Hobart and William Smith Colleges

If you're interested in studying Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Latin or Russian through the Institute for Global Studies, consult the guidelines below to see where you should be placed.

arabic 

Contact: Professor Stacey Philbrick Yadav 

Arabic placement is done on a case-by-case basis by the FLTA, based on the student’s educational history and home language exposure.

Intro course:  ARAB 101, fall only

Important notes: ARAB 101 is FALL ONLY; ARAB 102 is SPRING ONLY. FY students interested in studying Arabic at HWS should sign up for this course in their first semester. Waiting until sophomore year limits the student’s opportunities.

Guidelines:
Most FY students (including those who may have studied Arabic in a classroom setting) should enroll in ARAB 101 in the fall semester; this is the only semester in which we are able to offer the course.

Heritage speakers of an Arabic dialect are not often literate in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). We teach MSA in our courses and in our study abroad programs in Jordan and Tunisia; it is the written language used by all Arabic speakers and has been adapted into a spoken register over the past 20 years through the profusion of satellite television. These students should register for ARAB 101.

Muslim students who are not heritage speakers of Arabic may be able to phonetically sound out Arabic characters because of prior exposure to Quranic Arabic, but they are rarely at a level that would lead to placement in the ARAB 102 level of MSA. These students should register for ARAB 101. If they want to wait for spring and enroll in ARAB 102, they should consult the Arabic FLTA before the fall semester begins to make sure this is the correct placement.

International students from Morocco who have completed a fully Francophone educational sequence: Interview and placement by the Arabic FLTA is essential for these students.

All others: Interview and placement by the Arabic FLTA.

1. chinese 

Contact: Professor Jinghao Zhou 

Intro course: CHIN 101, offered ­­­­­­­­­every fall

Guidelines:
Students without prior study of Chinese should register for CHIN 101.

Students who have prior knowledge to Chinese (via formal study or other means) need to have a short placement interview if they wish to continue studying Chinese at HWS. The interview is conducted by a faculty member from the Chinese Program and aims to assess students’ Chinese proficiency in reading, writing, listening, and speaking in order to place them in a suitable Chinese course based on the interview results. Contact Professor Jinghao Zhou directly at zhou@hws.edu should students have any questions or need detailed information about the interview.

1. 1. french

Contact: Professor Kanate Dahouda  

Intro course: FRN 101, offered fall only, followed by FRN 102 in the spring

Guidelines:
Students without prior study of French should register for FRN 101.

Students who have prior knowledge of French should complete the French placement test as early as possible. 

Any student with questions about placement should contact Professor Dahouda for an in-person or Zoom conversation.

1. 1. 1. german

Contact: Professor Eric Klaus 

Intro course: GER 101, offered every semester

Guidelines:
Students without prior study of German should for GER 101.

Students who have taken German in high school should enroll as follows:

• 1-2 years of high school German: GER 101
• 3-4 years of high school German: GER 102

Students who studied abroad in a German-speaking country in high school should register for GER 201.

greek (ancient)

Contact: Professor Leah Himmelhoch

Intro course: GRE 101, offered FALL ONLY

Guidelines:
Students should register for GRE 101, offered fall only.

In the unusual case that a student has prior knowledge of Ancient Greek, contact Professor Himmelhoch for placement advice.

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. italian

Contact: Professor Sebastiano Lucci 

Intro course: ITAL 101, offered ­­­­­­­­­every semester

Guidelines:
Students without prior study of Italian should register for ITAL 101.

Students who have prior knowledge of Italian should complete the Italian placement test as early as possible. 

Any student with questions about placement should contact Professor Lucci for an in-person or Zoom conversation.

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. japanese

Contact: Professor James-Henry Holland 

Intro course: JPN 101, planned for F’23, but usually offered SPRING ONLY

Important notes: JPN 101 has traditionally been offered spring only but is planned for F’23

Guidelines:
Students without prior study of Japanese should register for JPN 101.

Students who have prior knowledge of Japanese (via formal study or other means) must contact Professor Holland over the summer to schedule an oral interview. This interview is crucial for students who may be able to enroll in JPN 102, which is scheduled for Fall ‘23.

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. latin

Contact: Professor Leah Himmelhoch 

Intro course: LAT 101, offered ­­­­­­­­­FALL ONLY

Guidelines:
Students without prior study of Latin should register for LAT 101 in the fall semester.

Students who have scored a 3 or above on the Latin AP exam can register for a 200-level Latin reading course (LAT 2XX, topics vary).

All others who have studied Latin should contact Professor Himmelhoch to schedule a conversation about placement.

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. russian

Contact: Professor Christopher Lemelin 

Intro course: RUS 101, offered ­­­­­­­­­FALL ONLY

Important notes: FY students interested in studying Russian at HWS should sign up for RUS 101 in their first semester. Waiting until sophomore year limits the student’s opportunities.

Guidelines:
Students without prior study of Russian should register for RUS 101 in the fall semester.

Students with prior knowledge of Russian (via formal study or other means) should follow a two-step placement process:

• Take the online placement test: https://tinyurl.com/ykzjxua3 To ensure accurate results on the test, please do not use dictionaries, the internet, or any other resources. Please take the test only once.
• Create an account (or, if you have an account, log in)
• Choose Russian for the language and click begin
• Fill out the language questionnaire, and take the test

The WebCape score is a starting point for placement:

0 - 199	RUS 101
200 - 399	RUS 102
400 - 599	RUS 201
≥ 600	RUS 202 or 410/411

After you’ve received your WebCape score, contact Professor Lemelin to schedule an oral interview. This interview will fine-tune your placement. This step is particularly important because the second semester of Beginning Russian (RUS 102) is only offered in the spring. If WebCape indicates placement into RUS 102, it is crucial to determine whether the student:

• Should instead go directly into Intermediate Russian (RUS 201, fall only)
• Would benefit from the review provided in RUS 101 (fall only)
• Should indeed wait until the spring to enroll in Russian 102 (spring only)

Following the interview, an email will be sent to the student with comments on their scores and to convey the program’s recommended placement.

Students who have scored a 3 or higher on the Russian AP exam should contact Professor Lemelin directly; they do not need to complete the WebCape placement test. Students who have scored a 3 or 4 should register for RUS 201. Students who have scored a five may register for RUS 410 or 411.