Anyone who has ever tried to cram a vocabulary list or conjugation table into their head before an exam knows that learning a language is difficult. Sometimes, retaining information you have already learned is even harder. Many seniors who have already completed their language proficiency find it impossible to fit a language course into their schedules during their final year because of the necessity to fulfill other graduation requirements, causing them to slowly lose their linguistic abilities. While the University’s policy of prohibiting students from auditing language courses is well intentioned, it makes it unnecessarily difficult for seniors with full schedules to retain their foreign language skills.
Students from any school who study abroad during their junior year may not receive credit for their overseas courses, leaving them with a full course load of graduation requirements when they return to Georgetown. Giving students the option to audit a language course would allow them to keep their language skills fresh during their last year as undergraduates. Georgetown should make an exception to its auditing policy and allow these seniors to maintain their hard-won skills.
Instructors are generally opposed to the idea of letting students audit courses, afraid that students free of the pressure to receive a good grade will not work as hard as those whose performance is recorded on their transcript. But proficient seniors who wish to audit because of their full schedules are motivated by a genuine desire to retain their comprehension of a language and would no doubt participate in the course as actively as the students who receive grades.
With few other options, many seniors are forced to take their language-retention efforts off campus. Some take advantage of free Global Language Network courses offered through George Washington University. However, these classes, taught by amateurs miles away from campus, are a poor substitute for instruction with a Georgetown professor. Some language departments at the University offer weekly conversation hours, which allow students to practice speaking their language of choice with classmates and professors. Without the daily rigors of coursework, however, this measure does little to prevent a decline in proficiency.
Students shouldn’t be prevented from keeping their recently acquired linguistic talents sharp because professors mistakenly assume they won’t work hard enough. By adding a few extra desks in upper-level language courses for proficient seniors wishing to audit, Georgetown can ensure that students will keep their language skills for when it really matters—after graduation.
