Placement Exam

NOTICE: Effective from Monday, January 19, 2026

The Spanish language placement exam will ONLY be available IN PERSON

 in the CMLL department office (NAC 5/223) during the following times:

Monday and Thursday

From 9:00 am to 2:00 pm and from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

You will receive your language placement via email within 72 hours. 

Approval for registration in a Spanish language course is contingent upon the completion of this preliminary questionnaire on Google Form:

Spanish Questionnaire  Form

Note: To open the Google form you need to SIGN IN to your City College email account. 

Follow these steps: Open the above Google Form link. If you see "You are signed in as", click on the account that is displayed. Then, you will be directed to the page "Choose an account" and there click on the option "Use another account". That way you will be able to sign in with your City College email account and open the Google Form.

THE EXAM CAN ONLY BE TAKEN ONCE.

After completing the questionnaire, students will either be allowed to register for SPAN 12300 or will be directed to take a placement exam.

Please contact Ms. Rosa Martinez, the administrative coordinator of the CMLL department, should you have any questions: rmartinez@ccny.cuny.edu

FOR THE PLACEMENT EXAM, STUDENTS HAVE THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS:

1)For the following languages (Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, and  Portuguese), students must take the placement exam IN PERSON, on paper, in the CMLL Department at NAC 5/223 (walk-in). Monday through Friday, from 10:00 a. m. to 4:00 p. m. 

2) For the following other languages (Chinese, French, German, and Russian), students must take the placement exam IN PERSON, on the computer, in NAC 6/212. Registration is required. The exam is offered at the end of each month. You cannot take 2 different language exams on the same day. Ask Ms. Rosa Martinez about available days and times. Please note that space is limited.

For other exams, please contact Ms. Rosa Martinez. 

Once you have signed up for the computer exam, you must take the exam on the date and time you selected; if you miss your appointment, you will have to go through the sign-up process all over again or take the written exam instead.

Test Guidelines for Written Version:

• A physical valid photo ID is required to enter the building and testing session.

• EMPLID number. Keep this handy if you don’t have it memorized. You’ll be asked for your student ID when you sign in to the website to take the test.
• Your citymail email address (you will need this email to sign into the testing site).
• Please arrive 15 minutes before the scheduled start of your test(s) (see above).
• Latecomers will not be accommodated.

Your score and placement will appear on the screen when you have completed the test. If you have any questions about your score, please email rmartinez@ccny.cuny.edu   

Please note that scores are subject to random verification by faculty in our department. You may be asked to attend a follow-up interview in the target language to confirm your score.

To sign up for the computer version of the placement exam please email rmartinez@ccny.cuny.edu  with the following information:

- First and Last Name.
- EMPLID.
- Language(s) in which you wish to be tested.
- Preferred session time from the available ones.

You will receive a confirmation email with the date and time of your test along with additional instructions about what to expect. If you do not receive an email at least 24 hours before the test day and time, please email the office to let us know.

FAQs

Do I need to take a placement exam?
For information on who should take a placement exam please click here.

Which exam should I take?
To determine which exam you should take, please speak with an advisor - see list of advisors below.

What if I want to take the exam in Arabic, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese or another language not listed above?
Please, speak with an advisor - see list of advisors below.

How do I prepare for this exam?
These kinds of computer-adaptive tests are given at hundreds of universities across the United States in order to determine how comfortable you are communicating in a particular language. The tests we use at CCNY are primarily focused on reading and grammar. You may be asked to read short passages and answer questions about overall meaning or to fill in blanks with the appropriate verb tense, mode, vocabulary word, etc. to complete a sentence correctly.

How long does the test take?
Test time can vary. Some students finish in less than twenty minutes, but give yourself at least an hour to complete the test.

When will I get my score?
You will receive your score immediately after taking the exam along with information about the course level into which you have been placed or if you have scored high enough to be considered exempt from the requirement altogether. After you receive your score, register for the indicated language class or, if you are exempt, you may wish to register for an upper-level elective in that language (classes at the 300-level or higher are considered electives).

Can I retake the test?
No, you cannot retake the test in the same language. To speak with an advisor please see list of advisors below.

What do I do if I have questions about my score?
For questions about your score, please speak with an advisor - see list of advisors below.

What do I do if I can’t register for the class?
Please contact our Department Administrator, Rosa Martinez (  rmartinez@ccny.cuny.edu  )

Advisors´ emails:

ARABIC: Prof. Amr Kamal ( akamal@ccny.cuny.edu )

CHINESE: Prof. I-Hsien Wu ( iwu@ccny.cuny.edu )

FRENCH: Prof. Bettina Lerner ( blerner@ccny.cuny.edu )

ITALIAN: Profs. Corinna Messina-Kociuba ( cmessinakociuba@ccny.cuny.edu ) 

LATIN: Prof. Jennifer Roberts (  jroberts@ccny.cuny.edu )

JAPANESE: Prof. Richard Calichman ( rcalichman@ccny.cuny.edu )

PORTUGUESE: Prof. Regina Castro-McGowan ( rcastro-mcgowan@ccny.cuny.edu )

SPANISH: Prof. Ángel Estévez (  aestevez@ccny.cuny.edu )

FOR ALL OTHER LANGUAGES PLEASE EMAIL ROSA MARTINEZ ( rmartinez@ccny.cuny.edu )