Boston University students planning to live in language specialty housing must be studying the language and not just be fluent in it, according to new requirements from the Office of Residence Life and modern foreign language department, which some students say does more harm than good.

Students in the specialty houses must be pursuing a major or minor in the language or be enrolled in that language’s course, according to the new requirements that ORL had considered for months, said ORL Director David Zamojski. Previous requirements had allowed fluent speakers not studying the language to live in the houses.

Spanish House resident Fabiana Cabral said the new requirements are not fair to native speakers like herself, who chose her specialty housing because she wanted to connect with people from other Spanish-speaking countries.

“I believe this affects everyone, including people who are learning the language, since it is invaluable to speak to native speakers in order to improve the understanding of a language,” the College of Arts and Sciences freshman said in an email.

Zamojski said the ORL anticipated some students would be unable to continue living in specialty housing.

Future residents of the five language houses — French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish — must now be involved in cultural floor events and speak the house’s language in the common areas, Zamojski said.

“We’ve been working in collaboration . . . to really place the emphasis in the language houses in learning the language,” he said.

Spanish House resident Annie Dow said the university is wrong to bar fluent Spanish speakers from the house if they are not studying the language at BU.

“I don’t understand why the university would see [native speakers] as less deserving than people who are Spanish majors,” the CAS junior said in an email. “It’s so much more than language. It’s about culture, which they’re entirely overlooking.

“I’m sure the people who did get in do deserve to live in specialty housing as well, but kicking people out who had already passed the application process once or twice is like saying that they’re not good enough anymore,” Dow continued.