<p>hey i'm wondering if anyone has any info on the french placement exam...</p>
<p>specifically, is it actually required or just "highly recommended" for those who used french to satisfy the entrance requirement? i've been getting two stories from the registrar, and it's v. exasperating</p>
<p>also if by some freak chance i tested out of french 101, am i still eligible to take french 101? or would they make me take the higher level class into which it'd placed me?</p>
<p>finally how is the test constructed? i.e. multiple choice, oral, listening, writing, etc.?</p>
<p>thanks =)</p>
<p>'10 General to follow:</p>
<p>I am Motherdear's daughter. </p>
<p>The french placement test is not terrible. I placed into 161, which is the second level French course. If you have taken French before you will be required to take the placement exam and you are not eligible for French 101, the introductory course. I don't know whether it would violate the honor code to discuss the structure of the exam so I will skip that. Good luck on the exam! :)</p>
<p>I have a somewhat related question. If you start a language at the introductory level, how many classes can you expect to have to take before you're at the "intermediate" level (good enough to graduate)?</p>
<p>in general, you have to have the equivalent of 4 semesters of the class to statisfy the GE.
for example, in Latin you take 101, 102, 201, 202. if you've passed the placement test you either go into 201 (meaning you have to take just 2 semesters before attaining GE) or 301 (meaning you can either take super-hard major-level classes or, i think, skip out of the language requirement all together). The numbers are different for the different languages, but the principle is the same.</p>
<p>[[However, that was for the GE requirements rather than what you guys will have, so it may differ, I'm not sure.]]</p>
<p>I think somewhere on the W&L site it tells you this sort of thing.</p>
<p>beautyistruth is right, there are four language classes you need to take to fulfill the requirement. If you have previous language experience, you will probably be able to skip the first two beginner courses. On rare cases, you can place all the way into third year language, in which case you have the option of not taking a language at all. </p>
<p>I'm pretty sure they're going to make you take the French placement test even if you don't plan on taking French. They made me take the Spanish one though I had no interest in continuing Spanish studies at the time, along with the one for the language I planned to study.</p>
<p>I'm also pretty sure the language requirement is not effected by the change from GEs to FDRs so everything beautyistruth said holds true.</p>
<p>for those who aren't aware that foundation and distribution requirements have changed for the class of 2011</p>
<p><a href="http://registrar.wlu.edu/curriculum/fdr.htm%5B/url%5D">http://registrar.wlu.edu/curriculum/fdr.htm</a></p>
<p>this was very helpful...i never received a catalog in the mail so i'm guessing they just expect students to figure all of this stuff out online...anyway, thank you.</p>
<p>So if you have a 5 in an AP language test, then you are exempt from the foreign language requirement? Is that correct?</p>
<p>If you have fulfilled the foreign language requirement and you don't plan on taking any more classes in that language, do you need to take the placement test? (On the Freshman Orientation page, it says that Latin students "need" to take the placement test -- but is that true even if you are not planning on doing any more Latin?)</p>
<p>cockatiel--
the way it reads says that if you got a 5 on the Latin AP you are exempt from the language requirement</p>
<p>cockatiel--found more info on the WLU website.</p>
<p>you only take the exam if you want to continue (if you got that 5).</p>
<p>if you got that 5, why would you give up the potential double major? you'd be an obviously gifted student who ought to continue. when God hands you a gift, run with it.</p>
<p>for most languages, I think you would need a five on two APs (usually language and literature) to be completely exempt - its probably different for latin</p>
<p>just noticed in the fine print on the AP info that credit is discretionary. That 4 or 5 is a minimum qualification and the department head calls the shots. Standard disclaimer or harder to get exempt from foundation requirements than appears?</p>
<p>The department heads follow those guidelines, though if it is obvious that you do not know the language, it means they reserve the right to drop you back to beginner level. Also, it means they can change them if the tests become too easy.</p>