Foreign Language Placement Exams

• Chinese, French, German, Russian or Spanish Placement Exams
• Placement Exams for Other Languages
• International Students

Chinese, French, German, Russian, or Spanish 

• You may take the exam a maximum of three times during your Cal Lutheran career. For Spanish, French and German, a score of 346 or above will meet the Core 21 language requirement or allow you to be placed in a higher level language class. For Russian and Chinese, a score of 400 is needed. 

Related Documents

• Core-21 Foreign Language Requirements
• Testing Policies
• Placement vs. Proficiency
• Scoring Breakdown 
• Accommodations for Disability Related Needs

Proctored Test Dates for Fall Semester 2024

Your Cal Lutheran Student ID is required at the time of testing. Any form of academic dishonesty will be reported to Academic Affairs.

About the Language Placement Exam

• If you have signed up for an exam and have still not received the information the day before, please email Ayxa Agraz at aagraz@callutheran.edu and you will receive the information as soon as possible. 
• To ensure academic honesty, it is required that you attend in-person to take the exam. We are no longer offering the exam over Zoom. 
• Please be on time so you can receive the information on how to access your exam. 
• Please email Ayxa Agraz at aagraz@callutheran.edu if you have already taken the exam once before. 
• Your score will be available as soon as you complete the exam. Because the exams follow an adaptive test format, it may take some five minutes to complete the exam while others may take the full hour and a half.  

Frequently Asked Questions

When do graduating seniors have until to take the exam? : If you are planning to graduate or walk in May, you must take the exam before April 1.

Do I have to pay for the exam? : If you are taking an exam in Spanish, French, German, Russian or Chinese, you do not have to pay for the exam. If you have experience in another language, you may also test out of the language requirement although this option requires you to purchase the exam. Please email Ayxa Agraz at aagraz@callutheran.edu for more information. 

How far in advance should I sign up? : Sign up for an exam date as soon as you are able to; however, you have until the day before the exam date to register. 

How can I study for the exam? : We don't offer any specific study materials for the exam but reviewing what you have learned in your previous language courses might be helpful.  

Register for a Langauge Placement Exam 

Other Languages

If you are proficient in a different language other than the five listed above, you may request testing in a different language. Keep in mind that:

• These tests are also online but need to be ordered in advance. 
• Not all languages are available (see available languages here).
• There is a $50 registration fee.
• These tests are only for proficiency and will not be able to be used for course credit. 
• These tests are typically longer than the placement exams for the five languages listed above. You will have a maximum of 2.5 hours to complete the test.
• If you receive a unsatisfactory score, you can retest; however, you will have to repurchase this exam again. 

Ordering a test

To order a test, please contact Ayxa Agraz at aagraz@callutheran.edu for further instruction. We will then determine on which of the proctor dates you will take your test and your official scores will be sent to the Registrar.

*Please note that it typically takes longer for the Registrar to receive these scores. If you have not received your scores a month after you have taken your exam, please email the DA.  

Modern Hebrew and Hawaiian

• California Lutheran University offers a Modern Hebrew and a Hawaiian proficiency test through a partner company and the cost is approximately $60.00. Please note that the Languages and Cultures Department must proctor the tests.
• Students who wish to take any of these tests should contact Nick Gossett at nick.gossett@avantassessment.com and request the AVANT 4S STAMP for Modern Hebrew or the AVANT STAMP WS for Hawaiian. In both cases students must mention in the email that instructions to proctor the test must be sent to lseales@callutheran.edu. 
• Languages and Cultures will proctor these exams during the regular LPE dates established on our webpage
• Here is an explanation of how the test is scored and please note that Languages and Cultures submit the Composite Score to the Registrar’s Office:  https:// avantassessment.com/stamp4s/ test-taker-parent-guide
• Students will receive the results in approximately two weeks directly from AVANT via their Cal Lu email. Students should then contact the Chair of the Languages and Cultures department (lseales@callutheran.edu) with the official scores attached to their email.

International Students

The foreign language requirement is waived for international students who verify academic study of their native language through the high school level.

Receiving Scores

AVANT Exam 

Students will receive the results in approximately two weeks directly from AVANT via their Cal Lu email. Students should then contact the Chair of the Languages and Cultures department (rfioreur@callutheran.edu) with the official scores attached to their email.

Here is an explanation of how the test is scored and please note that Languages and Cultures submit the Composite Score to the Registrar’s Office: https://avantassessment.com/stamp4s/ test-taker-parent-guide 

You can also find more information here: https://avantassessment.com/guides/coordinator/reporting/stamp 

FLATS Exam 

A score report is automatically sent by regular US mail to the address you typed into the “CURRENT ADDRESS” section of the registration form. Some schools accept an email with the score report attached. If it is a school that accepts emails, your scores will be sent via email.

If you need another copy of your results to be sent to your school or a different institution, please contact this group here: flats-sec@byu.edu