Korean Language Program Frequently Asked Questions

Courses

What is Introductory Korean A and B?

These courses are 2.5 credit courses. Introductory Korean A and Introductory Korean B cover the same materials taught in regular 5-credit First Year Korean I.

What are the N sections of Second Year and Third Year Korean?

The ‘N’ sections of Second Year Korean and Third Year Korean are for students with NO Korean background as opposed to heritage language students.

Placement and Proficiency Exams

If I want to take a Korean language course, what should I do?
  • All students who want to take a Korean course must take the placement exam.
  • Students who already know Hangul and want to enroll in Introductory Korean A or First Year Korean I also need to take the placement exam. Only the pure beginners who cannot read and write Hangul are exempt from the placement exam.
  • Students who studied Korean language elsewhere before and wish to take a Korean course at Columbia University must take the placement exam.
I have studied Korean language at Columbia before and want to continue to study Korean. What should I do?
  • Students, who had taken a Korean language course at Columbia more than six months ago and wish to continue to study at EALAC, need to take the placement exam to be placed at the appropriate level.
  • Students, who were away longer than 6 months after having taken the Korean language course at Columbia University and now wish to take a Korean course at Columbia University, should take the placement exam.
How can I be exempted from the language requirement at Columbia University?
  • Students who wish to be exempted from the language requirement at Columbia University must take the placement exam.
  • The SAT II Subject Test in Korean results are not accepted for the exemption from the Columbia foreign language requirement.
I am a Doctoral (or M.A.) Student at other non-Columbia schools (e.g., Teachers College) and need to take the Korean proficiency exam. What should I do?
  • The Korean proficiency exam will be offered in October (fall semester) and in April (spring semester). Please reach out to the Nicole Roldan (nr2746@columbia.edu) for further details.
  • The format of the exam is two hours, and consists of two parts–one hour for translation and one hour for comprehension. In Part One, the usual length of translation is one page and in Part Two, the length of comprehension is normally two pages. For comprehension, students are expected to answer questions in English based on the passages in Korean. Results will be announced in two weeks after the exam.
I am an EALAC M.A. student. I would like to be exempted from the language requirement (2 years). What should I do?

The M.A. proficiency exam is the same as the Korean placement exam, which is offered in August (last Thursday) and in January (Friday prior to the first week of the spring semester). The time and place will be announced a few weeks before the exam. Please refer to the Placement Test information on the EALAC website.

I am a SIPA student in the MARSE program. I would like to be exempted from the language requirement (3 years). What should I do?

The MARSE proficiency exam is the same as the Korean placement exam, which is offered in August (last Thursday) and in January (Friday prior to the first week of the spring semester). The time and place will be announced a few weeks before the exam. Please refer to the Placement Test information on the EALAC website.