Graduate Reading Exams

2008-2009 DATES

September 12, 2008

November 7, 2008

January 23, 2009

March 13, 2009

April 17, 2009

Register Online

Revised August 2008.

Language Proficiency Examinations

The proficiency examination for the M.A. and/or Ph.D. requirements is designed to test the student's proficiency in the language. The examination consists of a prose passage in French to be translated in 90 minutes into adequate, if not literary, English. The length will be between 250-750 words. The texts will be chosen out of recent social science and humanities journals. The student must demonstrate a clear understanding of syntactical structures and some basic knowledge of cultural references. Verb charts and paper dictionaries are allowed. The results of the examinations are sent to the Office of the Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, with the graded examinations. The examinations are the property of the University of Virginia. A copy of the results is sent to the graduate advisor and the secretary of the student's department. The grading fee has been set by the Graduate School, and students will be informed by their department that they must clear administrative matters with the Graduate School before receiving credit for the examination.

FREN 101G will help prepare students for this exam. This course is generally offered during the spring semester and follows Edward M. Stack's text Reading French in the Arts and Sciences, fourth edition (Houghton Mifflin). The motivated student can successfully prepare for the proficiency exam independently by reading Stack's text and working independently on practice translations.

Language Mastery Examinations

The mastery examination differs from the proficiency examination in that it lasts two hours and is made up of three parts:

1. A short critical prose passage to be translated in 40 minutes.

2. Analysis of a short text. Forty minutes are allowed to answer six to eight questions in English about the form and meaning of the proposed text.

3. A short essay in French with a general question relating to the student's major. Students will have forty minutes to respond to the question.

FOR BOTH MASTERY AND PROFICIENCY:

All candidates must sign up at least one (1) week in advance, either online or in person at the French Department, 302 Cabell Hall.

The $17 exam fee is to be made payable by check only to the University of Virginia on the day of the exam. Please note that you must remit payment to receive your exam.

You may consult a bilingual dictionary and a verb chart. Grammar books are not permitted.

Please type your answers. You may e-mail your work to the exam proctor at fre-exm@virginia.edu as an attached Word document, however, please respect the time limit.

Exams may be picked up in the French Department Office (Cabell 302) any time after 9 a.m., and returned by NO LATER THAN 4:00 p.m. the same day. Students will choose a consecutive 90 minute period between those hours to complete the proficiency exam or a consecutive two hour period to complete the mastery exam. 

GSAS will notify your dean of your results approximately two weeks after the exam date. Please do not contact the French Department for your exam results.

  Please address your questions and comments to fre-exm@virginia.edu.

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