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Korean Language Program Placement Test

 

Fall 2018 Placement Test

Date: Thursday, August 30th, 2018
Time: 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Place: Kent 411 and Kent 424

No pre-registration is required, but please arrive at least 10 minutes early and fill out the registration form before the exam.
Please note that there will be a short interview (15 minutes) for the oral component after the exam.

 

Placement Results: Placement test results will be posted on the bulletin board next to Room 404 Kent Hall by 4:00 pm on the same day. The language program director will report students’ results to the appropriate school via email approximately two weeks from the date of the first examination.

For any questions regarding the placement test please contact: Hyunkyu Yi (hy122@columbia.edu)

Placement Exam Policies for Undergraduate Students

Placement Policies on SAT II scores

A score of 780-800 on the SAT II Subject Test in Korean satisfies the Columbia College and the School of General Studies foreign language requirement. Students without SAT II scores, as well as those who wish to continue their study of Korean at Columbia, must take the departmental placement exam during Orientation.

General
  1. Placement exams should be administered in a standard manner to all students: written and oral.
  2. The placement exam will be used to place students in appropriate levels.
  3. All students who want to take a course other than Introductory Korean A or First Year Korean I level should take a placement exam.
  4. Students who did not pass a placement exam in the current semester cannot retake the exam until the following semester. Those students should wait at least five months between taking placement exams.
  5. Students who passed a placement exam, but did not take a Korean language course for more than six months, should retake a placement exam to decide on their appropriate level.
  6. Students who had taken a Korean language course at EALAC more than six months ago and wish to continue to study at EALAC, should take a placement exam to be placed at the appropriate level.
  7. Students who had taken a Korean language course, received a C or lower, and wish to continue to the second semester should take a placement exam. Student who received a C+ or lower, and wish to advance to the next level should take a placement exam. In other words, a student needs to achieve a final grade of B- or above to advance to the next level.
  8. Students who studied Korean elsewhere and wish to take a Korean language course at EALAC, should take a placement exam.
  9. Results will be available after 4 p.m. on the day of the exam.
Date

Fall semester

  1. Thursday prior to the first day of the fall semester
  2. Make-up test: on the Friday of the first week

Spring semester

  1. Friday prior to the first day of the spring semester
  2. Make-up test: on the Friday of the first week

Exception: For those who are graduating in December but need to take a placement exam, please contact the appropriate language program director.

Online Exam

Online examinations are not offered for Korean.

Format

Chinese, Japanese, and Korean all have the same format for the placement exam (2.5 hours plus oral component).

  1. Written test: listening, grammar, vocabulary, reading and writing
  2. Oral test (used as a reference only)
Reporting of Results

Language program directors will report students’ results to the appropriate school via email to:

  • deans for Columbia College, the language placement results for students taking the exam to test out of the CC requirement should be sent to CC in a timely fashion (approximately two weeks from the date of the first examination).
  • advisors for Columbia Engineering
  • registrar for Barnard
  • advisors for General Studies
  • coordinator for School of International Public Affairs
  • associate director for Teachers College

All language placement results must be sent to the EALAC DGS (Director of Graduate Studies), DUS (Director of Undergraduate Studies), M.A. Co-directors and department chair.

(Updated January 2015)

Placement Exam Policies for Graduate Students

All the language programs will adopt a system of policies and procedures that sets across-the-board standards for administering and reporting of placement exams

The exam from each language program will cover all levels of students so that they do not have to assess themselves in order to choose the level of the exam to take. Results of this exam will show what the level of proficiency each student fits in.

Format: Chinese, japanese, and Korean all have the same format.

  1. Written test: listening (20 mins), writing (timed writing 30 mins)
  2. Translation: a choice of material in this section, between a history and a literature article. Translation with dictionary.
  3. Time: 3 hours

(Updated April 2015)