The demand for an improved international dimension in American education is a move in the right direction, and American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and Educational Testing Service efforts in defining foreign language proficiency guidelines and developing a reliable mechanism for testing oral proficiency have resulted in valuable tools for language teaching. The Oral Proficiency Interview is an accurate measure of ability and a demanding exercise for the examiner. However, the test and guidelines provide evaluative tools, not a curriculum. An examination of standard university language activities and textbooks reveals strengths and weaknesses for a proficiency-oriented teaching approach. After several attempts to inject some proficiency-oriented ingredients into a traditional college German curriculum, an intensive course designed from scratch and following the proficiency guidelines has been most effective in moving students toward proficiency, as illustrated in conversations with the highest and the most modest achievers in the class. Goals for the first four semesters of German instruction and a course outline are appended and an 11-item bibliography is included. (MSE)