GUIDELINES
WHICH PLACEMENT TEST(S) SHOULD I TAKE?
Table of Contents:
French (page 1)
Japanese (page 2)
Latin, Spanish, and Math (page 3)
FRENCH
To take the French Level 2 Placement Test, you should be able to prove your competence in:
Vocabulary: greetings, simple biographical information, physical and personality descriptions, school classroom and subjects,
café and restaurant, place settings, activities, sports, weather, telling time, numbers, spelling, places around town, family, colors,
clothing, shopping, house, furniture, chores around house
Grammar: present tense of er, spell change er, re, ir verbs, passé composé of same, present and passé composé of avoir, être,
aller, boire, prendre, faire, venir, vouloir, dormir/sortir/partir, demonstrative adjectives, interrogative adjectives, partitive articles,
venir de, question words, idioms with avoir
Writing: able to write dialogues of 16-20 lines in length
able to write paragraphs of 15-20 sentences
To take the French Level 3 Placement Test, the student should be familiar with the same things as those taking the Level 2
placement test, and also must have already studied the passe compose (preterite) and the imparfait. A basic knowledge of the
subjunctive is recommended. The student should feel comfortable writing a half page single spaced in French without use of the
dictionary.
To take the French Level 4 Placement Test, a student should be familiar with the same things as those taking the Level 3
placement test, and also must have already covered the subjunctive, the plus-que-parfait (pluperfect), conditional (present and
past), and the simple future. A good knowledge of the relative pronouns (que/qui/dont/ce que/ce qui/ ce dont) is also useful. The
student should feel comfortable writing one page single spaced in French without use of the dictionary.
JAPANESE
To take the Japanese Level 2 Placement Test, you should already be familiar with the following topics, plus Hiragana / Katakana,
45 Kaiji, the non-past plain form of verbs, dictionary and negative form.
Vocabulary: nationalities and languages, personal information, around campus, commuting, cities and neighborhoods, buildings
and places around town, schedules, daily activities, weekends and holidays.
Grammar: Identification: the copula
interrogatives; particles
and
; possessive particle
; personal pronouns and demonstratives; asking questions:
;; the basic structure of Japanese verbs; the non--past, polite form of verbs; the past, polite
form of verbs; adjectives and adverbs; expressing existence: the verbs
words; numerals and counters; expressing likes and dislikes:
plain form.
and
and
; indicating location; positional
; sentence final
; and polite form versus
To take the Japanese Level 3 Placement Test, you should be familiar with the same things as those taking the Level 2 placement
test, and also with the following topics.
Vocabulary: today’s weather, enjoying the four seasons, forecasting, hobbies and pastimes, sports, family.
Grammar: particles showing grammatical relationships; making suggestions:
; conjoining nouns:
and
adverbs used in negative sentences; connecting disjunctive sentences; approximate numbers; conjugating adjectives;
;
comparatives and superlatives; the past, plain forms of verbs; explaining a reason: B
; the te-form of adjectives and the
coupla; the te-form of verbs; expressing probability and conjecture; adverbs used with comparatives; linking disjunctive clauses
with
; conjoining sequential actions; interrogative
more uses of the particle
state:
; describing abilities; nominalizers:
; potential form of verbs; the te-form of verbs
; nominal verbs;
and
;
; relative clauses; describing a change in
; words expressing respect and politeness; have you already eaten?; some time
expressions; expressing experience: the ta-form of verbs
.
To take the Japanese Level 4 Placement Test, you should already be familiar with the same things as those taking the Level 3
placement test, but also with the following topics.
Vocabulary: foods and beverages, flavors and tastes, cooking terms, shops and stores, shopping, clothes.
Grammar: expressing a desire:
quoting speech: B
,
, and
,
; expressing intention:
, and
;
;
; indefinite pronoun
conditional; going somewhere with a purpose: using the particle
whether or not something is true: B
;
;
and the volitional form of verbs; the te-form of verbs
; expressing simultaneous actions:
when something happens: temporal clause ending in
; expressing an opinion: B
; quote marker
;
and
;
; making if-then statements: the
to express purpose; reporting hearsay: B
; giving reasons with B
,B
;
;
; saying
.
LATIN
To take the Latin Level 2 Placement Test, a student should know all six verb tenses (present, imperfect, future, perfect, pluperfect,
and future perfect) , should have been exposed to the first three declensions of nouns, demonstratives, relative pronouns. The
tipping point for students who will succeed in Latin 2 will have been exposed to the PASSIVE VOICE (this is tested on the
placement test). I would suggest that a student who has not even seen the Passive voice to retake Latin 1, even if they have had
previous exposure to Latin.
To take the Latin Level 3 Placement Test, a student should know the same things as those taking the Level 2 Test. He or she
should also have full knowledge of Latin grammar, including all 6 tenses of verbs, active and passive, as well as full knowledge of
all subjunctive uses, knowledge of all 5 noun declensions, deponent verbs, all irregular verbs (fero, eo, nolo, volo, malo). The
student should also have previous knowledge of reading Latin in its authentic text, with special emphasis placed on poetry,
Caesar, and the prose of writers such as Cicero and Livy.
To take the Latin Level 4 Placement Test, a student should know the same things as those taking the Level 3 Test. He or she
should be prepared to take Latin at the college level, to translate Latin poetry.
SPANISH
To take the Spanish Level 2 Placement Test, a student should have already taken at least one year of Spanish, should have
learned the present tense and perhaps had an introduction to the preterite and progressive tenses. He or she should also have
had exposure to general vocabulary.
To take the Spanish Level 3 Placement Test, a student needs to know the present, preterite, imperfect, progressives, perfects,
present subjuntive, past subjuntive, future and conditional tenses. The subjuntive tenses are especially important. He or she
should also demonstrate knowledge of vocabulary, ability to read and understand a brief passage and ability to write a
composition.
To take the Spanish Level 4 Placement Test, a student should know the same things as those taking the Level 3 Test, and also
the ability to write a 1 page essay and read intermediate level passages.
MATH
Your answers to our online survey will help us determine which math placement test you should take.