James Madison University

Department of Foreign Languages,
Literatures, and Cultures

Do you need to take a placement exam?  
Yes, if all three of the following statements are true.

1. You are entering into or enrolled in a B.A. program. All B.A. programs have at least a 2-year foreign language requirement.

AND

2. You've taken 2 or more years of Spanish, French, German or Russian in high school.

AND

3. If you have not taken the SATII in that language.

Transfer Students:
If you have taken a language at another university, you will not take a placement exam. Talk to your adviser about what credits transfer (if any) and what you need to take at JMU. If you have not taken a language at another college or university, then follow the guidelines below.

Incoming Freshman:
You will be able to take a placement exam once your receive your One Book packet in late April or early May. Please wait until you receive that packet before taking a placement exam. This will ensure that your score is recorded properly.

If you place into SPAN 300, FR 300, GER 300 or RUS 300:
If you place one of these classes, you must either to go to the language lab in Keezell 103 and retake the exam to confirm your score OR enroll in the 300 class. If you do not do this, your 2-year foreign language requirement will not be waived and you will not be able to graduate.

Can you retake the exam?

You may retake the exam only after a year and a half. If you retake the exam sooner than that, your score will be ignored and your first placement will still be the one that is used.

The score you receive from the online placement test will be valid for registering in a language class that takes place up to and including the second semester of your sophomore year at JMU. If you choose to wait until your junior year to begin language study, please note that you will be required to REPEAT the online placement test. You will be placed in a class according to your new score—even if this means starting in a lower-level class than was indicated by your first placement test. If this happens, you will end up taking more classes to fulfill your language requirement for the B.A. degree. The Faculty of the Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Cultures strongly recommends that students begin their required language classes NO LATER THAN the second semester of the sophomore year, and ideally as soon as possible after taking the online placement exam.

What about Other languages?
We currently do not have a placement exam in Latin. If you have had two or more years of Latin in high school, then enroll in Latin 231. We also do not have a placement exam in Italian. If you have taken Italian, Chinese, or Japanese in high school (or anywhere else before college), and are interested in taking those languages at JMU,  you will need to talk to the head professor in that language as listed on the department's front page. If have studied another language that you believe should count as a foreign language you will need to speak to the department head, Dr. Fazzion, at 540-568-6128

Starting a new language:
If you have had one year or less in a language in high school, or you would like to start a new language, you simply enroll in 101 of that language, without taking a placement exam. For instance, if you took French in high school, but really want to start Spanish or Italian at JMU, just enroll in SPAN 101 or ITAL 101.  No placement exam needed.
Note that if you have had two or more years of a language in high school, you will not get credit for the beginning level of that language (101, 102, 111). So if you took two or more years of French in high school, you would not get credit for FR 101, 102 or 111.

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How to take the exam:

For Spanish, French, and German

1.Make sure that you are using Interent Explorer 6.0 or above.

2. Go to https://secureweb.jmu.edu/flpe

3. Log in using your JMU email id and password

4. Follow the instructions on the page to take the exam

5. If you place into the 300 level of Spanish, French or German,

you must enroll in the 300 class
or go to Keezell 103 and retake the exam to confirm your score. Or you will not fulfill your foreign language requirement.

For Russian

The Russian Placement exam is offered on a walk-in basis in the Language Lab, Keezell 103. It is given on the computer in the corner and takes about 15 minutes.

Then What?

Spanish, French, German
You will see your results right after you complete the exam, but you will not receive a confirmation email.  If you need to access your score later, follow the instructions on the exam page.

A copy of your results will be sent to JMU. If you place into 109, you will need to go to Keezell 301 during registration and receive a permission number to enroll in that class. If you place into 300, you must either to go to the language lab in Keezell 103 and retake the exam to confirm your score OR enroll in the 300 class. If you do not do this, your 2-year foreign language requirement will not be waived.

Russian
Your results will be printed out right after you complete the exams. Leave one copy of your results with the lab assistant, and take one for your records.

If you place into SPAN 300, FR 300, GER 300 or RUS 300:
If you place one of these classes, you must either to go to the language lab in Keezell 103 and retake the exam to confirm your score OR enroll in the 300 class. If you do not do this, your 2-year foreign language requirement will not be waived and you will not be able to graduate.