Placement Information

Chinese Placement Information

If you plan to study Chinese, consult with Professor  Ying Wu regarding which course to take. 

French Placement Information

You’re a student who wants to take a French course. What to do?

Step 1

Begin with your transcript. If you have AP or IB Credit, then please use the table below. The College receives most AP and IB scores in mid-July. If you don’t have AP or IB credit, then please go to Step 2.

French

Step 2

If you have taken some high school French but do not have AP or IB credit, then you start with the French Placement Exam. You may access the exam here. Students will be asked to provide their student ID number and Lake Forest email (note: if your email doesn't work, please add "mx" to your Lake Forest email, as in this example: student@lakeforest.edu), and to create a password. After the test, you will receive your score.

French Placement Exam

General guidelines:

• If you have taken three or more years of high school French, then you will likely place into FREN 210. However, and this is VERY important, if you have not taken French in a year or more, then you should start by taking the placement exam and speaking to a professor in the French section of the Modern Languages and Literatures (MLL) Department.
• If you had previous coursework in French in high school but less than three years, then start with the placement exam. The placement exam is not an exact science, but it will give you a general gauge. You can follow-up by speaking to your advisor and/or a professor in the French section of MLL.

Step 3

If you have no experience in the language, you should start with FREN 110 which is only offered in the fall semester.

Spanish Placement Information

You’re a student who wants to take a Spanish course. What to do?

Step 1

Begin with your transcript. If you have AP or IB Credit, then please use the table below. The College receives most AP and IB scores in mid-July. If you don’t have AP or IB credit, then please go to Step 2.

Spanish

*SPAN 260 is only for heritage speakers

*SPAN 255 is generally for non-heritage speakers

*SPAN 250 is for everyone

Step 2

If you have taken some high school Spanish but do not have AP or IB credit, then you start with the Spanish Placement Exam. You may access the exam here. Students will be asked to provide their student ID number and Lake Forest email (note: if your email doesn't work, please add "mx" to your Lake Forest email, as in this example: student@lakeforest.edu), and to create a password. After the test, you will receive your score.

Spanish Placement Exam

General Guidelines:

• If you have taken three or more years of high school Spanish, then you will likely place into SPAN 210. However, and this is VERY important, if you have not taken Spanish in a year or more, then you should start by taking the placement exam and speaking to a professor in the Spanish section of the Modern Languages and Literatures (MLL) Department.
•  If you had previous coursework in Spanish in high school but less than three years, then start with the placement exam. The placement exam is not an exact science, but it will give you a general gauge. You can follow-up by speaking to your advisor and/or a professor in the Spanish section of MLL.

Step 3

If you have no experience in the language, you should start with SPAN 111 which is only offered in the spring semester. If you are a Spanish heritage speaker, consider SPAN 260: Spanish for Heritage Speakers.