Columbia University teaches nearly 50 languages to the advanced level and over 170 languages are spoken in New York City, which makes your time at Columbia a fascinating way to connect language with culture and community. Study of a foreign language is required for Columbia College students and may be satisfied in different ways. Students who completed secondary school in a language other than English are not required to take an additional foreign language or an achievement test. If the secondary school was taught primarily in English, natives speakers of other languages must fulfill the language requirement with a placement test. Columbia Engineering undergraduates do not need to complete a foreign language requirement.