Language Placement

Placement

Not sure where to start? Check out the Language Advising Flowchart for help.

If you would like to continue a language that you have previously studied or have some previous knowledge in that language (formal study, family or community exposure, or significant travel or immersion experience), consult the Placement Information by Language section to determine which level is most appropriate. If the language is not listed, please contact the Language Learning Center to discuss your options.

Placement Deadlines

Fall and Spring Registration

Please complete the required placement steps a minimum of 5 business days before your advising appointment or registration ticket. See the Placement Information by Language section below for the required steps.

Placement Information by Language

Refer to language specific instructions below. For general questions regarding language placement, contact the LLC.

American Sign Language

  • If you have never previously studied and have no previous knowledge, register for ASLS 1010.
  • If you have previous study or knowledge of ASL, please complete the Language Placement Form. Log in with your Tulane email and student ID number. Honors Students who do not yet have a Tulane email address, please contact the faculty advisor listed below to discuss your language placement.
  • For questions about the program or curriculum, contact Professor Denise Crochet for advising.

Arabic

  • If you have never previously studied and have no previous knowledge, register for Arabic 1010.
  • If you have previous study or knowledge of Arabic, please complete the Language Placement Form. Log in with your Tulane email and student ID number. Honors Students who do not yet have a Tulane email address, please contact the faculty advisor listed below to discuss your language placement.
  • For questions about the program or curriculum, contact Professor Bouchaib Gadir.

Chinese

  • If you have never previously studied and have no previous knowledge, register for Chinese 1010.
  • If you have taken or plan to take an AP, IB, or Cambridge A-Levels Chinese test, complete this form, and your Academic Advisor will assist you with placement and registration.
  • Honors Students who do not yet have a Tulane email address, please contact the faculty advisor listed below to discuss your language placement.
  • All other students, please follow these steps to access the Chinese Placement test:
    • Go to the Chinese Placement Test.
    • Click on the “Enroll in Course” button located on the right-hand side of the page.
    • Click on the “Go to your Dashboard” button located on the right-hand side of the page.
    • Read the information closely and follow the instructions to obtain your Chinese placement.
  • For questions about the program or curriculum, please contact Professor Lin Zhu.

French

To simplify the registration process for French language classes, students do not need to take a placement test and can simply place themselves based on the following guidelines.

Please note that failure to follow these guidelines will be considered a breach of the Academic Code of Conduct.

Where you are offered to choose between two courses, feel free to refer to the course contents and select the course based on how well you know the content and/or how confident you feel about your communicative skills.

  • you never took French before: enroll in FREN1010
  • you studied French for
    • 1 year: enroll in FREN1010
    • 2 years: enroll in FREN1010 or FREN1020
    • 3 years: enroll in FREN1020 or FREN2030
    • 4 years: enroll in FREN2030 or FREN2040
    • 5 years or more: enroll in FREN2040 or FREN3060 (Business French) or contact Prof. Mignot cmignot@tulane.edu for placement advising or to test out of French.
  • you earned credits with AP/IB/A-Levels/SAT II: contact Prof. Mignot cmignot@tulane.edu for placement advising.
  • you are a native speaker or were raised in a French-speaking environment: contact Prof. Mignot cmignot@tulane.edu for placement advising.

You can also take this free online placement test (https://www.esl-languages.com/en/online-language-tests/french-test) and use the results to help you select the course you want to enroll in:

  • A1: FREN1010
  • A2: FREN1020/FREN2030
  • B1: FREN2030/FREN2040
  • B2: FREN2040/contact Prof. Mignot cmignot@tulane.edu

FREN1010 Course Content

VocabularyStructures
Greetings & Introductions 
Classroom Description
Nouns and articles 
Numbers 0-60 
The verb être 
Adjective agreement
Classes 
Describing student’s basic daily routine
Present tense of regular –er verbs 
Forming questions and expressing negation 
Present tense of avoir 
Telling time
Family and relationships 
Basic occupations 
Describing people’s personality
Descriptive adjectives 
Possessive adjectives 
Numbers 61-100 
Prepositions of location and disjunctive pronouns
Cities 
Describing one’s food habits
The verb aller 
Interrogative words 
The verbs prendre and boire 
Partitive 
Regular –ir verbs
Sports and hobbies 
Weather expressions 
Seasons, months, and dates
The verb faire 
Irregular -ir verbs 
Numbers 101 and higher 
Spelling change –er verbs

FREN1020 Course Content

VocabularyStructures
Clothes 
Parties 
Life stages 
Colors
Demonstrative adjectives 
Passé composé with avoir 
Indirect object pronouns 
Regular and irregular -re verbs
Travel 
Vacations 
Countries
Passé composé with être 
Direct object pronouns 
Adverbs 
The impératif
Describing a house 
Household appliances 
Domestic chores
The imparfait 
The passé composé vs the imparfait 
The verbs savoir vs connaître
Tableware 
Food 
Meals 
Grocery shopping
The verb venir and the passé récent 
Comparatives and superlatives 
Double object pronouns
Morning routine 
Health 
Body parts
Reflexive verbs 
The passé composé of reflexive verbs 
The pronouns y and en

FREN2030 Course Content

VocabularyStructures
Cooperation between countries 
Languages 
World citizens 
Cultural heritage
Spelling changes 
Être, avoir, faire, aller 
Forming questions
Food 
Cuisine 
Meals
Reflexive and reciprocal verbs 
Adjectives 
Adverbs
Cultural activities 
Sports 
Outdoor activities 
Pastimes
Passé composé with avoir 
Passé composé with être 
Passé composé vs imparfait
Studies 
Student life 
Looking for a job 
The professional world
Plus-que-parfait 
Negation and indefinite adjectives and pronouns 
Irregular –ir verbs
Family 
Romantic relationships 
Friendship 
Behavior and emotions
Partitive 
Pronouns y and en 
Order of pronouns

Sample Reading Comprehension FREN2030

This is an example of the type of reading comprehension exercise done in FREN2030:

TEXTE

Il s'appelle Scott Tilton, il a un accent américain et les "you know" ("vous savez") ponctuent son français. C'est pourtant à ce descendant de colons français que la Louisiane doit son entrée au sein de l'Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF).

Mi-octobre, l'OIF a admis la Louisiane, petit Etat américain de 4,6 millions d'habitants. Elle rejoignait ainsi le concert des Nations francophones, qui représente près de 300 millions de locuteurs. Cette victoire, l'ancienne colonie française la doit en grande partie au combat de Scott, un Américain de 26 ans fraîchement diplômé au visage poupon.

Sa grand-mère, Louise Dupuy, descendait de Français de Louisiane. L'Etat est tout ce qu'il reste du gigantesque territoire français, baptisé ainsi en l'honneur du roi Louis XIV, qui s'étendait des Grands Lacs au Golfe du Mexique avant d'être cédé aux Etats-Unis en 1803 par Napoléon Bonaparte.

"Même quand on parlait anglais, on l'appelait +My Grand-Mère+", se souvient son petit-fils. Son oncle, Homère Dupuy, avait servi d'interprète au général De Gaulle lors de sa visite à La Nouvelle-Orléans en 1960.

Mais la langue s'est perdue au fil des générations, comme souvent en Louisiane, où le français avait été interdit dans les écoles en 1921.

"Il y avait encore un million de francophones en 1970", rappelle Scott, en particulier dans les bayous du Sud, peuplés de Cadiens, descendants des Acadiens qui avaient été chassés du Canada en 1755 par les Anglais lors du "Grand Dérangement". Les francophones seraient 200.000 aujourd'hui, selon le dernier recensement de l'an 2000.

Alors que son grand-père était allé à l'université pour apprendre l'anglais, son père, lui, y est allé pour réapprendre le français.

Dans la maison familiale, pourtant située dans le Vieux Carré, l'ancien quartier français de la Nouvelle-Orléans, on parle essentiellement anglais. Scott est ainsi le seul

aujourd'hui de sa fratrie (deux sœurs et un frère) à parler couramment la langue de Molière, en l'émaillant de "like" et de "yeah".

"Mais même si la langue n'a pas été transmise, la passion pour la culture française et créole est restée", assure Scott, citant notamment le "Mardi Gras", qui fait tourner la tête de La Nouvelle-Orléans depuis sa fondation il y a exactement trois siècles par le Français Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne.

La Louisiane est "une culture marquée par la francophonie mais où tout le monde ne parle pas forcément français", résume Scott.

Son intérêt pour la francophonie, Scott le développe dès le lycée, et c'est tout naturellement qu'il choisit Paris pour poursuivre ses études. Il y assiste à une conférence sur l'OIF et découvre cet ONU de poche dont, curieusement, la Louisiane ne fait pas partie.

L'étudiant contacte en avril 2016 le Conseil pour le développement du français en Louisiane (Codofil, agence publique) et le sénateur louisianais Eric Lafleur, grande figure de la francophonie, qui lui souhaitent "bon courage!".

La Louisiane bénéficiait déjà du statut d'"invité spécial" de la Francophonie depuis 2006 mais une intégration plus poussée achoppait sur la nécessaire autorisation de l'Etat fédéral. Un obstacle qu'ont déjà dû surmonter d'autres territoires non indépendants comme le Québec ou la Wallonie.

"Ca a été un combat de deux ans", raconte Scott. En plus de l'emploi de consultant qu'il a décroché à Paris, le Louisianais travaille tous les jours "jusqu'à une heure du matin" sur la candidature. "J'ai écrit plus de 800 mails, des textes, des lettres, en français et en anglais. Il y avait huit agences impliquées, deux sénateurs, le Codofil, le gouverneur de la Louisiane, le département d'Etat... "

Mais "on y est arrivé", se réjouit Scott. "Maintenant, nous ne sommes plus isolés. On est parmi des centaines de millions de francophones", se réjouit-il, conscient malgré tout que "ce n'est qu'un début".

"Le défi est maintenant de montrer en Louisiane que le français n'est pas le passé mais notre avenir. Il ne faut pas simplement préserver la langue, en multipliant les échanges entre universités par exemple, mais également permettre de vivre en français, en créant des emplois dans cette langue".

Source : https://www.france24.com/fr/20181113-scott-tilton-lambassadeur-francophonie-louisianaise-a-laccent-americain

Questions

  1. Qui est Scott Tilton et qu’est-ce qu’il fait pour la Louisiane ?
  2. D’où vient le nom de la Louisiane et depuis quand cet État fait partie des États-Unis ?
  3. Comment la population francophone a-t-elle évolué en Louisiane au fil des générations ?
  4. Qu’est-ce que Scott Tilton a fait à partir de 2016 et qui a-t-il contacté pour l’aider dans son combat ?
  5. Les démarches de Scott Tilton ont-elles abouti ? Expliquez.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Prof. Mignot: cmignot@tulane.edu.

German

  • If you have never previously studied and have no previous knowledge, register for German 1010.
  • If you have taken or plan to take an AP, IB, or Cambridge A-Levels German test, complete this form, and your Academic Advisor will assist you with placement and registration.
  • If you have previous study or knowledge of German, please complete the Language Placement Form. Log in with your Tulane email and student ID number. Honors Students who do not yet have a Tulane email address, please contact the faculty advisor listed below to discuss your language placement.
  • For questions about the program or curriculum, contact Professor Pia Köstner.

Greek

  • If you have never previously studied and have no previous knowledge, register for Greek 1010.
  • If you have previous study or knowledge of Greek, please complete the Language Placement Form. Log in with your Tulane email and student ID number. Honors Students who do not yet have a Tulane email address, please contact the faculty advisor listed below to discuss your language placement.
  • For questions about the program or curriculum, contact Professor Thomas Frazel.

Haitian Creole

  • If you have never previously studied Haitian Creole and have no previous knowledge, register for HACR 1010.
  • If you have previous study or knowledge of Haitian Creole, or if you have questions about the program or curriculum, please contact Professor Fayçal Falaky.

Hebrew

  • If you have never previously studied and have no previous knowledge, register for Hebrew 1010.
  • If you have previous study or knowledge of Hebrew, please complete the Language Placement Form. Log in with your Tulane email and student ID number. Honors Students who do not yet have a Tulane email address, please contact the faculty advisor listed below to discuss your language placement.
  • For questions about the program or curriculum, contact Professor Ari Ofengenden.

Italian

  • If you have never previously studied and have no previous knowledge, register for Italian 1010.
  • If you have taken or plan to take an AP, IB, or Cambridge A-Levels Italian test, complete this form, and your Academic Advisor will assist you with placement and registration.
  • If you have previous study or knowledge of Italian, please complete the Language Placement Form. Log in with your Tulane email and student ID number. Honors Students who do not yet have a Tulane email address, please contact the faculty advisor listed below to discuss your language placement.
  • For questions about the program or curriculum, contact Professor Elena Daniele.

Japanese

  • If you have never previously studied and have no previous knowledge, register for ASTJ 1010.
  • If you have taken or plan to take an AP, IB, or Cambridge A-Levels Japanese test, complete this form, and your Academic Advisor will assist you with placement and registration.
  • If you have previous study or knowledge of Japanese, please complete the Language Placement Form. Log in with your Tulane email and student ID number. Honors Students who do not yet have a Tulane email address, please contact the faculty advisor listed below to discuss your language placement.
  • For questions about the program or curriculum, contact Professor Saeko Yatsuka-Jensen.

Latin

  • If you have never previously studied and have no previous knowledge, register for Latin 1010.
  • If you have taken or plan to take an AP, IB, or Cambridge A-Levels Latin test, complete this form, and your Academic Advisor will assist you with placement and registration.
  • If you have previous study or knowledge of Latin, please complete the Language Placement Form. Log in with your Tulane email and student ID number. Honors Students who do not yet have a Tulane email address, please contact the faculty advisor listed below to discuss your language placement.
  • For questions about the program or curriculum, contact Professor Thomas Frazel.

Portuguese

  • If you have never previously studied and have no previous knowledge, register for Portuguese 1120.
  • If you have previous study or knowledge of Portuguese, please complete the Language Placement Form. Log in with your Tulane email and student ID number. Honors Students who do not yet have a Tulane email address, please contact the faculty advisor listed below to discuss your language placement.
  • For questions about the program or curriculum, contact Professor Megwen Loveless.

Russian

  • If you have never previously studied and have no previous knowledge, register for Russian 1010.
  • If you have previous study or knowledge of Russian, please complete the Language Placement Form. Log in with your Tulane email and student ID number. Honors Students who do not yet have a Tulane email address, please contact the faculty advisor listed below to discuss your language placement.
  • For questions about the program or curriculum, contact Professor Lidia Zhigunova.

Spanish

  • If you have never previously studied and have no previous knowledge, register for Spanish 1010.
  • If you have taken or plan to take an AP, IB, or Cambridge A-Levels Spanish test, complete this form, and your Academic Advisor will assist you with placement and registration.
  • If you are a native speaker of Spanish, speak Spanish at home, grew up speaking Spanish, or have significant community or other exposure to Spanish, please contact Ángela Ramirez for advising.
  • All other students, please follow these steps to access the Spanish Placement Test:
    • Go to the Spanish Placement Test Taking Information page.
    • The Spanish Placement Test is multiple-choice and covers self-evaluation, grammar, and reading. The test is designed to give you several opportunities to answer questions at different levels of skills. Plan on taking 15-45 minutes for the test.
    • Set up your profile using your Tulane student ID number. Use your Tulane student ID number for the Test Taker ID on your profile.
    • You can view your Avant score upon completion of the test. YOU WILL RECEIVE AN EMAIL REGARDING YOUR PLACEMENT. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, EMAIL language@tulane.edu.