Stanford's language requirement?

Good day everyone. I've been looking at Stanford's admissions requirements and one thing that caught my eye was a 'language requirement'. I'm a bit unsure what exactly that entails. Is it about knowing a foreign language? Do you need to have completed a certain level of education in a foreign language? Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Stanford University, like many universities, has a language requirement for its undergraduates. It's important to note that this isn't an admission requirement, but rather a graduation requirement. This means that, as part of the curriculum to graduate, students are required to have a certain level of proficiency in a second language. There are multiple ways to fulfill this requirement.

Undergraduate students must complete one year of college-level study (or equivalent) in a foreign language. This requirement can be completed a few different ways before or after matriculation.

After matriculation:

-Completing a first-year language course (not including online and hybrid courses)

-Taking a placement test in a particular language and scoring beyond first-year courses in that language

Before matriculation:

-Scoring a 4 or 5 on a foreign language AP exam

-Scoring a 4 or 5 on the National Exam of World Languages (NEWL) (available in Arabic, Korean, Portuguese, and Russian)

-Scoring a 5 or higher on a foreign language higher level IB exam

If you've taken high school courses in a foreign language, it's potentially going to be beneficial as it might allow you to test out of the requirement or take more advanced classes right away if you're interested in continuing your language studies. However, those without a background in a second language aren't at a disadvantage during the admissions process. They just have to plan to meet this requirement during their time at Stanford.