Chinese Language Program Placement Test

If you are not going to take a Chinese language course but want to receive a language certificate to confirm your level of proficiency, we highly suggest that you register for the exam during the Spring semester. Due to the high volume of test takers in the Fall semester, our priority must be for students who want to take classes. We cannot guarantee that you will be able to receive your certificate on time during the Fall semester.

Update on Certifications of Language Proficiency (for the fulfillment of language requirements):

Our program director, Prof. Liu, will send a list of test results to the following deans/coordinator of each school which they will share internally to the appropriate administrators. We will not issue any paper certificates.

SIPA:  Tsuya Yee, ty2466@sipa.columbia.edu

CC and SEAS: Sarah Oldham smo2127@columbia.edu

GS: The language test scores will be sent to the Dean of Students office. Please follow up with your regular academic advisor regarding your score.

Barnard : Wendy Garay, wgaray@barnard.edu

MARSEA: Lin King, lin.king@columbia.edu

We appreciate your patience as there are more than 400 test results each year; we are unable to report the results individually. We would really appreciate that you write to your deans respectively and let them contact the above contact person if you just want to be placed out of the language requirement. 

If you still have questions regarding your certificate, please contact Prof. Jiang at tj2342@columbia.edu

The Chinese Language Program will administer the Chinese Placement Test online for the academic year of 2023-2024.

2023 Fall Semester Placement Test Time Table 

Pre-exam

Open to register on courseworks

August 18th

Register only — no exam will be published until August 23rd

Take the exam 

Writing/Multiple-choice

August 23-30th

Sign up for the speaking exam (EXCEPT EALAC Graduate Students)

Speaking exam via Zoom

September 1st

10AM-1PM

Exam Time: 10 mins 

Get your Test ID

Check the exam result online

You will be assigned a Test ID when you take the speaking exam; you need to use that ID number to check your exam result. 

Important Reminders:

If you have a public (not international) high school or college diploma from mainland China or Taiwan where Mandarin Chinese is the instructional language, you do not need to take the test.

Please contact Prof. Wu Yanwen (yw4033@columbia.edu) with your diploma to receive a language certificate, which will exempt you from the 2-year foreign language requirement.

The Placement test will consist of three components: a multiple-choice section, a timed composition portion, and a speaking portion.

Please see the table below for the breakdown of the components of the FALL 2023 PLACEMENT EXAM:

 

 

When

Duration

Format

Platform

Online multiple-choice items

Writing 

8/23(12:01am）–

8/30(11:59pm) 

About 3 hours

176 multiple choice

  • Listening comprehension (27 questions)
  • Vocabulary (70 questions)
  • Grammar Structure (56 questions)
  • Reading comprehension (7 short passages with 23 questions)

Two essay questions: Handwrite and then upload the picture of your essays.

Via CourseWorks

(Sign in with your Uni)

See link below

Speaking test

9/1, Friday

10AM-1PM

About 10 minutes

One-on-one oral interview with a Chinese instructor

Via Zoom (Sign up time slot at the beginning  of online test)

Note: You must complete the online multiple-choice items and writing on your own before taking the speaking test.

Here is what you need to do:

  1. After the online test is open to register (Aug. 18th), enroll the course via the link:   https://courseworks2.columbia.edu/enroll/J4KB34
  2. Read the announcement and see whether you qualify for the test or not.
  3. Look for Modules and click on them (Aug. 23-30th), then you will see the test.
  4. If you can’t see the test, please email Prof. Jiang (tj2342@columbia.edu)

The speaking test will take place on September 1 via Zoom. You must complete the speaking test in order to get the final result of the placement test. On that day you will be assigned a test ID.

Note: The test ID is very important as you will need it to check your placement result.

EALAC Graduate Students

If you are an incoming graduate student from the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, you will need to take the written test as everyone else online, but your oral and translation test will be with Prof. Liu between 10:00am-1:00pm on Friday 9/1. Please email Prof. Liu (ll172@columbia.edu) for the Zoom link. 

Note: You don’t need to sign up on the oral testing sheet when you take the online test.
Classical Chinese Placement Test
 
For those who wish to skip Introduction to Classical Chinese and take Readings in Classical Chinese directly, please take the placement test with Prof. Liu. The test will be held at his office (location will be updated in August) from 3:00pm, September 1st. If this time is not convenient for you, please contact Prof. Lening Liu at ll172@columbia.edu and make an appointment with him.

For all the placement/proficiency test fees, please visit our Language Testing Fee Policies page.

Proficiency Test: Please visit the Placement/Proficiency Frequently Asked Questions below for a list of contacts.

Placement Test Results for Fall 2023

Placement results can be found at this link and will be published before the first day of class at our earliest convenience.