Whatever your amount of exposure to French, we require that you take a placement test before enrolling in French courses. The test must be taken regardless of the number of years you have formally studied the language, your Advanced Placement (AP) scores, or any prior experience such as a bilingual upbringing and schooling or having lived abroad.
A French placement test is mandatory for any student who has not taken a previous French class at JHU (including transfer students who have taken French classes at other institutions and those with AP exam credits).
Though placement tests 1 and 2 are available online year-round, for the most accurate placement recommendation, it is advised that you take the test within a few months of the semester in which you plan to study the language. A link to the placement test is provided below.
After completing the test, you will be contacted within three business days by a faculty member in French to discuss your placement and registering for a class.
Please contact the director of the French language program, Dr. Bruce Anderson, if you have any questions about placement.
Placement Test 1
Begin with Placement Test 1, a 60-minute timed test consisting of 48 multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank questions to assess your knowledge of vocabulary, grammar, reading and listening comprehension. If you score below 108 points, you will be contacted within three business days by a faculty member who coordinates the beginning or intermediate level to discuss your score, answer any questions, and place you in a particular level.
[Note: Students who have already taken this placement exam before July 12, 2022 have different cut-off score values; please contact the director of the French language program, Dr. Bruce Anderson ([email protected]), to discuss your placement.]
| Score | Course to Take |
|---|---|
| 23 or below | Elements I (210.101) |
| 24-53 | Elements II (210.102) |
| 54-95 | Intermediate I (210.201) |
| 96-107 | Intermediate II (210.202) |
| 108 and above | Take placement test 2 |
Placement Test 2
If you receive a score of 108 or above on placement test 1, take additional placement test 2, a 60-minute timed test with a similar format.
Within three business days, you will be contacted by the director of the French language program, Dr. Bruce Anderson ([email protected]), to discuss your score, answer any questions, and indicate whether you must take both Advanced courses, take one and receive a waiver for the other, or receive a waiver for both. Only students who complete the Advanced level, either by taking the indicated courses or receiving waivers, are permitted to enroll in classes beyond the Advanced (210.301-302) level.
French Placement Exam courses:
To enroll in these placement test courses, log into Canvas using your jhed credentials. Once in Canvas, select the Enroll button, then the Enroll in Course button, and then use the Go to Course link to access the placement exam.
Once enrolled, you may also access the placement exam from your list of Canvas courses.
Ethics Statement
Johns Hopkins University believes strongly that every member of its community should hold the highest standard of integrity for their work and avoid academic dishonesty. You are expected to behave in an ethical manner while taking the online language placement exam.
You must take this exam without assistance from anyone and without the help of any document (notes, book, dictionary, etc.). You are allowed to take this test only once. Reproduction of the material on this test is a violation of ethical standards. Therefore, you should not discuss the questions on these tests with others nor may you provide others with the questions on these tests.
By taking the online placement test, you accept the following statements:
- I will do my own work on this test. I will not receive assistance from another person nor from books or other documents.
- I will not discuss this test with others or reproduce test questions in any format.
- I will take this test online only once.