Reading Exam
Graduate Testing -
Comprehensive Exams
Reading Proficiency
Comprehensive Exams for MA, MAT & PhD:
Comprehensive examinations for MA, MAT and PhD candidates are scheduled on the Thursday and Friday prior to beginning classes in the Spring semester.
Make-up exams are held on the first Thursday and/or Friday in April.
Exams generally begin at 9:00am and are held at the Ted Mimms Language Laboratory in the Humanities Classroom Building. Examinees are expected to write their answers on computer, and will be provided one by the lab. Completed exams are then e-mailed as attachments to the graduate director directly from the lab for subsequent distribution to the committee.
If you have any questions, please contact the graduate advisor for your program, or the graduate director, Dr. Maria C. Mabrey.
Graduate Reading Proficiency Exams
Chinese | French | German | Italian | Japanese | Latin | Russian | Spanish
The Graduate Reading Proficiency Exam is for graduate students who are majoring in other disciplines. French, German, Latin, and Spanish 615 are designed to prepare students to take the examination(s) that satisfies the basic FL graduate reading requirement. The courses are available on a pass / fail basis only.
Chinese, contact Dr. Tan Ye.
French 615 is generally offered once a year (either Fall, Spring or Summer).
Students need not be enrolled in FR 615 in order to take the exam. Students may prepare for the exam by consulting Edward M. Stack: Reading French in the Arts and Sciences (4th Ed.) and by doing practice translations in their field of study.
The Graduate French Reading Exam is given during finals week in the fall and in the spring. In the week before finals, please contact Prof. Jeanne Garane at garanej@mailbox.sc.edu to sign up for the exam. Please write "French Reading Proficiency Exam" in the subject line.
The field exam is 90 minute translation examination of a 500-word passage (with dictionary) in the individual’s field of specialization. Students can expect that the passage will be similar in linguistic sophistication to English texts germane to the particular field of research.
The graduate reading exam in German requires the translation into English of a 500-word passage. Candidates will have two hours and may use a dictionary and other grammar aid (such as verb charts). Candidates without advanced translation skills are strongly encouraged to take German 615, even if they have studied German previously.
German 615 assumes no previous knowledge of the language. It is generally offered in the Spring semester with at least three scheduled exam dates. Please direct all inquiries to Professor Nicholas Vazsonyi at vazsonyi@sc.edu.
Students may take the scheduled exams even if they not registered for German 615. Please contact the instructor at least two weeks in advance to reserve a spot.
Schedule of German Reading Exam dates for Spring 2012:
February 16, 12:30-2:30pm
March 22, 12:30-2:30pm
May 1, 2:00-4:00pm
Contact Dr. Pia Bertucci at bertucci@mailbox.sc.edu.
Contact Prof. Yoshitaka Sakakibara at sakakiy@mailbox.sc.edu.
The next opportunity to take the Latin Reading Exam will be at the end of Summer II during the final exam scheduled for Latin 615. Students who wish to take the exam must take it during one of these times. You should bring a student ID and writing materials. You may consult a Latin dictionary during the test. No electronic devices of any kind are permitted.
Please note that most students do not have enough experience with Latin to pass the Graduate Reading Exam without proper preparation. Students must be prepared to translate into English unedited passages from Classical Latin authors. Students are strongly urged to take the intensive courses offered by the Classics program that will prepare students for the exam. Latin 614-615 will be offered Summer I and Summer II, respectively, 2012. Students who wish to pass the Graduate Reading Exam in Latin should take these two courses.
For information, contact Dr. Hunter Gardner.
Russian, contact Prof. Judith Kalb.
Spanish Reading Examination Information
Students are encouraged to take SPAN 615, generally offered once a year. For those students taking the exam outside SPAN 615, they may take ANY written materials to the examination: dictionaries, verb lists, vocabulary list, grammar books, etc. (all electronic dictionaries or devices are prohibited). The examination is a 500 word passage in the area of Humanities. Students have 90 minutes in which to render the passage into English. Dr. Francisco Sanchez will e-mail the results to them. Students who receive no notification by email should contact the professor within three days of the exam.
To register for the exam, please contact:
Dr. Francisco Sanchez
Phone: 803-777-2493
Office: Humanities Office Building 706
Date of Exam: April 16, 2012 Time:1:00 pm - 2:30 pm Location: HU 202