The Advanced Foreign Language Proficiency Certificate
The College has instituted an Advanced Foreign Language Certificate program, designed to recognize students with advanced proficiency in a foreign language. Students who successfully pass a University of Chicago oral and written proficiency test will receive a certificate of advanced proficiency in a foreign language and will have this proficiency noted on their transcripts. Although the certificate will note the precise passing grade received on the test (Pass - High Pass - High Pass with Honors), the transcript will note only that the student has attained advanced proficiency in a specific language. (If the student takes the exam but fails to pass it, the transcript will NOT indicate this.)
Schedule/Contacts
The next written tests (to assess reading, writing, and aural comprehension) are offered by appointment. In order to register for this written test and also to sign up for an oral interview to assess oral proficiency, eligible candidates are invited to contact the proficiency examiners below.
| For an appointment contact: |
| CHINESE | Youquin Wang | ywang7@uchicago.edu |
| FRENCH | Claude Grangier | mjgrangi@uchicago.edu |
| GERMAN | Catherine Baumann | ccbaumann@uchicago.edu |
| ITALIAN | Veronica Vegna | vvwegna@uchicago.edu |
| JAPANESE | Misa Miyachi | misa@uchicago.edu |
| KOREAN | Jung Hyuck Lee | jlee@uchicago.edu |
| PORTUGUESE | Ana Lima | afl1@uchicago.edu |
| RUSSIAN, CZECH and POLISH | Steven Clancy | sclancy@uchicago.edu |
| SPANISH | Liamar Duran | duranalmarza@uchicago.edu |
| OTHER LANGUAGES | Catherine Baumann | ccbaumann@uchicago.edu |
Who is eligible to take this exam?
To be eligible to take this exam, a student must:
(1) be a non-native speaker of the language (this is a FOREIGN language test, therefore, no native speakers will be allowed to take the test);
(2) have taken AT LEAST through the second year level (or have placement credit through that level);
(3) have lived in the foreign culture for AT LEAST 8 consecutive weeks (e.g. on a study abroad program or internship).
*Students who have taken through 203 in the college are required to solidify their linguistic skills through a subsequent immersion program. If the travel abroad period was to help the student attain the second year level, the student should take at least one more course in the department upon his or her return before being eligible to take the test.
*Students who were placed beyond second year may be allowed to sit the test without taking further classes, depending on the nature of their immersion experience.
*Students who do not meet these qualifications but feel that their background deserves special consideration are invited to petition their case to the appropriate language tester.
For additional information, contact Catherine Baumann: ccbaumann@uchicago.edu
This page was last updated on 5 October 2007.
