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Language Placement Examination

Catalan
Portuguese
Spanish

Catalan

There is no placement examination for Catalan. Students with prior knowledge of Catalan (secondary school, living abroad, near-native or native speakers) should register in the most suitable level and consult Elsa Úbeda ([email protected]) regarding placement.

Portuguese

All students new to the Portuguese Language Program at Columbia are required to take the Department’s Placement Examination before registering for a course, or provide proof of exemption.

The Placement Examination in Portuguese consists of two parts: one written and one oral.  The written part tests knowledge of grammar, reading comprehension, and writing composition.  The written exam is followed by an interview that tests oral comprehension.  It is offered in the fall and spring semesters at Casa Hispánica during the first week of classes (Spring 2025: Tuesday, January 21st at 6:00 p.m. in 201 Casa Hispánica). Please make an appointment with Ana Paula Huback ([email protected]) to take this exam.

Should you have any questions about your placement, please contact the Director of the Portuguese Language program José Antonio Castellanos-Pazos ([email protected]).

Spanish

Welcome to the Spanish Language Program. We look forward to having you in our courses!

All students new to our Spanish Language Program at Columbia are required to either take one of our two departmental placement examinations before registering for a course, or before placing your name on a waiting list, or you must provide proof of exemption through one of the exams listed here. If you are not exempt by those exams, you are required to take one of the following departmental placement exams.

If you have been exposed to Spanish to some (even to a very small) extent at home or in your community from an early age, please click here to take the Spanish as a Heritage Language Placement Exam, using your Columbia email address.

For additional information about the Spanish as a Heritage Language Placement Exam, please click here.

The two heritage language courses that fulfill the requirement are Elementary Spanish for Heritage Speakers (Spanish UN 1108) and Intermediate Spanish for Heritage Speakers (Spanish UN 2108). Fall 2025 class schedules on Vergil: 1108 and  2108.

All other Columbia undergraduate and graduate students, please click here to take the Spanish as a Second Language Placement Examination, using your Columbia email address. Graduate students in the School of International and Public Affairs' (SIPA), please click here for additional information.

For additional information about the Spanish as a Second Language Placement Exam, please click here.

Placement Exam Policies and Registration Policies

  • You may take a placement exam only once per academic year. 
  • The exam must represent your own work. When taking an exam, you will be bound by Columbia University's Code of Academic Integrity, and you must refrain from any activity constitutive of academic dishonesty as defined therein. 
  • Once you begin the exam, you should not pause the exam until you have completed it. 
  • You must provide your instructor with your placement exam score on the first day of classes. 
  • Once you receive the placement exam score, register for the designated course during the New Student Orientation Program (NSOP) or during the Change of Program (Add/Drop) period. 
  • Under no circumstances may you register for either a level-lower course or a higher-level course without the explicit permission of the co-directors of the Spanish Language Program: Dr. Francisca Aguiló Mora ([email protected]) and Dr. Lee B. Abraham ([email protected]).
  • The Spanish as a Second Language Placement Examination and the Spanish as a Heritage Language Placement Examination are for diagnostic purposes only. These exams may be supplemented by your instructor’s evaluation during the first or second week of classes, at which time your instructor may recommend a change in registration.

Should you have any questions about your placement or registration, please contact Dr. Francisca Aguiló Mora ([email protected]) and Dr. Lee B. Abraham ([email protected]), Co-Directors of the Spanish Language Program.

We look forward to having you in our courses!