Site updated Wednesday 01/18/2023
FOREIGN LANGUAGE TESTING FOR STUDENTS GETTING A BA DEGREE OR A MINOR OR SECOND MAJOR IN A LANGUAGE
FRESHMAN-CALL FOR INFORMATION 703-993-1220.
Foreign Language Placement Tests/Self Evaluations
(for finding out where your language skill/knowledge lines up with our courses; then you will know what course to take first)
Remote Placement Tests / Self-Evaluations
You can access our online placement tests or self-evaluations below to assist you with placement. For this, please click "Online Test ↓|" or "|Self-Evaluation ↓|" next to a language. If you use the self-evaluation for placement, and you register for a language course, you should notify your instructor before the first day of class. At that time, help your instructor confirm that you chose the appropriate level. There can be both academic and financial consequences for staying in a course that is not proper placement; please work with your instructor about placement decisions.
Arabic |Online Placement Test ↓| Naglaa Hussein / nmahmou4@gmu.edu |
Chinese |Online Placement Test ↓| Xi Chen / Xchen8@gmu.edu |
French |Online Placement Test ↓| Raluca Romaniuc / rromaniu@gmu.edu |
German |Self-Evaluation ↓| Natalia Dudnik / ndudnik@gmu.edu |
Italian Kristina Olson / kolson4@gmu.edu |
Japanese |Self-Evaluation ↓| Manako Fujiwara / mfujiwar@gmu.edu |
Korean |Online Placement Test ↓| Dae Kim / dkim88@gmu.edu |
Latin Martin Winkler / mwinkler@gmu.edu |
Russian |Self-Evaluation ↓| Lena Guglielmi / hgugliel@gmu.edu |
Spanish |Online Placement Test ↓| |
Portuguese (No placement test available) please contact: Tatiana Queenan / tqueenan@gmu.edu |
For questions, please email language@gmu.edu
In-person Placement Tests
Italian and Latin placement tests are only available in-person (in our testing lab). You can also take all other language placement tests in our testing lab if you do not want to or cannot take them remotely.
Foreign Language Waivers and Tests
Waiver tests are taken in an attempt to ‘test out of’ the 100 and 200 levels of language requirements that BA degrees have. There is not a test for ‘testing out of’ the 100 level, there is only one test and it is for the 100 and the 200 level.
FOR MORE WAYS TO SATISFY YOUR FOREIGN LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS OTHER THAN WHAT IS DETAILED BELOW, AND INFO ABOUT A FOREIGN LANGUAGE EXEMPTION, PLEASE SEE THIS CHSS WEBSITE: https://academicaffairs.chss.gmu.edu/ugradpolicies/ugpolicies/flwaiver
The Department of Modern and Classical Languages (MCL) does not award credits for our language waiver tests. For passing one of our language waiver tests (placed beyond all 200 levels of a language), students who have a foreign language requirement for their major will instead receive a language waiver (satisfying required language courses). In satisfying their foreign language requirements, we submit the information to the registrar for processing. Therefore, our waiver tests are not for students who do not have a foreign language requirement.
You are permitted to take each language waiver test only one time.
In-person Waiver Tests
Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Russian and Spanish tests are offered in our computer lab on campus. You do not sign up for these tests. See the calendar below for days of the tests.
Remote Waiver Tests
If you cannot come to campus to take the test, we do have remote waiver tests for Chinese, French, Korean, and Spanish. For the remote tests, we ask that you first take the placement test, and see that you place into course number 201 or higher. Links to these are found in the highlighted area under the Placement heading above. If you complete the eval/placement test well as described above, you are ready for a remote waiver test. If for some reason the lock down browser for the test does not video tape your entire test, you will be asked to come to our testing lab. Please sign up using this link:
Sign up here for a remote Foreign Language Waiver Test
It may take five days after you sign up to be added to and be invited to take the test.
Waivers for Languages We Do Not Teach
Students who are native speakers of a language other than English and other than the languages taught at GMU, can also be tested and waive their GMU foreign language requirement. At least one semester or more before their graduation date, a student can be tested by an acceptable examiner in the language. It is best to get the examiner approved by our advisor, Xi Chen. xchen8@gmu.edu Like all other language waivers, no credit is given. Here is the link to the procedures and forms.
Waiver Forms (used for being tested elsewhere for languages not taught at GMU)