The Department of Asian Languages and Cultures requires that students with any prior knowledge of the languages taught in our department (e.g. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hindi, Urdu, Tibetan, Persian, Sanskrit, Hmong, Thai, Vietnamese, Filipino, Indonesian) and who plan to enroll in our language classes, take a placement evaluation before enrolling in a language course.
Important: at this time all placement evaluations will be conducted remotely.
Chinese
Heritage Track: For students who have been exposed to Chinese language from home environments, who speak the language with family, or have exposure to hearing the language in the home, you may be able to enroll in our Heritage Chinese courses. An evaluation of your language skills is required. This will be conducted one-on-one via Zoom for roughly 20 min with our language faculty. Please e-mail Dr. Tianlu Zhang (tianlu.zhang@wisc.edu) to register.
Traditional Track: For students who have had prior experience studying Chinese as a secondary language, a Chinese placement test will be administered online through Canvas. Students have 90 minutes to complete the test. Please contact Rachel Weiss (rweiss@wisc.edu) to register along with your UW net ID and ID#. The traditional track Chinese placement tests will resume after Jan 3rd, 2022.
Filipino
The Filipino placement test will be conducted remotely. Students will receive a Zoom link for the test following their registration. The evaluation consists of an oral interview (20-25 minutes) and a short writing in Filipino (25-30 minutes). Please contact Dr. Erlin Barnard to register along with your UW ID#.
Hindi-Urdu
Students with prior experience in formally studying Hindi or Urdu must fill out this Background Questionnaire. Though your medium of instruction may have been English, please note the years (or standards) you studied Hindi or Urdu formally through schooling. It is also helpful to know what institution you studied at: ICSE/CBSE/IGCSE/IB/State Board.
If an enrolling student with some background in Hindi/Urdu cannot read or write, the student must automatically enroll in the first semester of Hindi/Urdu to learn the script, after which a placement test can be administered upon request by the course instructor for approval to enroll in a higher-level course.
Hindi placement tests will resume after Jan 3rd, 2022.
Please contact Dr. Asif Farooq to register for an Urdu placement test along with your UW ID#.
Hmong
The Hmong placement test will be conducted remotely. Students will receive a Zoom link for the test following their registration. The evaluation consists of an oral interview (20-25 minutes) and a short writing in Hmong (25-30 minutes). Please contact Mrs. Choua Lee to register along with your UW ID#.
Indonesian
The Indonesian placement test will be conducted remotely. Students will receive a Zoom link for the test following their registration. The evaluation consists of an oral interview (20-25 minutes) and a short writing in Indonesian (25-30 minutes). Please contact Dr. Erlin Barnard to register along with your UW ID#.
Japanese
The Japanese placement test takes 30 minutes and will be conducted remotely. Students will receive a Zoom link for the test following their registration. Please contact Rachel Weiss to register along with your student ID#. For further information on the Japanese placement test, please read our FAQs.
Mondays, 9:30-10, 10-10:30 am
Dec 6, 13
Tuesdays, 9:30-10, 10-10:30 am
Dec 7, 14
Thursdays, 1:30-2 pm, 2-2:30 pm
Dec 9
If you would like to schedule a placement test over the winter break, please contact Dr. Takako Nakakubo.
Korean
The Korean placement test will be conducted remotely. Students will receive a Zoom link for the test following their registration. The evaluation consists of an oral interview (20-25 minutes) and a short writing in Korean (25-30 minutes). Please contact Dr. Jaerin Ahn to register along with your UW ID#.
Persian / Farsi
The Persian placement test will be conducted remotely. Students will receive a Zoom link for the test following their registration. The evaluation consists of an oral interview (20-25 minutes) and a short writing in Persian (25-30 minutes). Please contact Dr. Fatemeh Mirsharifi to register along with your UW ID#.
Sanskrit
The Sanskrit placement test will be conducted remotely. Students will receive a Zoom link for the test following their registration. The evaluation consists of an oral interview (20-25 minutes) and a short writing in Sanskrit (25-30 minutes). Please contact Dr. Jamal Jones to register along with your UW ID#.
Thai
The Thai placement test will be conducted remotely. Students will receive a Zoom link for the test following their registration. The evaluation consists of an oral interview (20-25 minutes) and a short writing in Thai (25-30 minutes). Please contact Janpanit Surasin to register along with your UW ID#.
Tibetan
The Tibetan placement test will be conducted remotely. Students will receive a Zoom link for the test following their registration. The evaluation consists of an oral interview (20-25 minutes) and a short writing in Tibetan (25-30 minutes). Please contact Jampa Khedup to register along with your UW ID#.
Vietnamese
The Vietnamese placement test will be conducted remotely. Students will receive a Zoom link for the test following their registration. The evaluation consists of an oral interview (20-25 minutes) and a short writing in Vietnamese (25-30 minutes). Please contact Hong Dinh to register along with your UW ID#.
Other Asian Languages
If you are a student with prior experience in an Asian language (e.g., self-taught, learned in elementary, middle or high school, or learned from family, relatives or friends, etc.), and seek advise about foreign language placement, or continuing with the language of your heritage please fill out this questionnaire in order to receive appropriate advising or guidance.