Japanese Language Courses Placement Test

SPRING 2025 ONLINE PLACEMENT TEST GUIDELINES

NOTE: The Japanese language course placement will be conducted online in August.  You need to complete all parts of the test, which will take several days. 

3-STEPS to Complete the Online Placement Test:

STEP 1: Please email Tomoko Takami, Japanese Language Program (JLP) Director, at ttakami@sas.upenn.edu; please include your Penn email address and Pennkey so we can make arrangements to invite you to the JLP placement test 2024 Canvas site.

STEP 2: Fill out the student background information form, as instructed on the Canvas site, and complete both Online Proficiency Test AND Placement Essay on Canvas by Wednesday, January 6, 2025.

STEP 3: You will receive an email from Tomoko Takami or another instructor for the course you are considering. In the email, you will schedule the oral interview, which will include placement advising.

For any questions, please contact Tomoko Takami, the director of the Japanese Language Program (JLP).

Placement Test (General Instructions)

Part 1: Online Tests
As part of the placement test for the Japanese language program at UPenn, we ask prospective students to take the following online tests in advance. Please take the online tests before the oral interview and writing test. You need to keep the score to yourself and submit it in advance to JLP Director, Ms. Tomoko Takami (ttakami@sas.upenn.edu).
1) SPOT 90
2) Kanji SPOT50
Please click here to check the spot test instruction.

Part 2: Oral Interview, Placement Essay, and Consultation
If it’s the beginning of the new academic year, this will take place during the New Student Orientation (NSO).  After the NSO, please contact Ms. Tomoko Takami to make an appointment for the oral interview.

ABOUT THE ONLINE TEST
Please note that this test measures what you can do with the language. Thus, some questions are easy (they try to measure what you can do ) and some questions are difficult (they try to measure what you cannot do with the language yet). Don’t feel discouraged if you encounter questions which you don’t know the answer to.

If you have any questions, please email Tomoko Takami, Director of Japanese Language Program.