Language Examination

[Herbie]

Self-explanatory. I'm very curious as to what current and future Art History grads have to say about the language examination test required for both the Masters and Ph.D. For current students, relatively speaking, what degree of understanding did you have when you pass/failed it? For future grads, what steps are you taking in preparation?

I've been killing time working on a jigsaw puzzle and my French to ensure I have the fundamentals covered. Passé, l'indicatif, le subjonctif, le futur. . . etc., etc.. It's pretty much a refresher study - I technically took a "year" off before applying to graduate school, and am prepping my brain for grad studying. Any suggestion on literature I could pick up?

I picked up Easy French Reader, to cover all aforementioned bases - plus I prefer a hardcopy for things to translate compared to my computer screen.

I'm also waiting on Practice Makes Perfect: Complete French Grammar.

I sold my undergrad French books back because they didn't have answer keys, etc.

Thanks for any information!

[fortehlulz]

It seems to me that most programs want you to have a "reading knowledge" of one or two foreign languages. If you are studying a particular type of art, such as Chinese, then they would probably expect you to be reasonably fluent in that language. Basically, you should be able to conduct research in the foreign language. I am not sure if they would also expect you to be able to write and present in that language, though I am sure that level of ability would be a boon.

[ne4810]

Our test was reading only, no speaking. We had to read and translate a passage into English. This is pretty standard from what other MA grads have told me. For the PHD level its the same deal but more than one language. Hope that helps.

[Chicken Dan]

In our department, it depends on the language and who is responsible for administering your exam. My advisor administered my Chinese exam; it was pretty rough (even though I've had about six years!) French and German are pretty standard, so they're run by folks in these departments in concert with our professors. I'm sure that this varies from school to school, but most of my colleagues have been able to pass an exam in a new romance language after about a summer and a semester of concerted study.

[fortehlulz]

In our department, it depends on the language and who is responsible for administering your exam. My advisor administered my Chinese exam; it was pretty rough (even though I've had about six years!) French and German are pretty standard, so they're run by folks in these departments in concert with our professors. I'm sure that this varies from school to school, but most of my colleagues have been able to pass an exam in a new romance language after about a summer and a semester of concerted study.

For Chinese, were you tested on both modern and classical? What was the test like? I am curious because I am planning to do Chinese art and cinema. I have background in both simplified and traditional characters, but I am afraid that since I only spent a summer abroad (though in a very intensive program) and my classes at my home school were not as rigorous as I would have hoped, I may be a bit behind when it comes time for testing. Did you continue to take language classes in graduate school? I do have reading knowledge of a Romance language, at least. They are much easier for me.

[Venus_of_Urbino]

In our department, it depends on the language and who is responsible for administering your exam. My advisor administered my Chinese exam; it was pretty rough (even though I've had about six years!) French and German are pretty standard, so they're run by folks in these departments in concert with our professors. I'm sure that this varies from school to school, but most of my colleagues have been able to pass an exam in a new romance language after about a summer and a semester of concerted study.

Our French exam was SUPER easy. I only took 5 years of French at a terrible public hs and I passed easily. Though, I am fluent in Italian, which helps a ton. My colleague took it and clearly didn't understand the harder of the two passages and passed it. Our German exam is notoriously hard. No one passes that unless you really know German.

[Herbie]

I'm sure that this varies from school to school, but most of my colleagues have been able to pass an exam in a new romance language after about a summer and a semester of concerted study.

A new romance language? You must mean one they just began to learn that summer+semester. Huh. That's interesting. If I'm wrong, correct me.

[Chicken Dan]

Fortehlulz,

There were two parts to my exam - both written. In one section, we were allowed to use a dictionary. This wasn't so bad. Our text was some Chinese analysis of a Yangzhou artist (If I remember correctly). The second part was tougher. We didn't have a dictionary, and were asked to translate an overview of a western art history in the early 20th century. I remember trying to puzzle out the meaning of one art movement - fauvism - for a few minutes. Oh well, I passed. That's the most important thing. No classical Chinese, but I've taken classes here in basic classical Chinese and stuff specific to my study of Qing documents.

Chulianne,

Yes, some of my more ambitious classmates have taken French for reading over a summer and then continued into the fall. Then they take their exams in the early spring. Some have passed; others have had to take more classes.

[fortehlulz]

Fortehlulz,

There were two parts to my exam - both written. In one section, we were allowed to use a dictionary. This wasn't so bad. Our text was some Chinese analysis of a Yangzhou artist (If I remember correctly). The second part was tougher. We didn't have a dictionary, and were asked to translate an overview of a western art history in the early 20th century. I remember trying to puzzle out the meaning of one art movement - fauvism - for a few minutes. Oh well, I passed. That's the most important thing. No classical Chinese, but I've taken classes here in basic classical Chinese and stuff specific to my study of Qing documents.

The proper noun phonetic-type translations are the worst! I remember coming across the Chinese version of Dostoevsky's name in a short story and having a complete brain freeze. And they are not always consistent, either, because sometimes they are translations based on meanings, as I believe Expressionism becomes something along the lines of 表现主义 (?). It seems like a good background in art history helps with these translations, though. At least there probably won't be anything about earthworms (happened to a friend of mine on a general language test).

[MinorGirl]

I took the French translation administered by the department and failed (even though I had four years of French!). Then I took a summer course designed for French reading comprehension and passed that with no problem.

However, I'm not looking forward to learning German if I go on for my Ph.D...

[revivalarch]

Hello -

I was required to take a language examination for my MA (I had to take it before I could start writing my thesis) even though I had passed a French translation course (at the graduate level). I had some coursework in Italian, but for the translation (reading ability in Italian), I bought an Italian grammar book and did some intense studying. I also practiced by translating art history articles from JSTOR. I passed my exam (I had two parts - I had one hr to translate an article with a dictionary and one hr to translate an article without a dictionary). For my PhD, I will have to also pass the French or German language exam (I haven't decided which...).

[ayan0624]

Would you mind telling me what French program you went to improve your reading comprehension? I think I'm on the similar situation--at the time of undergrad graduation, I will have 4 years of French and 2 years of German, but I am very worried if it will be sufficient for grad school language exam (though assuming that I will have extra 4 semesters or so to improve my skills)

[violetvivian]

Hi all,

Thought I would resurrect this helpful thread. I'll be attending a PhD program next year that requires a language examination within the first month of enrollment. I've had 3 semesters of French but have taken a year off and really, really need to refresh. Like, beaucoup. I can't enroll in summer courses here at my undergrad or really any sort of formal study for expense reasons (yeah, I know going to spend the summer in France would be ideal...). Any suggestions for preparing for a French exam independently? Texts, methods, strategies? Thanks!

[snooze]

Like, beaucoup.

^ Awesome.

So, I haven't taken a language placement test yet, but over the summer and in my free time I plan to just read everyday texts in French. Currently, I have my homepage set to Yahoo! Italia so I can keep up with my Italian by skimming easy news articles. I'll probably change it to a French site soon. Anyway, I would just read some various texts in French, like maybe a magazine or some short stories or a French cooking site (bonus: French recipes).

Or, this totally hip(ster) music site: http://www.blogotheque.net/

Edited April 10, 2011 by snooze

[Manette]

I think reading a little bit everyday is a great way to keep up with a language. I've taken to French museum websites like d'orsay or the louvre, reading descriptions of works. Not only is the vocabulary similar to the stuff I'll be reading in grad school, but it's easy to switch back to English to cross reference or check my translations.