Placement Exams

One of the General Education requirements at Lewis & Clark College for the Bachelor of Arts degree is three semesters of a single world language. If you have studied Arabic, Chinese, Classical Greek, French, German, Japanese, Latin, Russian, or Spanish in high school or abroad, you are required to take a placement exam to determine the right course for you to take.

We strongly recommend that you start taking courses in a language during your first semester. This will provide you with maximum flexibility in scheduling your courses and overseas study during your four years at Lewis & Clark College.

Placement into the second semester of the second year of a language (202) or the first semester of third year (301) satisfies the Lewis & Clark World Language requirement.  However, you cannot completely satisfy the graduation requirement on the basis of the online placement test alone.  All students whose placement test results suggest placement into 202 level or above will be required to confirm this placement in a proctored setting.

Chinese, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish

Placement exams in Chinese, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish are offered online during the summer for incoming freshmen and during the fall and spring semesters in a proctored setting on campus. For further information go to Chinese Placement ExamFrench Placement Exam, German Placement Exam, Japanese Placement Exam, or Spanish Placement Exam

The result of your Chinese, French, German, Japanese or Spanish placement exam is valid for registration purposes for one year only. If you have questions, send an e-mail to:

Summer 2023

Online placement exams for incoming students will be available from May 12th until August 22, 2023You are encouraged to take the exam by July 15th, which will help you and your advisor plan your fall semester courses prior to registration in August.

Arabic, Classical Greek, Latin, and Russian

There are no online placement exams for these languages.

For placement in Arabic, please send an email to Lina Gomaa.

For placement in Classical Greek and Latin, please contact Professor Gordon Kelly, gkelly@lclark.edu.

For placement in Russian, please contact Prof. Maria Hristova, hristova@lclark.edu.

Exemption from the Exam

If you have had no prior study of a foreign language, or have studied a language not offered at Lewis & Clark (e.g., Italian), you may begin your study of any foreign language taught at Lewis & Clark at the 101 level. In this case, you are exempted from taking a Language Placement Exam.

If you have had any prior study whatsoever in the language you intend to study at Lewis & Clark, you must take the placement exam before registering for a language course. Please do not register for 101 without taking the exam if you have had any prior experience in the language.

If you have studied a language at the college level, simply have your credits transferred to LC. In this case, you will continue with the next course in the sequence you began elsewhere. You may contact the College Registrar for information on transferring college-level credits.

Please note that AP and IB scores in higher level exams do not meet the General Education requirement in Foreign Languages.  You need to take the foreign language placement exam to determine the right course for you to take.

Studying Two Languages

If you have studied two of the languages that are taught at Lewis & Clark College and would like to continue to study both of them, take the placement exam in both of the languages.

Learning Accommodations

If you have an accessibility issue that may affect your performance on a computerized placement test, please arrange for accommodation before taking the exam.

Please contact the Office of Student Accessibility to support you in arranging accommodation at Lewis & Clark. Once you have been approved for accommodations, have Student Support Services notify us by emailing the Interactive Learning Center Program Coordinator, Blair Orfall, at blairorfall@lclark.edu.