All students who begin the study of a new foreign language at Union are encouraged to pursue it for at least three terms. Students who take 100-level courses in more than one foreign language will receive credit for the second 100-level course only upon completion of the 101-level course in at least one of the two languages. Students continuing a foreign language previously studied will be assigned to the proper course level by the department. Placement will be made on the basis of secondary school record and testing scores.
Students may construct full majors or interdepartmental majors in French and Francophone Studies, German, and Spanish and Hispanic Studies. Students in Chinese, Japanese, and Russian also have the option of an interdepartmental major with any other field. Minors are possible in Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. Students of Chinese and Japanese have the option of the major or interdepartmental major in Asian Studies as well. Introductory courses are also offered in Arabic, Hebrew, Italian and Portuguese.
