World Language

Lead Teachers: Susi Lopez and Denise Fullerton

The World Languages placement test for incoming students will take place on Saturday, August 1st. The test for students taking a Spanish or Mandarin placement test will start at 9:30 AM. The test for students taking a French placement test will start at 1:00 PM.

Who Should Take This Test?

Students with little or no previous language experience are automatically placed in level 1. They DO NOT need to take this test.
Students who have completed two years of the same language in middle school will be placed in Level 2. This includes students from within BUSD, as well as from private and independent schools. They DO NOT need to take this test
Students who were in a level at BHS last year, will move on to the next logical level, provided they got a passing grade in the previous class. They DO NOT need to take this test.
Do you want to skip a level? Do you want to start at a level that is higher than one of the above automatic placements? THIS TEST IS FOR YOU and you need to register.

In order for a student to participate in one of these tests, you must do the following:

Complete this registration form only once, please. Students who did not not pre-register will not be able to take the test.
After you complete the registration, look for a confirmation email in a couple of days and the Zoom link by July 31st.
Your student should be prepared to do a one-on-one oral proficiency test with a language teacher. They will then receive a link with the writing portion of the test. The students will be monitored by a teacher on Zoom while they complete the written part.Students will enter the Zoom waiting room and will be called on one by one by the moderator to verify registration. Depending on the number of people testing, students could be in the waiting room for a long time. Be patient. Wait in the room until you are invited into the main session.

The placement results will be sent to parents and guardians within three days. Please have your student be ready to stay on Zoom for approximately two hours. It will be best if the student uses a computer to take the placement test. As a reminder, we will use both the oral and written tests to determine the appropriate placement. Academic dishonesty of any kind including the use of electronic translators, such as Google Translate, is prohibited and will void results.

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The World Language Department strongly recommends that every student who intends to continue language studies beyond high school finish a minimum of three years of a foreign language while at BHS. Students who don’t receive a “C” or better in a course at the end of the year repeat the entire year. They may only repeat a language course once. Students may explore options outside of Berkeley High School if they need to repeat a course more than once.

Students with little or no previous language experience are placed in a level 1 class. Students with previous experience are placed into the appropriate level based on their transcript and grades in a previous language course or on their score on Berkeley High’s placement test. Students can take the placement test at BHS. Students who believe they have been incorrectly placed should talk to their teacher and contact the World Languages teacher leaders within the first two weeks of classes.

If you are a transfer student from a high school outside of Berkeley Unified School District and want to be in a language class above level 1, you will need a copy of your transcript when you register.

Middle school students who took two years of the same language, will be placed in Level 2 (formerly 3/4). If you want to SKIP level 2, you must take the placement test to be placed in Level 3.

It is not necessary to take the placement exam if you are enrolling in level one of any language.

Please email susilopez@berkeley.net or denisefullerton@berkeley.net with further questions.