Undergraduate Certificate in French Advanced-Level Proficiency

The Department of French & Italian and the CLA Language Center are pleased to offer a new certificate program in advanced French language

Students will receive the certificate from the French & Italian dDepartment. Unlike major/minor programs, the certificate requires a combination of course work, extracurricular activities, self-assessment and reflection, and objective language assessments.

At the end of the program, students take the proficiency examinations of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), internationally recognized tests that are required by teacher certification boards in Minnesota and more than 20 other states. The ACTFL assessments follow the same proficiency guidelines as the US Government’s Interagency Language Roundtable (used by the US Department of State, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Justice, the US Military, etc.), so they are also great preparation for applying to one of those organizations.

We urge all majors and minors to consider completing the Certificate program concurrently (it requires the same courses). But students who do not have time for a major/minor can complete it as a stand-alone program as well.

Please send inquiries to frenstds@umn.edu.