Scroll down to see how many languages we offer at Brown! There you'll also find guidelines for taking placement tests and contacting the department. For any questions about placement exams, please contact the faculty member listed for each language.
Center for Language Studies
Placement Exams
Contact
Timothy Riker, Center for Language Studies
Meet the faculty in this video
For more information about learning American Sign Language at Brown, please visit the ASL webpage.
Placement tests are administered individually in the early days of the semester.
Contact
- Second Year Arabic (ARAB0300) - Elsa Belmont Flores
- Third Year Arabic (ARAB0500, ARAB0850) - Miled Faiza
- Advanced Arabic (ARAB0700) - Alla Hassan, or contact Language_Studies@Brown.edu
For more information about learning Arabic at Brown, please visit the Arabic webpage
Anyone who has any background in Chinese is required to take the placement test, including those who have taken or submitted their SAT or AP tests scores.
The Chinese placement test will be held at the Barus & Holley building in room 168 at noon on September 6th. You may find instructions about the placement test at the link below:
Contact
Contact
Masako Fidler, Slavic Studies
For more information about learning Czech at Brown, please visit the Slavic Studies website.
The French placement exam can be taken at any time, preferably before the beginning of classes. More information can be found on the French and Francophone Studies website.
Please access the online German placement test here. You may find out more about our program by accessing this site using Chrome as your browser. It shouldn't take more than 15 minutes, and remember to send an email to Professor Sokolosky to get your feedback.
You may take the placement test at anytime during the summer or semester. Students who have received a 5 in the German AP should enroll in GRMN0500.
Contact
To learn more about German language classes at Brown, please visit the German Studies website.
Contact
Elsa Amanatidou, Classics Department
To learn more about learning Modern Greek at Brown, please visit the Modern Greek Studies webpage.
Contact
Ruth Adler Ben-Yehuda, Judaic Studies
For more information about learning Hebrew at Brown, please visit the Judaic Studies website.
Placement tests are administered individually during registration period. Students wishing to start Hindi at Brown should register for HNDI0100 in the fall.
Contact
Ashok Koul, Center for Language Studies
For more information about learning Hindi and Urdu at Brown, please visit the program's webpage.
The Italian language placement exam can be taken at any time, preferably at the beginning of each semester. It has both written and oral components.
Contact
Cristina Abbona Sneider, Italian Studies
For more information about learning Italian at Brown, please visit the Italian Studies website.
Japanese Placement Test for Fall 2023
こんにちは！
Thank you for your interest in studying Japanese with us here at Brown University. Please visit the placement test site. If you have further questions, please contact Suga sensei. We would like to ask all incoming students to take the placement test in September. If you have trouble accessing the site, please visit the following three URLS:
1. SPOT Test
The SPOT (Simple Performance-Oriented Test) was developed by Tsukuba University in Japan. It is widely used in Japan and abroad for level-placement purposes, as well as for assessment and diagnosis of test takers' Japanese proficiency level. The test will take approximately 30 to 60 minutes and requires a headset. Please set aside enough time for yourself and be in a quiet place when you take it. Your results will come back immediately via a PDF file which you will submit to us via Google Forms (Step 3). Please go to: https://ttbj.cegloc.tsukuba.ac.jp/p1.html and scroll to the very bottom and click on "Individual Application (個人受験申込)." Select the option "SPOT90 + Grammar90 + 漢字SPOT50” and click Next.
Once you have completed (or nearly completed these three tasks, please make an appointment for an interview. Interviews will be given on September 1, 2023. Please finish these three steps by the time of the interview. Please visit the placement test site around August 15, 2023 to schedule an interview.
Thank you and we look forward to seeing you in Fall 2023!
Information about the Korean placement test can be found on the East Asian Studies website.
Contact
Contact
For more information about learning Latin, Ancient Greek and Sanskrit at Brown, please visit the Classics Department website.
Contact
For more information about learning Nahuatl at Brown, please visit the Nahuatl webpage.
Contact
For more information about learning Persian at Brown, please visit the Persian webpage.
Contact
For more information about learning Polish at Brown, please visit the Slavic Studies website.
Placement tests are administered individually during registration period.
Contact
Patricia Sobral, Portuguese and Brazilian Studies
For more information about learning Portuguese at Brown, please visit the Portuguese and Brazilian Studies website.
Dates, times, and formats for placement exams are TBD and will be updated here as soon as they are confirmed.
Contact
Lynne DeBenedette, Slavic Studies
For more information about learning Russian at Brown, please visit the Slavic Studies website.
The Brown placement exam for Spanish can be taken at any time, preferably before the beginning of classes. Information on access to the Spanish language placement exam can be found on the Hispanic Studies website.
We will offer Beginning Swahili in 2022-23.
If you have any questions about enrolling in Swahili, please email Jane_Sokolosky@brown.edu.
For more information about learning Swahili at Brown, please visit the Swahili webpage.
Placement tests are administered individually.
Contact
Esra Ozdemir, Center for Language Studies
Learn about the Turkish program here
For more information about learning Turkish at Brown, please visit the Turkish webpage.
Contact
For more information about learning Vietnamese at Brown, please visit the East Asian Studies website.
Contact
We offer Beginning and Intermediate Yoruba and a course on African languages. For more information about these courses, please visit the Yoruba webpage.