To determine your language placement, please contact the professor listed below using the following guidelines:

• Contact Professor Martin Chan (martinluther@uky.edu). Be sure to use your official UK email address, and include your student number in the message.

• In your message, specify what your experience with the language is:

  • Have you studied it formally in school? If so, for how many years? What are the topics you most recently covered in class?

  • Have you spoken the language at home with your family or friends? If so, do you also write and read the language? How often do you speak the language?

  • Have you lived in a country where the language is spoken? For how long?

The Hebrew language, sometimes called Leshon Hakodesh (literally “the holy tongue”) is the language of many classical Jewish texts and the official language of the modern State of Israel. Learning Hebrew will allow students to understand and function in modern Israeli society, and will facilitate close study of texts such as the Bible, Mishnah, and Talmud.

The goal of the Hebrew language program at UK is to produce students with proficiency in all aspects of the language: speaking, listening/comprehension, reading, and writing, and to allow students to explore Israeli and Jewish literature and culture.

Placement Test

Placement is an assessment of a student's level of preparation within a given language. The purpose of the placement test is to help students enroll in a language course in which they have the appropriate skills and are most likely to improve their knowledge of a language. Please note that the placement test does NOT grant credit or grades and cannot be used to replace failing grades in any previously completed course. The placement test simply determines one's proficiency level.

In order to enroll in a Hebrew language course, students who do NOT meet the exemption criteria below must take the placement test.

Who should take the placement test? 

You should take the test if any of the following applies:

• You know some Hebrew (e.g. you studied Hebrew previously, or Hebrew was spoken in your family, or you can read and write some Hebrew) and wish to take a UK Hebrew course OR want to be placed out of the language requirement at UK.
• You participated in a Hebrew Language Study Abroad Program with the UK Education Abroad Office.
• You participated in a study abroad program with institutions other than the UK Education Abroad Office. You must take the test if you wish to take a UK Hebrew course when you return.
•  You are a heritage speaker of Hebrew, attended K-12 in the United States, and would like to place out of the foreign language requirement of a given college at the University of Kentucky.

Who should NOT take the placement test?

Do not take the test if any of the following applies:

• You do not know any Hebrew and wish to take an elementary Hebrew course (i.e., HJS 101).
• You have a high school or college diploma from a country where Hebrew is the official language, you are coded as International Student by Office of the Registrar, and you do not want to enroll in a UK Hebrew language course.

Native speakers are ineligible to enroll in UK Hebrew language courses at the 100-200 level or in Hebrew conversation courses. If you are not coded as International Student by the Registrar's Office and believe you should be, please contact the Registrar at 859-257-3161.

Do I need to sign up in order to take the test?

Please contact Prof. Martin Chan to schedule the placement exam.

Is there a fee for the test?

No fee is required if you are a UK student.

How should I prepare for the test?

The best way to prepare is to review what you have been taught.

When will the test results be available?

Scores are available in MyUK on the student’s unofficial transcript the following business day after taking the placement test.

You are subject to the university honor code when taking this test. It is important that you DO YOUR BEST on this exam. If it becomes evident later that you have intentionally done poorly on the test in order to place at a level lower than your actual level, you may face disciplinary actions for violating the Integrity Pledge.

I have taken the placement test before. How long is the test result valid? 

The test result is valid only for one semester. If you do not enroll in the HJS class the semester you take the placement test, you must take the placement test again if you decide to enroll in a future HJS language class.