News

Languages Courses Terms

WINTER
January to March (or early April)

SPRING/SUMMER
April to early July

FALL
September to early December

Click below to see
exact dates and information on how to register

LPE
preparation websites

Chinese
English
Spanish
French

Language Courses in New York

The United Nations Language and Communications Programme (UNLCP) is an internal language training programme that serves the United Nations community in New York City.

	Our students are restricted to the staff and affiliated diplomats at United Nations Headquarters (UNHQ) in New York. Of those eligible, some may take our courses for free; and others pay a low fee based on the number of hours of lessons. For further details, see pages 2 and 4 of our Information Circular.
	Our courses, offered during three 12-week terms per year (January - March; April - July; and September - November), provide training in the six official United Nations languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
	Our instructors also collaborate with language trainers away from Headquarters; teach intensive writing or 'train the trainer' courses at other duty stations; and serve as examiners for the LPE (see below), which is now administered by the Exams and Testing Section (ETS).

The United Nations Language Proficiency Exam (LPE)
Once per year, United Nations staff and affiliated diplomats worldwide have the chance to prove their profiency in any of the six official languages by taking the relevant Language Profiency Exam (LPE).

To register, visit the LPE website for the most up-to-date information.
To prepare for the exam, we recommend taking our courses - and checking out our self-study resources, available for the Chinese, English, French, and Spanish exams. Similar resources are now being developed for Arabic and Russian.