listening and speaking challenges at SAIS.

In addition to English classes to develop competence for the proficiency exams, SAIS offers post-proficiency course work for those wishing to further develop listening, speaking, reading, writing and research skills. SAIS English teaching assistants offer editing aid for student writers, and Multimedia Center resources supplement aural/oral skills for the SAIS community.

The French Program at SAIS offers classes from Novice to Advanced levels. Authentic documents are used in class to ensure skill development. Grammar is presented through a Web program created to meet the specific profile of SAIS students.

In the Novice course, students acquire the basic vocabulary and grammatical structures necessary to operate on a minimum communicative level. In the Intermediate-Low course, students are exposed to authentic materials with relevant vocabulary and more complex grammatical structures.

In the Intermediate-Mid course, students are given opportunities to improve upon their foundations. They read selected authentic material from magazines or Internet files and participate in discussions pertaining to current issues in international affairs with a reasonable degree of grammatical control and appropriate vocabulary.

In the Intermediate-High course, students improve their fluency and their use of appropriate structures and vocabulary. By the end of the course, they can take the proficiency exam. To satisfy graduation requirements, they must reach an Intermediate Mid in writing and Intermediate High in reading, listening and speaking. The Advanced courses are offered to students who have passed the proficiency exam and are interested in furthering their French studies.

The German Program at SAIS offers a uniquely interdisciplinary and innovative language-learning experience through the study of international affairs, German and European politics, the German economy and German-speaking cultures and intellectual thought. The program prepares students to excel in the German language and to acquire an in-depth understanding of the German-speaking world, including its diverse cultures and histories, its domestic as well as transatlantic and global politics. The German Program offers courses at the Novice, Intermediate and Advanced levels. These courses are taught by native speakers who are recognized professionals in foreign language instruction and in German studies. To satisfy the language requirement in German, students are expected to achieve an Intermediate-High level of proficiency in listening, speaking and reading, and an Intermediate-Mid level in writing.

A special feature for students taking German as their proficiency language is a 10-day German studies program abroad, which is offered in the summer or during break times. This program offers students a total immersion experience in German language, culture and politics while visiting the capital of Berlin, the German-Polish border region and selected sites in Eastern Germany.

The Hindi-Urdu Program at SAIS offers a sequence of four Hindi-Urdu courses at the Novice and Intermediate levels. Each level is covered in two semesters. At the Novice level, students develop speaking, reading, listening and writing skills that are vital to performing real-life communicative tasks successfully. At the Intermediate level, students develop ease and confidence in dealing with routine tasks and narrating in major time frames, along with more specialized vocabularies that are appropriate to their interests and areas of professional competence.

Curricular enrichments include uses of authentic audio, video and Internet-based materials, along with texts such as news headlines and articles, advertisements, folktales and classic short stories. Participation in intellectual and cultural events in the area’s vibrant and growing South Asian diasporic community is strongly encouraged.

The Italian Program at SAIS offers Intermediate-Mid, Intermediate-High and Advanced level courses.

The Intermediate courses expand students’ basic language skills and vocabulary while reinforcing grammar. At the Advanced level, the students’ world of language is expanded as they are exposed to authentic language sources. Listening materials consist of extended newscasts and recordings from speeches or the Web. Reading materials include feature-length articles on politics, international relations and current events.

The Italian Program also arranges Italian-language lunch gatherings, film viewings and occasional guest speakers.To satisfy the language requirement in Italian, students need to achieve the Intermediate-High level in reading, listening and speaking and Intermediate Mid in writing. Post-proficiency courses are offered once the student completes these requirements.

The Japanese Program at SAIS offers language instruction at the Novice, Intermediate-Low and Intermediate-Mid levels. The courses emphasize topics such as politics, economics, finance, diplomacy, foreign policy, the environment, energy and regional/global security to meet students’ needs for professional development in international studies. Classroom activities are geared toward developing students’ language skills in listening, speaking, reading and some writing.

To satisfy the language requirement in Japanese, students are expected to achieve the following levels of proficiency: Intermediate Low in listening and Intermediate Mid in speaking and reading.

Post-proficiency courses are offered for students who have met language graduation requirements and wish to further develop language skills in Japanese. The classroom activities include writing personal and business letters and discussions with specialists in the areas of their interests using the target language.

The Korean Program at SAIS offers courses ranging from Novice to Intermediate-Mid levels. Post-proficiency courses dealing with advanced topics usually are offered to those who wish to maintain or enhance their acquired proficiency levels. Beginners learn the alphabet (Hangul) and “survival” Korean. The courses are designed to introduce students to as much Korean culture as possible through the use of audiovisual materials. As students gain proficiency, they are gradually exposed to authentic materials dealing with international affairs through speaking, listening, reading and some writing exercises.

To fulfill the Korean language requirement, students are expected to achieve the following levels of proficiency: Intermediate Low in listening and Intermediate Mid in speaking and reading.

The Persian (Farsi) Program at SAIS offers classes at the Novice and Intermediate levels. Novice courses provide students with the foundations of the Persian (Farsi) sound system, alphabet, word formation, elementary grammar structure and basic conversation and listening skills. Students at the Intermediate level are gradually exposed to authentic materials dealing with topics in international affairs through speaking, listening, reading and some writing.

To fulfill the Persian (Farsi) language requirement, students are required to reach the Intermediate-Mid level of proficiency in speaking and listening and the Intermediate-High level of proficiency in reading.

The Portuguese Program at SAIS offers Novice to Advanced courses. Because the majority of students taking Portuguese at SAIS know Spanish, the first levels may be achieved in one semester. This allows students to pass the proficiency exam at the end of the third semester, depending on students’ previous knowledge of Spanish and their performance in the Portuguese language.

The program uses authentic materials taken from newspapers and magazines, plus videos and CDs, to help students acquire the four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) necessary to pass the proficiency exam. Topics covered include economics, politics, the environment and national security to prepare students for their professional fields.

Although the program emphasizes Brazil, African topics are also covered when requested.

To satisfy the language requirement in Portuguese, students are expected to achieve the following levels of proficiency: Intermediate High in listening, speaking and reading and Intermediate Mid in writing. Post-proficiency courses permit students to deepen their knowledge of the culture and raise their level of proficiency.

The Russian Program at SAIS is a professionally oriented program for graduate students of Russian international and domestic politics, socioeconomics and national security. Courses are offered at the Novice, Intermediate and Advanced levels. Each level is covered in two semesters.

The Novice level introduces basic Russian grammar and vocabulary used to satisfy “survival” needs. Elements of reading newspaper articles begin at this level. At the Intermediate-Low level, grammar and vocabulary are strengthened through listening, speaking and reading activities. At the Intermediate-High level, grammar and specialized vocabulary are expanded through materials of greater length and sophistication.

Students starting to study Russian at SAIS at the Novice level must take four semesters of classes to reach the minimum graduation levels. To satisfy the language requirement in Russian, students are expected to achieve the following levels of proficiency: Intermediate Mid in listening, speaking and reading.

Post-proficiency courses allow students to maintain their level of proficiency, or even raise it to a higher level.

The SAIS Language Studies Program offers three Southeast Asian languages: Indonesian, Thai and Vietnamese. These languages are offered at levels based on students’ needs and demands. For beginning students, all three languages are offered over a two-year (four semester) period of instruction. At the end of two years, students are required to attain an Intermediate-High level of proficiency in listening, speaking and reading in order to graduate.

Students may wish to study Novice-level Thai at Georgetown University and Novice Vietnamese at The George Washington University under a cooperative agreement. In addition, students can study any of these three languages between their first and second year at the Southeast Asian Summer Institute (SEASSI) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (between 2005 and 2009). Students can take novice and intermediate

Thai courses at Chiang Mai University in Thailand during the summer. Advanced courses can be pursued in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. Advanced Indonesian can be studied through Cornell University or the Consortium for the Teaching of Indonesian and Mala (COTIM). Advanced Thai and Advanced Vietnamese can be studied through the University of Washington. Students may also apply for U.S.-Indonesia Society Fellowships for Language and Area Studies.

The Spanish Program at SAIS consists of four semesters/levels of study. To satisfy the language requirement in Spanish, students are expected to achieve an Intermediate-High level of proficiency in listening, speaking and reading and Intermediate Mid in writing. The Spanish Program offers a unique learning experience for graduate students in the field of international relations and/or development. Through classroom activities, students are given the opportunity to develop their Spanish skills and to incorporate and transfer knowledge from other academic courses and professional interests. Typical classroom activities include simulations, class debates and political discussions. In all the activities, a careful balance is maintained in developing communication and grammatical accuracy. Opportunities for the development of all language skills (speaking, reading, writing and listening) are carefully planned.