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Language Placement ExaminationDELETE

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.

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 (Fall 2022: September 8th @ 6:00pm). 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]).

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 either to take a departmental placement examination before registering for a course or you must provide proof of exemption. Please click here for information about the exams for exemption [(for example: Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate Higher Level (HL), Diplomas de Español como Lengua Extranjera (DELE)].

School of International and Public Affairs' (SIPA) students, please click here for additional information.

If you are not exempt by those exams, you are required to take a placement exam, as follows:

You may take a placement exam ONLY ONCE per academic year. Once you begin the exam, you should not pause the exam until you have completed it. 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. If you are a Barnard student do not proceed any further. Please visit Barnard's Department of Spanish and Latin American Cultures' website to take Barnard's placement exams.

About the Spanish as a Second Language Placement Exam

The Spanish as a Second Language Placement Examination is an adaptive and online, multiple-choice exam that you may take at your convenience and before your arrival on campus (see below). The exam consists of questions on vocabulary, grammar, and reading comprehension. There are no oral/speaking, listening, or writing sections on this placement exam. This adaptive exam presents items of increasing difficulty until an item is missed after which the exam may adjust and may drop back and present either a similar or an easier item. When you answer correctly the exam will give you an item that is as difficult or more difficult.  Since this is an adaptive exam, the duration varies from one individual to another, with an average time of 25 minutes needed to complete the exam.

To Take the Spanish as a Second Language Placement Exam

  1. Click on this link to register and create an account using your Columbia University email address. **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 take this exam instead.**
  2. Once your information has been entered, click “Create Account”.
  3. Once your account has been created, click “Sign In” to proceed.
  4. From the Dashboard “Take Test” to begin the exam.
  5. Once you have finished taking the placement exam, click on "See Score Report" in the lower right-hand corner to see, print, and take a screen capture of your score and the course to give to your instructor.
  • To view and obtain your score you can always login to the website https://app.emmersion.ai/ (or reset your password if necessary).

Spanish as a Second Language Placement Exam Scores

  • Below 280 – Spanish UN 1101 (Elementary Spanish I)
  • 280 – 379 – Spanish UN 1102 (Elementary Spanish II)
  • 330 or higher – You may qualify for Spanish UN 1120 if you have never studied Spanish formally (please contact the fall 2023 instructor Dr. Diana Romero for more information).
  • 380 – 449 – Spanish UN 2101 (Intermediate Spanish I)
  • 450 – 625: The four courses that fulfill the fourth semester of Spanish for this scoring range are as follows:
  1. Spanish UN 2102: Intermediate Spanish II
  2. or Spanish UN 2103: Intermediate Spanish II: Health-related Topics in the Spanish-speaking World. Please click here for the course description and prerequisites. Please contact the fall 2023 instructor Dr. Juan Pablo Comínguez or Dr. Lee B. Abraham with your questions.
  3. or Spanish UN 2108: Spanish for Heritage Speakers. Please click here for the course description and prerequisites. Please contact the fall 2023 instructor Dr. Francisca Aguiló-Mora or Dr. Lee B. Abraham with your questions.
  4. or Spanish UN 2120: Comprehensive Intermediate Spanish. For the course description and prerequisites, please click here.  Please contact the fall 2023 instructor Dr. Angelina Craig-Flórez or Dr. Lee B. Abraham with your questions.
  • Above 625  – You qualify for an exemption. Your exemption in this case will be verified by taking another version of the Spanish as a Second Language Placement Exam, which will be given as follows:

For the fall 2023 semester: the second Spanish as a Second Language Placement Exam will be given in-person during the New Student Orientation Programs (NSOP) for students in Columbia College, the School of General Studies, and the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). Please complete this form to register and to schedule the second exam for possible exemption using your Columbia University email address and authenticating with Columbia's Duo Multifactor authentication (MFA) preferably by Wednesday, August 23, 2023. 

For the spring 2024 semester: You may take the second version of the Spanish as a Second Language Placement Exam in the Department's main office located in Casa Hispánica’s (612 W. 116th Street (between Broadway and Riverside) from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. or from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.: Google Map). Please contact Kosmas Pissakos ([email protected]) to schedule the exam in the department at Casa Hispánica.

About the Spanish as a Heritage Language Placement Exam

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, or you possibly think of yourself as a heritage speaker/learner of Spanish at any level of proficiency you should take the Spanish as a Heritage Language Placement Exam. The test consists of writing as well as multiple choice and fill-in the blank items about your exposure to the language, grammar, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. There is a short listening/dictation section but there is no speaking section. The duration of the test varies from one student to another. Dr. Francisca Aguiló-Mora will email you the following: (1) your score and level, (2) the course to register for, or (3) if you qualify for a possible exemption.  If you qualify for a possible exemption, you will schedule a second placement test with Dr. Lee B. Abraham that consists of writing and speaking.

Please be advised that the purpose of this placement test is to help to determine the best course for you, even if it is the beginning level; it is not a competency test.

To take the Spanish as Heritage Language Placement Exam

Click here to take the Spanish as a Heritage Language Placement Exam. Please use your Columbia University email address.

Placement and Registration

Once you receive the placement exam score, register in the designated course during the New Student Orientation Program (NSOP) or during the Change of Program (Add/Drop) period. You must provide your instructor with your score on the first day of classes.

To obtain your score:

  1. for the Spanish as a Second Language Placement Exam, log into this website using your Columbia University email address and the password that you used to create the account. You can also reset your password if you need to do so.
  2. for the Spanish as a Heritage Language Placement Exam, you will receive an email message with from Dr. Francisca Aguiló-Mora with you score and level, the course to register for, or if you qualify for a possible exemption.  If you qualify for a possible exemption, you will take a second placement exam that consists of short writing sections and brief speaking/oral section with Dr. Lee B. Abraham

Under no circumstances may you register for either a level lower or a higher-level course, without the explicit permission of the Director of the Spanish Language Program, Dr. Lee B. Abraham.

The Spanish as a Second Language Placement Examination and the Spanish as a Heritage Language Placement Examination are for diagnostic purposes only and may be supplemented by your instructor’s evaluation during the first week of classes, at which time she or he may recommend a change in registration.

Should you have any questions about your placement or registration, please contact:

The exam must represent your own work. When taking the 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. If you are a Barnard student do not proceed any further; please visit the Barnard website to take the placement exams.

Click here for answers to Frequently Asked Questions about placement, registration (attendance policy, waiting lists) and the Change of Program period.