FAQs
Please click on the question number to go to the corresponding answer
Courses and registration
1. When is a placement test recommended?
2. I took FREN 30 a long time ago but now my French is quite rusty. What course should I register in?
3. I have SPAN 30 but the system won't let me register for SPAN 203. What can I do to get in SPAN 203?
4. How are students with High School French placed?
5. How do I go about taking a Minor/Major? Where do I declare it?
6. How do I overload a course?
7. How do I go on a course waiting list?
8. Where do I find course information sheets?
9. I am an exchange student. How do I register for your courses?
10. What is the difference between withdrawing from, and dropping, a course?
11. How many courses am I allowed to take per semester?
12. What minimum grade do I need as a prerequisite for another course?
13. Can I take a course again to upgrade my mark?
Studying away from UofC
14. How do I transfer credits for courses taken at another university?
15. If UofC has an agreement with an institution overseas, does it mean that the courses a student takes in a foreign country are transferred automatically?
16. What exchanges do you offer?
17. What scholarships do you offer?
18. Where could I ask for funding to go abroad?
19. What courses should I take if I go on a study abroad program?
Miscellaneous
20. What careers can I pursue with languages?
21. Where can I find past exams?
22. I need to get in touch with an advisor. Whom should I contact?
23. Where can I practice my language/s and ask questions?
24. Where can I find information about Faculty and Department requirements?
25. When do I need permission from the Faculty? And from the Department?
1. When is a placement test recommended? We recommend a placement test (a written, take-home test whose purpose is to assess your language knowledge) when you are not sure as to what course you should register in, or when you believe that you have sufficient command of the language to skip prerequisite courses. Following are examples of typical circumstances in which a placement test is advised :a) you are a native speaker, or possess near-to-native fluency, but have no formal qualifications; b) you wish to enrol in a course for which you lack the prerequisites; c) you have learnt a language without formal tuition whilst living and/or working in francophone Canada or abroad; d) you obtained formal qualification several years ago and have used the language infrequently or not at all; e) you feel that the course you have started taking is too easy or too difficult. In this case the placement test should be completed straight away, well before the deadline for registrations. To retrieve the electronic version of our placement tests please go to student-placement Assessment of the test may take up to five working days. Please call at the Department office or ring us on 220-5300 to inquire about your results. The test is free of charge. |
2. I took FREN 30 a long time ago and now my French is quite rusty. What course should I register in? We advise that you take a placement test. One of our advisors will examine it and give you approval for the course/s appropriate to your level of competence. |
3. I have SPAN 30 but the system won't let me register for SPAN 203. What can I do to get in SPAN 203? Please bring to one of our Spanish advisors an official document showing that you have SPAN 30 . We will then give you on-line approval to register in SPAN 203. |
4. How are students with High School French placed? As a general rule, students with High School French are placed as follows: FREN 10: FREN 209 |
Information about our Majors and Minors can be viewed on undergraduate page. We also suggest that you speak with one of our undergraduate advisors. Once you have decided that you wish to pursue a Major of a Minor you need to declare it either at the Student Success Centre on the third floor of the Taylor Digital Library or through PeopleSoft for Students. |
6. How do I overload a course? In conformity with departmental policies, overloads are considered by the Undergraduate Advisor of the language in question on the last day for registrations in a given session. We strongly recommend that you keep checking the roster status in PeopleSoft on a regular basis to see if anything becomes available in the course you wish to register in. If you have not been successful in registering by the beginning of the semester, you may attend classes, but be sure to advise the instructor that you are not on their class list, and that you are hoping to register. If you have not registered by the day before the deadline for registrations prepare a letter addressed to the Undergraduate Advisor outlining the reasons why you wish to request an overload. The Undergraduate Advisor will normally supply an answer to your request in the afternoon of the last day for registrations. |
7. How do I go on a course waiting list? Students may sign up for waitlists in PeopleSoft. |
8. Where do I find course information sheets? Course information sheets are found on-line on the Department's website at http://fis.ucalgary.ca/courses. Sone instructors also post them in BlackBoard. |
9. I am an exchange student. How do I register for your courses? Exchange students may register for courses through PeopleSoft. |
10. What is the difference between withdrawing from, and dropping, a course? You may change your registration by dropping courses without penalty any time before the deadline for registrations in a given session. After this time, you may withdraw from courses but a 'W' will show on your transcript and no refund will be given for the course. Please also refer to the information on withdrawals contained in the University Calendar. |
11. How many courses am I allowed to take per semester? You may take a maximum of 5 half courses per session. Should you wish to take a sixth course, you will need special permission. Students in the Faculties of Arts or Science who have completed a full course load (5 full courses) with a GPA of 3.20 or higher in the previous Fall/Winter session may add a 6th course with the approval of a program advisor at the Program Information Centre (SS 110). |
12. What minimum grade do I need as a prerequisite for another course? In the Faculty of Arts all prerequisites must be met with a minimum grade of C-. |
13. Can I take a course again to upgrade my mark? You may repeat a course previously failed or one in which a higher grade is sought although you will normally be permitted to repeat a particular course only once. Taking or repeating a course that is a prerequisite for a higher level course after having completed the higher level course with a grade of C- or better will only be allowed with the permission of both the faculty in which you are registered and the department offering the course. |
14. How do I transfer credits for courses taken at another university? Information on transfers of credit can be viewed here. |
15. If U of C has an agreement with an institution overseas, does it mean that the courses a student takes in a foreign country are transferred automatically? No. It is the student's responsibility to consult with the appropriate University of Calgary advisor concerning the acceptability of transfers, and to provide the documentation necessary for comparison. Courses transferred for credit may not duplicate courses previously taken. |
16. What exchanges do you offer? The Department offers academic exchanges with two French institutions, Université de Bourgogne in Dijon and Université François Rabelais in Tours. Every two years the Department offers the Catherine E. Barclay Scholarship.Click here for additional information. |
17. What scholarships do you offer? Ourl funding opportunities are listed here. |
18. Where could I ask for funding to go abroad? The website of the International Student Centre provides extensive information about funding.Every two years the Department offers the Catherine E. Barclay Scholarship. |
19. What courses should I take if I go on a study abroad program? We suggest that that you check our undergraduate program requirements and that you read the information on Transfer of Credit. You may also wish to consult an undergraduate advisor for further guidance. A number of courses at other universities are offered through Credit Travel Study, among them the Field School in Mexico. |
20. What careers can I pursue with languages? The following websites contain career information for students with languages: http://www.ucalgary.ca/admissions/hu_fren |
21. Where can I find past exams? Some past exams can be found at the Students' Union Copy Centre in the basement of MacHall. |
22. I need to get in touch with an advisor. Whom should I contact? Contact details of our undergraduate advisors may be found here. |
| 23. Where can I practice my language/s and ask questions? At Le Centre Français (CHC 301; tel: 220-7226), Il Circolino (CHC 318; tel: 220-7289) and El Centro de Tertulia (CHD 303; tel: 220-6677) you can practise your French, Spanish and Italian respectively. You can drop in at Le Centre Français for a coffee and a chat, to read, to do homework, to listen to music in French, and to attend their numerous activities. Il Circolino provides a meeting place for students who wish to speak Italian with a monitor, ask questions, read the centre's books or find out about study and travel in Italy. El Centro de Tertulia offers conversation practice in Spanish. It also collects, organizes and distributes information about study and travel in Spanish-speaking countries, local cultural activities in the Spanish community, as well as those planned by the Centre. |
24. Where can I find information about Faculty and Department requirements? The requirements of the Faculty of Arts are listed at http://www.ucalgary.ca/pubs/calendar/current/arts.html. Requirements of the Department of French, Italian and Spanish are found by selecting the individual programs at http://www.ucalgary.ca/pubs/calendar/current/arts-4.html.
|
| 25. When do I need permission from the Faculty? And from the Department? You will need permission from your Faculty, for instance, to study away from UofC; to take deferred final examinations; and to withdraw from a course. You will need permission from the Department to take courses for which you lack the prerequisites. |