Placement Exams

Winter 2025: 

In-Person Standard Arabic Placement Test

Open to all students and conducted in person.

• December 12, 2024 @ 10:00am - 1:00pm EST | Register Here | Location: LANGUAGE Resource Center (LRC), 1500 North Quad, 105 S. State St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109
  

Important Information

• The test assesses students' proficiency in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), NOT colloquial Arabic.
• If you speak an Arabic dialect, but you do not know how to read or write (or have little knowledge), feel free to register for ARABIC 101.
• Students who know some Arabic because they came from an Arabic-speaking household or have studied Arabic before must take the Arabic proficiency test in order to determine their placement.
• Students who have taken Arabic at other institutions and whish to continue their study at UM must take the placement test to determine their level. Credits for Arabic study undertaken at another institution prior to joining UM or in a summer program while attending UM transfer in as departmental credits and students must take the placement test to determine credit equivalencies to UM courses.
• If you place in or beyond ARABIC 401, you will have satisfied the LSA Language Requirement.
• ARABIC 101, 201, 401, and 501 are offered ONLY in the Fall semester, and ARABIC 102, 202, 502, 504 and 511 are ONLY offered in the Winter semester.
• Arabic 203 (the equivalent of Arabic 201 & 202, combined) are offered in the Spring-Summer term.
  
• Information about the Arabic Language Program can be found here.

Summer First-Year/Transfer Orientation

Armenian placement tests are given by appointment with Dr. Michael Pifer (mpifer@umich.edu), who will also communicate test results.

Fall/Winter

Armenian placement tests are given by appointment with Dr. Michael Pifer (mpifer@umich.edu), who will also communicate test results.

Modern Hebrew

Exam Components

• The exam tests students in all four areas of language-- listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
• No preparation is necessary for the placement exam.

Hebrew Language Director: Dr. Adi Raz (adiraz@umich.edu)

Summer First-Year/Transfer Orientation:

Please email Dr. Adi Raz (adiraz@umich.edu) for a placement interview. Hebrew placement interviews are for University of Michigan students with previous experience in Hebrew who would like to determine which course level is appropriate for their skill (place-in).  

If you are interested in Hebrew and have no previous experience, please register for Hebrew 101.

Fall/Winter:

The Hebrew language placement exam will be given by appointment beginning March 17. To request a placement exam appointment, please contact the Hebrew Language Coordinator, Adi Raz, at adiraz@umich.edu.

Students must bring their MCard and a pencil with them to the test.

Important Information

• Please note that students may be asked to take a 300-level Hebrew course if wishing to receive retro-active Hebrew credit for the placement exam. Students pursing a Middle East Studies major or minor where Hebrew is used to meet the language requirement must take one term of a 300-level Hebrew course regardless of placement.
• Students wishing to place-out of the LSA Language Requirement should first take a placement exam. If the student is placed into HEBREW 301 or higher, the Language Requirement will be met.
• The Hebrew placement test results expire after one year. Students who do not register in the Hebrew language course appropriate to their placement before their test results expire will be required to retake the placement test. 

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Classical Hebrew

​Interested students should contact the Department by emailing middle.east.studies@umich.edu to schedule a placement test. Following test completion, the student will be notified directly or by e-mail of their placement test results. For first year Classical Hebrew, a standard form of testing the basics of Classical Hebrew is employed. The test for second year includes translation passages of the Hebrew Bible and analysis of Classical Hebrew syntax and presupposes an intermediate proficiency in Classical Hebrew.

Exam components:

• The placement tests includes four sections: 1) Listening, 2) Reading, 3) Speaking and 4) Written. The Listening and Speaking components of the test are usually conducted through a conversation with the student.
• A placement result is valid for one year. You cannot retake the test within a 4 month period.

Perisan Language Director:  Dr. Behrad Aghaei (aghaeib@umich.edu)

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Summer First-Year/Transfer Orientation

Persian placement tests are given by appointment with Dr. Behrad Aghaei (aghaeib@umich.edu), who will also communicate test results.

Fall/Winter

Persian placement tests are given by appointment with Dr. Behrad Aghaei (aghaeib@umich.edu), who will also communicate test results.

Exam Components:

• The Turkish placement exam is done virtually    

Turkish Language Director: Nilay Sevinc (nsevinc@umich.edu)

Summer First-Year/Transfer Orientation

Turkish placement tests are given by appointment with Nilay Sevinc (nsevinc@umich.edu), who will also communicate test results.

Fall/Winter

Turkish placement tests are given by appointment with Nilay Sevinc (nsevinc@umich.edu), who will also communicate test results.