Center for Language Studies

Placement Exams

Students hoping to study a language with which they have some familiarity - whether through formal classroom study, significant exposure to the language through extended stay abroad or use in your family - are invited to take a language placement test.

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.

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

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 in Petteruti Lounge at the Stephen Roberts Campus Center at noon on September 3rd, 2024. You may find instructions about the placement test at the link below:
 

Contact

Yang WangEast Asian Studies

Contact

Masako Fidler, Slavic Studies

Watch the Czech Program video

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.

Meet a faculty member

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

Jane Sokolosky aka Frau Sok

Explore GermanStudies@Brown

To learn more about German language classes at Brown, please visit the German Studies website. 

Contact

Elsa AmanatidouClassics Department

Explore Modern Greek at Brown

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 2024 - Spring2025

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. Placement test information is also accessible here. If you have further questions, please contact Suga sensei. We would like to ask all incoming students to take the placement test before the semester begins.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you in fall 2024!

Information about the Korean placement test can be found on the East Asian Studies website.

Contact

Hye-Sook Wang, East Asian Studies

Contact

classics_department@brown.edu

For more information about learning Latin, Ancient Greek and Sanskrit at Brown, please visit the Classics Department website. 

Contact

eduardo_de_la_cruz@brown.edu

For more information about learning Nahuatl at Brown, please visit the Nahuatl webpage. 

Contact

Michelle_Quay@brown.edu

For more information about learning Persian at Brown, please visit the Persian webpage. 

Contact

Paulina_Duda@Brown.edu

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.

Current Faculty in Hispanic Studies

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

Trang_Tran@Brown.edu

For more information about learning Vietnamese at Brown, please visit the East Asian Studies website. 

Contact

victor_alabi@brown.edu

We offer Beginning and Intermediate Yoruba and a course on African languages. For more information about these courses, please visit the Yoruba webpage.