Most undergraduate students do so by

• having successfully completed the appropriate number of years of language study while in high school (e.g., three years of the same language if you are in a program in the Grainger College of Engineering), or
• having earned the appropriate amount of credit from the AP or IB language exam, or
• completing the appropriate college-level courses.

But there are other ways, too! Read up on the various options for satisfying the General Education language requirement. Feel free to contact PNP if you have any questions.

You MAY NOT sit for a departmental undergraduate-level language proficiency exam if you:

• are a graduate student. (Ask your department how you can fulfill your language requirement, if you have one.)
• have already taken the proficiency exam on a previous occasion.
• have already earned higher-level college credit in the language. This means, for example, that if you already have credit for a fourth-level course, you cannot take a proficiency exam in order to get credit for the third-level course. "Credit" includes AP credit, IB credit, dual credit, community college credit, and Illinois course credit.
• are not actively enrolled at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for the current semester.
• are enrolled at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as an exchange student or another type of non-degree student.

The Chinese Proficiency Test is generally offered every Fall and Spring semester to both new students and continuing students.

For more information, including the registration link, please see

https://ealc.illinois.edu/academics/programs/chinese/placement

If your goal, however, is to continue studying Chinese, you need to take the online Chinese Placement Test

• If you are going to be a new freshman or new transfer student and you are interested in taking a Chinese language class, please refer to EALC’s Chinese placement test info page at https://ealc.illinois.edu/academics/programs/chinese/placement
• Are you an upperclassman or graduate student who needs a Chinese course placement recommendation? Please refer to EALC’s Chinese placement test info page at https://ealc.illinois.edu/academics/programs/chinese/placement
  

The French Proficiency Exam is generally offered every fall and spring semester to both new students and continuing students. Please see the SLCL website for more information. Registration is required in advance.

The exam will primarily assess your vocabulary, grammar, writing knowledge, and reading comprehension abilities and will cover material that is typically taught through the fourth level (high intermediate language learning). Strong performance can earn either 4.0 credits for FR103 or 8.0 credits for FR103 and FR104. Students are allowed to attempt the proficiency exam only once during their undergraduate career.

Do you need just a French course placement recommendation?

• If you are a new freshman or new transfer student for 2024-2025, you can log in here to take your placement test after placement testing opens in early May.
  

• If you are a currently enrolled undergraduate or graduate student, you can log in here to take the "French Placement Test for Non-Freshmen." After logging in with your NetID, simply enroll yourself in the test. You will see your placement results as soon as you finish. Results are valid for one year.
  

Japanese Proficiency/Placement Test: For general information, including the registration link, please visit the Japanese proficiency/placement test website.

The Japanese Proficiency/Placement Test is offered at the beginning of every fall and spring semester to both new students and continuing students. It is actually not a proficiency test. You take this test in order to learn which Japanese course you should enroll in to continue your studies of the language. However, if you demonstrate such strong skills that you "place out" of our Japanese courses, that means you have fulfilled the General Education language requirement. No academic credit is awarded. If you place out, your Gen Ed language requirement will be marked as "completed."

Korean Proficiency/Placement Test: For general information, please visit the Korean proficiency/placement testing webpage.

The Korean Proficiency/Placement Test is offered at the beginning of every fall and spring semester to both new students and continuing students. It is actually not a proficiency test. You take this test in order to learn which Korean course you should enroll in to continue your studies of the language. However, if you demonstrate such strong skills that you "place out" of our Korean courses, that means you have fulfilled the General Education language requirement. No academic credit is awarded. If you place out, your Gen Ed language requirement will be marked as "completed."

The Spanish Proficiency Exam is generally offered every fall and spring semester to both new students and continuing students. Please see the SLCL website for more information. Registration is required in advance.

The Spanish Proficiency Exam primarily assesses your vocabulary, grammar, writing knowledge, and reading comprehension abilities. It covers material that is taught in our classes through the fourth level (high intermediate language learning). There is no listening comprehension section, no speaking, and no essay. Strong performance can earn either 4 hours for SPAN 130 or 8 hours for SPAN 130 and SPAN 141. Students are allowed to attempt the proficiency exam only once during their undergraduate career.

Do you need just a Spanish course placement recommendation?

• If you will be a new freshman or new transfer student for 2024-2025, log in here to take your placement test after placement testing opens in early May.
  

• If you are a currently enrolled undergraduate or graduate student, you can log in here to take the "Spanish Placement Test for Non-Freshmen." After logging in with your NetID, simply enroll yourself in the test. You will see your placement results as soon as you finish. Results are valid for one year.
  

Great! Illinois offers placement and proficiency testing in nearly 40 other languages. Most are given at the beginning of each Fall and each Spring semester. For more information, please contact the professor who is in charge of the language you want to test in.