
You can study languages at UNSW at any level, whether you’re a beginner, intermediate or advanced. If you’ve had experience learning a language previously or are a native speaker of a particular language, you’ll be required to complete a language placement so you can be placed at an appropriate starting point. The online language placement is for students who are enrolling in a language at UNSW for the first time.
The online language placements for 2023 is now open. Please note you'll only be able to enrol in courses once your enrolment appointment has opened. Please note you'll only be able to enrol in courses once your enrolment appointment has opened.
Please allow seven working days for us to process your application. An email notification of your placement results will be sent to your UNSW email. If you don’t receive a notification after seven working days, please email the School Office quoting your student number.
The Language Placement Questionnaire is a series of questions designed to ensure students who wish to enrol in Chinese courses are placed in classes that are most appropriate to their level of language knowledge.
Please read the below information carefully before commencing the questionnaire. You'll only be able to submit one questionnaire. If you're applying for more than one course, please list your preferences in the last question of the questionnaire.
Our experience shows students lose interest and may discontinue/fail a course when the course is too easy or difficult. Therefore, it is important students are placed in courses most appropriate to their level of language knowledge. The information collected from the questionnaire will enable us to make course recommendations that best suit your learning needs and language knowledge.
Received questionnaires are processed in order of receipt. As some classes fill up very quickly, it's in your best interest to submit the questionnaire as soon as possible.
Listed below are criteria for four different entry-levels in Chinese language courses. You can indicate your preference for a course but must back up your preference with solid reasons/evidence:
ARTS1450 Chinese 1 for Non-Background Speakers
ARTS1452 Chinese 1 for Background Speakers
ARTS1451 Chinese 2 for Non-Background Speakers
ARTS1453 Chinese 2 for Background Speakers
ARTS2450 Chinese 3 for Non-Background Speakers
ARTS2461 Chinese 3 for Background Speakers
ARTS2451 Chinese 4 for Non-Background Speakers
ARTS2462 Chinese 4 for Background Speakers
ARTS3450 Chinese 5
ARTS3451 Chinese 6
ARTS3452 Chinese 7
ARTS3453 Chinese 8
Professional Elective Chinese Courses (i.e. ARTS3460 Chinese English Translation; ARTS3455 Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature; ARTS3454 Chinese-English Interpreting; ARTS3456 Classical Chinese Literature; ARTS3463 City and Chinese Culture)
Please check the Online Handbook.
Note: To meet the learning needs of students with different language backgrounds, in our Level 1 and Level 2 Chinese courses, ARTS1451/ARTS2451/ARTS2461 are for non-background speakers and ARTS1453/ARTS2462 are for background speakers. ARTS3450/ARTS3451 is split within the course, with one tutorial for non-background students and one tutorial for background students.
If you've grown up in a family or environment where Chinese (Mandarin or any dialect, Cantonese for example) is used in daily life AND you can more or less understand spoken Chinese (Mandarin or any dialect, Cantonese for example), even if you can't manage to engage in very basic conversations in Chinese, you're identified as a background speaker.
An email will be sent to your university email account notifying you your starting course(s). Further enrolment instructions will be included in the email. It's imperative that you check your university email for any email correspondence that the school sent you.
If you don't receive any notification to your university email after seven working days, please email us quoting your name and student number.
Students who wish to undertake language courses to fulfil elective course requirements should ensure that these courses count towards the requirement of their degree programs with the relevant Program Authority.
BEFORE the term starts: if you feel that the course that you're placed in is not appropriate for your language level and wish to change to a higher/lower level course, you may email Dr Yingli Sun. You'll then be notified by the School Admin office of the decision.
AFTER the term starts: if you feel that your starting course is not appropriate for your language level after attending the course in the first week and wish to change to a higher/lower level course, you should seek the advice of the course convenor/lecturer of the course you were placed and currently enrolled in immediately. Enrolment variations must be finalised by the end of Friday of Week 1.
For further general enquiries, please contact:
School of Humanities and Languages
Level 2, Morven Brown Building
Kensington campus, UNSW
Email: hal@unsw.edu.au
Telephone: 9385 1681
For more specific academic advice, please email Dr Yingli Sun.
Step 1: Read the information below and assess which course is most appropriate for your level of French language knowledge.
Step 2: Complete the online Language Placement Questionnaire by clicking on the tab below.
Step 3: Please allow seven working days for us to process your application. An email notification of your placement results will be sent to your UNSW email. If you do not receive a notification after seven working days, please email the School Office quoting your name and student number.
Note: You'll be contacted by email if a decision can't be made based on the information in the application form. In this case, you may be required to provide further information or attend an interview with a discipline advisor.
Submitted questionnaires are processed in order of receipt. As some classes fill up very quickly, it's in a student’s best interests to submit the Online Application Form as soon as possible.
Students from other schools who wish to undertake language courses to fulfil free electives or general education requirements should ensure that these courses count towards the requirements of their degree programs with the relevant Program Authority.
If you feel that your starting course is not appropriate for your language level after attending first week of classes in the term, please contact the course convenor to discuss the feasibility of changing to a higher/lower-level course. Any changes to enrolment must be approved by the Discipline Advisor and finalised by Friday, Week 1 of the term.
For timetable information, please see the Online Handbook.
General enquiries: Please contact the School of Humanities & Languages for all general enquiries on online placement in French.
School of Humanities & Languages
Level 2, Morven Brown Building
Kensington campus, UNSW
Email: hal@unsw.edu.au
Telephone: 9385 1681
Academic advice: If your knowledge of French doesn't fall into one of the above categories, or if you aren't sure what level to enrol to, please contact Dr Hugues Peters outlining your experience of studying French before submitting the Online Questionnaire.
Hugues Peters
Level 2, 275 Morven Brown Building
Kensington campus, UNSW
Email: h.peters@unsw.edu.au
Step 1: Read the information below and assess which course is most appropriate for your level of German language knowledge.
Step 2: Please allow seven working days for us to process your application. An email notification of your placement results will be sent to your university email. If you don't receive a notification after seven working days, please email the School Office quoting your name and student number.
Note: You'll be contacted by email if a decision can't be made based on the information in the application form. In this case, you may be required to provide further information or attend an interview with a discipline advisor.
Submitted applications are processed in order of receipt. As some classes fill up very quickly, it's in a student’s best interests to submit the Online Application Form as soon as possible.
Students from other schools who wish to undertake language courses to fulfil open electives or general education requirements should ensure that these courses count towards the requirements of their degree programs with the relevant Program Authority.
If you feel that your starting course is not appropriate for your language level after attending first week of classes in the term, please contact the course convenor to discuss the feasibility of changing to a higher/lower level course. Any changes to enrolment must be approved by the Course Convenor and finalised by Friday, Week 1 of the term.
For timetable information, please see the Online Handbook.
ARTS1510 German 1
ARTS1511 German 2
ARTS2510 German 3 / ARTS2511 German 4
ARTS3510 German 5 / ARTS3511 German 6
General enquiries: Please contact the School Humanities & Languages for all general enquiries on online placement in German.
School Humanities & Languages
Level 2, Morven Brown Building
Kensington campus, UNSW
Email: hal@unsw.edu.au
Telephone: 9385 1681
Academic advice: If your knowledge of German doesn't fall into one of the above categories, or if you aren't sure what level to enrol to, please contact hal@unsw.edu.au outlining your experience of studying German before submitting the Online Application Form.
Students wishing to undertake a language placement in Greek should seek advice from the School Office hal@unsw.edu.au
The Placement Questionnaire is a series of questions designed to ensure students who wish to enrol in Japanese courses are placed in classes that are most appropriate to their level of language knowledge.
Please read the below information carefully before commencing the questionnaire. You'll only be able to submit one questionnaire. If you're applying for more than one course, please list your preferences in the last question of the questionnaire.
If you're an absolute beginner, you don't need to take the language placement. Please only take the questionnaire if you've previously studied Japanese and need to be placed at the appropriate level.
Our experience shows students lose interest and may discontinue/fail a course when the course is too easy or difficult. Therefore, it's important students are placed in courses most appropriate to their level of language knowledge. The information collected from the questionnaire will enable us to make course recommendations that best suit your learning needs and language knowledge.
Received questionnaires are processed in order of receipt. As some classes fill up very quickly, it's in your best interest to submit the questionnaire as soon as possible.
Listed below are the courses for the different entry levels in Japanese language courses. You can indicate your preferences for a course (and must provide reasons for the preference) in the questionnaire if your level of knowledge fits the placement criteria:
ARTS1630 Japanese 1
ARTS1631 Japanese 2
ARTS2630 Japanese 3
ARTS2631 Japanese 4
ARTS3630 Japanese 5
ARTS3631 Japanese 6
ARTS3632 Japanese 7
ARTS3633 Japanese 8
Yes. Listed below are the course prerequisites for the Japanese language courses.
You can also check course descriptions in the Online Handbook
Course name | Course prerequisites |
ARTS1630 Japanese 1 | No prerequisites, excl. HSC beginners or equivalent |
ARTS1631 Japanese 2 | ARTS1630 or language placement approval |
ARTS2630 Japanese 3 | ARTS1631 or language placement approval |
ARTS2631 Japanese 4 | ARTS2630 or language placement approval |
ARTS3630 Japanese 5 | ARTS2361or language placement approval |
ARTS3631 Japanese 6 | ARTS3630 or language placement approval |
ARTS3632 Japanese 7 | ARTS3630 or language placement approval |
ARTS3633 Japanese 8 | ARTS3631 or language placement approval |
An email will be sent to your UNSW email account notifying you of your starting course(s). Further instructions about enrolling on your starting course(s) will be included in the email.
If you haven't received any notification to your student email account seven working days after submitting your questionnaire, please email the School Office quoting your student number.
Students who wish to undertake language courses to fulfil elective course requirements should ensure that these courses count towards the requirement of their degree programs with the relevant Program Authority.
Students can request course enrolment change if they find the course they're placed in is either too difficult or too easy. However, such change is subject to the approval of Course Convenor and must be finalised by Week 1 of the term in which you're enrolling.
The procedures for requesting course enrolment changes are as follows: students must attend the classes (lecture, tutorials and seminars) of the course they are placed in AND the course they wanted to enrol on in Week 1-2. If you still wish to enrol on your original choice after attending all classes of both courses, please consult the Course Coordinator of your original preference.
Note: All requests of course enrolment changes will not be considered after Week 1 unless legitimate reasons are provided.
No. Students are placed in courses based on their language proficiency/knowledge in Japanese. If the recommended starting course doesn't fit into your class schedule, please seek alternative courses in other areas of study.
For further general enquiries, please contact:
School of Humanities & Languages
Level 2, Morven Brown Building
Kensington campus, UNSW
Email: hal@unsw.edu.au
Telephone: 9385 1681
For further academic advice, please contact:
Step 1: Read the information below and assess which course is most appropriate for your level of Korean language knowledge.
Step 2: Complete the online Language Placement Questionnaire by clicking on the tab below.
Step 3: Please allow seven working days for us to process your application. An email notification of your placement results will be sent to your UNSW email. If you don't receive a notification after seven working days, please email the School Office quoting your name and student number.
Note: You'll be contacted by email if a decision can't be made based on the information in the application form. In this case, you may be required to provide further information or attend a placement interview.
Submitted applications are processed in order of receipt. As some classes fill up very quickly, it's in a student’s best interests to submit the Online Application Form as soon as possible.
Students from other schools who wish to undertake language courses to fulfil open electives or general education requirements should ensure that these courses count towards the requirements of their degree programs with the relevant Program Authority.
If you feel that your starting course isn't appropriate for your language level after attending first week of classes in the term, please contact the course convenor to discuss the feasibility of changing to a higher/lower-level course. Any changes to enrolment must be approved by the Placement Convenor and finalised by Friday, Week 1 of the term.
For timetable information, please see the Online Handbook.
ARTS1660 Korean 1
ARTS1661 Korean 2
ARTS2660 Korean 3
ARTS2661 Korean 4
Note: Students from Korean family backgrounds who have knowledge and skills in Korean are normally ineligible to take ARTS1660/ARTS1661 & ARTS2660/ARTS2661.
ARTS3660 Korean 5 & ARTS3661 Korean 6
ARTS3664 Korean Translation & ARTS3665 Korean Interpretation
General enquiries: Please contact the School of Humanities & Languages for all general enquiries on online placement in Korean.
School of Humanities & Languages
Level 2, Morven Brown Building
Kensington campus, UNSW
Email: hal@unsw.edu.au
Telephone: 9385 1681
Academic advice: If you're unsure which course to enrol in, you'll need to attend a placement interview with Dr Seong-Chul Shin, Placement Coordinator in Korean.
Dr Seong-Chul Shin
Room 262, Level 2 Morven Brown Building
Kensington Campus, UNSW
Email: s.shin@unsw.edu.au
Telephone: 9385 3724
Step 1: Read the information below and assess which course is most appropriate for your level of Spanish language knowledge.
Step 2: Please allow seven working days for us to process your application. An email notification of your placement results will be sent to your UNSW email. If you don't receive a notification after seven working days, please email the School Office at hal@unsw.edu.au quoting your student number.
Note: You'll be contacted by email if a decision can't be made on the basis of the information in the application form. In this case, you may be required to provide further information or attend an interview with a placement convenor.
Submitted applications are processed in order of receipt. As some classes fill up very quickly, it's in a student’s best interests to submit the Online Application Form as soon as possible.
Students from other schools who wish to undertake language courses to fulfil open electives or general education requirements should ensure that these courses count towards the requirements of their degree programs with the relevant Program Authority.
If you feel that your starting course is not appropriate for your language level after attending first week of classes in the term, please contact the course convenor to discuss the feasibility of changing to a higher/lower-level course. Any changes to enrolment must be approved by the Discipline Advisor and finalised by Friday, Week 1 of the term.
For timetable information, please see the Online Handbook.
ARTS1570 Spanish 1
ARTS1571 Spanish 2
ARTS2570 Spanish 3
ARTS2571 Spanish 4
ARTS3570 Spanish 5
ARTS3571 Spanish 6
General enquiries: Please contact the School of Humanities & Languages for all general enquiries on online placement in Spanish.
School of Humanities & Languages
Level 2, Morven Brown Building
Kensington campus, UNSW
Email: hal@unsw.edu.au
Telephone: 9385 1681
Academic advice: If your knowledge of Spanish doesn't fall into one of the above categories, or if you aren't sure what level to enrol on, please contact hal@unsw.edu.au outlining your experience of studying Spanish before submitting the Online Application Form.