East Asian Studies

FULFILLLING THE A.B. LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT 
All A.B. candidates who have not fulfilled the language requirement on the basis of advanced placement must study a language at Princeton.

The language placement test
If you wish to continue studying a language that you have previously studied in high school, you will need to take a placement test. The 2009-2010 placement tests in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean should be taken online between July 15 and August 20. You may access the test by way of this web site, which will provide detailed instructions and access information.   If you would like to study a new language at Princeton, you may simply register for the first course in the language sequence (normally 101).  

• Chinese language placement exam FAQ
• Korean language placement exam FAQ
• Japanese language placement exam FAQ

When to enroll in a foreign language
If you are taking a language course to meet the A.B. language requirement, it is advisable to get started as soon as possible. Beginning language courses (Chinese 101, Japanese 101, or Korean 101) are not offered in the spring term, so if you are starting from the 101 level and choose not to take a language course in your first semester, you will have to wait until the fall of your sophomore year. This, in turn, means that you would be completing the language requirement during your junior year, along with junior independent work and departmental courses. If you are entering a language at the 105 or 108 level, you risk forgetting what you know if you wait until sophomore year to fulfill the requirement. The best advice is to complete the language requirement without delay. Remember that a 101-level language course will not count toward your degree unless you take the 102-level course as well.

For additional information about language study in the East Asian Studies Department, please click on either Chinese, Japanese, or Korean at the links in the left-hand menu.

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE CERTIFICATE
A student majoring in a department other than East Asian Studies may earn a certificate in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean by completing three or more language courses beyond the second-year level and one or more East Asian studies or cognate courses in linguistics, religion, history, or anthropology. Students must also complete a substantial piece of independent research based at least in part on Chinese, Japanese, or Korean sources dealing with aspects of East Asia. Its topic has to be in the humanities. The paper could be either an original piece of research or a junior paper or senior thesis. If such a junior paper or senior thesis is written for another department, at least half of the work has to be on East Asia. East Asian Studies majors concentrating on one language can earn a language and culture certificate in the other, but may not also earn an East Asian Studies program certificate. Students interested in earning a certificate should apply at the department office by the end of their junior year. Students may not earn both East Asian Studies Department and East Asian Studies Program certificates. For more detailed information about the Program in Language and Culture please visit http://www.princeton.edu/pr/catalog/ua/08/LCP