Japanese Placement Exam
The East Asian Languages and Literatures Department uses several placement exams to assess proficiency among students with previous exposure to Japanese. The exams are self-administered. Please do not use dictionaries, grammar references or other materials, and please do not get help from friends. The purpose is to gauge your true ability as accurately as possible, so that you are placed in the class where you can learn the most.
Note that these tests are for rough diagnostic purposes only. The department reserves the right to move students to an appropriate level if the tests prove to be insufficient tools for placement.
Who Needs to Take the Placement Test?
Anyone who has learned some Japanese before and wants to take JAPN 1002 or above must take the placement exam. If you have never studied Japanese before, you do not need to take the exam; please sign up for JAPN 1001.
Which Exam Should I Take?
- If you are interested in enrolling in JAPN 1002 (basic 2, the second semester of first-year Japanese), please take the test for JAPN 1002. If your score is 65% or above, then register for 1002 and notify Professor Takae Tsujioka by e-mail.
- If you are interested in taking JAPN 2003 or 2006 (intermediate 1, the first semester of second-year Japanese), then please take the placement tests for both JAPN 1002 and 2003. If your score is 65% or above for both, then register for 2003 and notify Takae Tsujioka.
- If you are interested in enrolling in JAPN 2004 (intermediate 2, the second semester of second-year Japanese), you must take three exams: one for 1002, one for 2003 and one for 2004. If your score is 65% or above on all three, register for 2004 and notify Takae Tsujioka.
- If you are interested in enrolling in JAPN 3105 (intermediate 3, the first semester of third-year Japanese), then take the three placement tests for 1002, 2004 (not 2003) and 3105. If your score is 65% or above on all three, register for 3105 and notify Takae Tsujioka.
- For all other upper-level Japanese language courses, please first take all the tests and contact Takae Tsujioka.
Will I Need to Type in Japanese?
Yes. If you are unsure of how to do this, there are instructions on the placement exam homepage. There you will find additional hints for typing.