Language Placement Assessment FAQ
Language placement assessment helps students register for language and cultural courses at the appropriate level. If you have studied a language before, a language placement assessment will tell you where you should begin your language journey at MSU. Students with no experience in a language should start in the language’s 101 course.
These unproctored placement assessments do NOT exempt a student from any language requirements. The College of Arts & Letters and the James Madison College have language requirements that must be fulfilled separately from the placement assessment. Placing beyond the intro (101) level does NOT grant credit for any levels that the student places beyond. The placement test also does NOT grant any university credits.
Placing out of 200-level language in a proctored environment (at NSO or in the MSU Testing Center) can satisfy the language requirement for the College of Arts & Letters and the James Madison College, but no college credits are earned by taking the assessment.
A student who took a foreign language prior to entering Michigan State University, is continuing study in that language, and is not bringing in AP, IB Higher Level (HL) or transferable credit must take the placement assessment.
Students that have taken or are taking the AP or IB exam do not have to take a foreign language placement assessment. See MSU’s AP equivalences for the relevant program.
Unproctored Assessments: Unproctored (i.e., unsupervised) placement assessments can be done online. Information and links to the online assessments can be found in the table below.
Proctored Assessment: Proctored tests are administered by faculty or MSU staff. Students must contact the language program coordinator for the language to schedule a proctored assessment (language programs). Some assessments will be proctored by the MSU Testing Center others by the appropriate faculty from the languages.
New students should plan to take the placement assessment prior to their initial advising appointment. The assessment makes an enrollment recommendation for the upcoming semester. If you take the assessment and will not enroll into the recommended course immediately (e.g., taking a semester off from foreign languages), then you should take the assessment again before enrolling for that semester. If you have any technical questions about placement assessment, please email: languageplacement@msu.edu.
Placement Assessment Information
| LANGUAGE | HOW TO TAKE THE ASSESSMENT | WHEN TO TAKE THE ASSESSMENT |
|---|---|---|
African Languages |
For Swahili, contact Deo Ngonyani and for Zulu and all other African languages contact Galen Sibanda. | Before the start of the semester |
Arabic |
Contact Sadam Issa to arrange for testing. Contact Ayman Mohamed for questions regarding curriculum or course content. | Before the start of the semester |
Chinese |
Go to the Chinese placement assessment. For more information on Chinese placement, click here. | Anytime online |
French |
Go to the French placement assessment. For more information on French placement, click here. | Anytime online |
German |
Go to the German placement assessment. For more information on German placement, click here. | Anytime online |
Hebrew |
Download and print the Hebrew assessment, complete it to the best of your ability. Scan or take pictures of your work and send it to Yore Kedem.
|
Before the start of the semester |
Italian |
Please contact the program coordinator, Carmen DeLorenzo for placement questions and testing. | Anytime |
Japanese |
Begin placement assessment by taking the Japanese Program’s student information survey. | Fill out the survey by August 15, 2024. For further important dates, see the Japanese Program’s assessment page. |
Korean |
Sign up for the Korean placement assessment here. For more information on Korean placement, click here. | Assessment is open from two weeks before classes begin to two days before classes begin for a given semester |
Latin |
Download and complete the Latin Assessment. Email as an attachment to Jennifer Gansler. | Anytime |
Less Commonly Taught Languages |
Please contact the program coordinator, Danielle Steider. For more info on LCTL placement, click here. | Before the start of the semester |
Portuguese |
Please contact the program coordinator, Saulo Gouveia for placement questions and testing. | Anytime |
Russian |
Please contact Jason Merrill for placement questions and testing. | Before the start of the semester |
Spanish |
Go to the Spanish placement assessment. For more information on Spanish placement, click here. | Anytime online |
If you are having technical difficulties accessing a placement assessment, please email languageplacement@msu.edu.
Please contact LiLaC and RCS’s advisors:
For African Languages, Arabic, Chinese, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, Less Commonly Taught Languages, and Russian please contact Ben Davis in Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures.
For French and Spanish, please contact Jennifer Gansler in Romance and Classical Studies.
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- If you have technical (computer-related) problems, you can contact the IT Services Help Desk.
- For questions related to the test (administration and content) itself, send an email to languageplacement@msu.edu.
- For questions about the language requirement of your program, please contact your advisor.
- If you feel that your test score does not accurately reflect your language ability, see your advisor or discuss your score with the appropriate program coordinator in the language department. See the specific Language programs.