
by Anne Nygard
Special Language Program
The Special Language Program (SLP) offers Stanford students the opportunity to study a Less Commonly Taught Language (LCTL). Students enroll in SLP courses because of their interest in a geographic area and its people, or in order to acquire valuable skills for field work and study abroad during their academic career. Others study a LCTL to fulfill their requirements or to obtain a minor in Modern Languages. Many of the students who take LCTL are connected to it through heritage and they find it a unique opportunity to enhance their knowledge.
SLP classes are usually small and they offer opportunities for individualized learning. Instructors create specialized, proficiency-based curriculum and facilitate self-paced instruction with a learner-centered approach. Students learn how to break linguistic and cultural barriers through opportunities for active learning, the use of authentic text and materials, and innovative uses of technology.
In addition to the current language offerings, students can request a language by filling out the Request a Language Form (available for a limited time during the academic year). Requests for the following academic year must be submitted by Spring Quarter of the current academic year. Please note that we receive many requests and we are not able to guarantee that we will be able to offer every requested language.
Languages Offered for Academic Year 2023-2024:
- American Sign Language (ASL)
- Armenian
- Cherokee
- Czech
- Dutch
- Filipino
- Finnish
- Haitian Creole
- Hawaiian
- Hindi
- Hungarian
- Khmer
- Lakota
- Modern Greek
- Nahuatl
- Navajo
- Polish
- Punjabi
- Quechua
- Samoan
- Romanian
- Sanskrit
- Tamil
- Tibetan
- Ukrainian
- Urdu
- Vietnamese
Fulfilling the Language Requirement
Students who have already taken courses in the relevant language at another institution, or who have previous knowledge of the language, can request to be tested. Tests are comprised of written and oral parts. A student must display a level proficiency equivalent to completion of a first-year sequence at Stanford in the requested language in order to fulfill the requirement. Testing is guaranteed only for the languages offered for the current academic year. Students planning to take a test must contact the Special Language Program no later than the Spring Quarter of sophomore year. To submit a request for language testing, please contact the languagecenter [at] stanford.edu (subject: SLP%20Language%20Testing) (Language Center).
Coordinator

Lecturers
- Filipino
- Armenian
- Czech
- Finnish
- American Sign Language (ASL)
- Cherokee
- Ukrainian
- Navajo
- Quechua
- Romanian
- Sanskrit
- Tamil
- Hindi
- Khmer
- Vietnamese
- Dutch
- Samoan
Courses
- SPECLANG 100A : First-Year Cherokee, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 100B : First-Year Cherokee, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 100C : First-Year Cherokee, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 101A : First-Year Nahuatl, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 101B : First-Year Nahuatl, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 101C : First-Year Nahuatl, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 102A : Second-Year Nahuatl, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 102B : Second -Year Nahuatl, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 102C : Second Year Nahuatl, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 111A : First-Year Finnish, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 117A : First Year Samoan, First quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 117B : First Year Samoan, second quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 117C : First Year Samoan, third quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 118A : First Year Inupiaq, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 122A : First-Year Tibetan, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 122B : First Year Tibetan, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 122C : First Year Tibetan, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 123A : Second Year Tibetan- First-Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 123B : Second Year Tibetan- Second -Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 123C : Second-Year Tibetan, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 125A : First- Year Khmer, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 125B : First-Year Khmer, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 126A : First-Year Dutch, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 126B : First-Year Dutch, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 128B : Second-Year Dutch, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 128C : Second-Year Dutch,Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 129A : First-Year Ukrainian, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 129B : First-Year Ukrainian, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 129C : First-Year Ukrainian, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 133B : Third-Year Dutch, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 133C : Third-Year Dutch, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 136C : First-Year Yup'ik, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 138A : First-Year Navajo, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 138B : First-Year Navajo, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 138C : First-Year Navajo, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 141C : First-Year Armenian, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 142A : Second-Year Armenian, First qtr (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 142B : Second-Year Armenian, second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 143C : First-Year Gujarati, 3rd Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 144A : First-Year Filipino, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 144B : First-Year Filipino, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 144C : First-Year Filipino, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 145A : Second-Year Filipino, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 145B : Second-Year Filipino, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 150A : First-Year Vietnamese, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 150B : First-Year Vietnamese, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 150C : First-Year Vietnamese, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 151A : Second-Year Vietnamese, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 151B : Second-Year Vietnamese, Second quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 151C : Second-Year Vietnamese, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 152A : First-Year Hindi, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 152B : First-Year Hindi, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 152C : First-Year Hindi, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 153A : Second-Year Hindi, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 153B : Second-Year Hindi, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 153C : Second-Year Hindi, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 154C : Third-Year Hindi, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 159A : First Year Punjabi, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 159B : First Year Punjabi, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 159C : First Year Punjabi, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 160C : Second-Year Punjabi, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 162A : First Year Tamil, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 162B : First Year Tamil, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 162C : First Year Tamil, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 164A : First-Year Czech, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 164B : First-Year Czech, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 164C : First-Year Czech, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 164C : First-Year Czech, Third Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 165A : Second-Year Czech, First Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 167A : First-Year Polish, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 167B : First-Year Polish, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 167C : First-Year Polish, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 170A : First-Year Modern Greek, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 170B : First-Year Modern Greek, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 170C : First-Year Modern Greek, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 174A : First-Year Quechua, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 174B : First-Year Quechua, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 174C : First-Year Quechua, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 175A : Second-Year Quechua, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 175B : Second-Year Quechua, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 178A : First-Year Sign Language, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 178B : First-Year Sign Language, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 178C : First-Year Sign Language, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 179A : Second-Year Sign Language, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 179B : Second-Year Sign Language, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 179C : Second-Year Sign Language, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 183A : First-Year Sanskrit, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 183B : First-Year Sanskrit, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 183C : First-Year Sanskrit, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 189A : First-Year Hawaiian, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 189B : First-Year Beginning Hawaiian, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 189C : First-Year Hawaiian, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 203A : Fourth-Year Nahuatl, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 203B : Fourth-Year Nahuatl, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 218A : First-Year Urdu, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 218B : First-Year Urdu, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 218C : First-Year Urdu, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 219A : Second Year Urdu, first quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 219B : Second Year Urdu, second quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 219C : Second Year Urdu, third quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 224A : Third-Year Vietnamese, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 224B : Third-Year Vietnamese, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 226C : Second Year Khmer, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 233C : Second-Year Slovenian, third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 234A : Second-Year Haitian Creole, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 234B : Second-Year Haitian Creole, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 247A : First-Year Lakota, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 247B : First-Year Lakota, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 247C : First-Year Lakota, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 250A : First-Year Romanian, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 250B : First-Year Romanian, Second Quarter (Winter)
- SPECLANG 250C : First-Year Romanian, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 252C : Third-Year Romanian, Thrid Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 260C : Third-Year Modern Greek, Third Quarter (Spring)
- SPECLANG 273A : Fourth-Year Hungarian, First Quarter (Autumn)
- SPECLANG 273B : Fourth-Year Hungarian, 2nd Quarter (Winter)
Requesting a Less Commonly Taught Language
The Stanford Language Center does its best to accommodate students who request language services outside regular Language Center offerings.
Requests for instruction in languages not regularly offered need to be made one academic year in advance of beginning instruction. This time lag is necessary because the Language Center needs to find qualified instructors and to budget for courses outside the regular curriculum. Please use the following request forms to request instruction in a language.
To request an African or Middle Eastern Language not already taught at Stanford: AME Request Form
To request another language not already taught at Stanford: SLP Request Form