All students are required to take their first language exam during their first year at Penn. If a student is learning a language not previously studied, he or she should enroll in one of the language competence courses for graduate students offered by Penn during the first summer session after the first year of course work. The second foreign language must be completed before or during the completion of the Ph.D. examination. These languages are intended to be an important part of the graduate training because they are used in carrying out scholarly research and fieldwork. They therefore should be acquired as soon as possible in the graduate career.
Eligible languages are subject to certain university restrictions.
English does not qualify as a foreign language, not even for foreign students. By special petition foreign students may use their native language as one of the foreign languages if it is a language appropriate to their dissertation research project. Approval may also be given when the student can prove a considerable body of folklore research has been published in that language. Students must obtain program approval of their chosen languages prior to scheduling their language exams. Students working toward an MA only need one foreign language.