Northwestern University Online Language Placement Tests

Technical requirements

Supported System Configurations:
The configurations summarized below show combinations of software known to provide the best overall experience. Although alternate configurations – or older versions of software – may certainly work, they have not been tested and cannot be as effectively supported. Software version numbers can usually be found from within an application or help menu, described by a menu item labeled "About .... ", e.g. "About Internet Explorer."

Language	Windows	Mac OS X	Mac OS 9
Arabic*	Windows Me, 2000, or XP Internet Explorer 6.0+	Mac OS X 10.3+ Safari 1.2.2+	Not supported contact pthelp@mmlc.northwestern.edu
Chinese*	Windows Me, 2000, or XP Internet Explorer 6.0+	Mac OS X 10.2+ Safari 1.0+ or Internet Explorer 5.2.2+	Mac OS 9.1 Chinese Language Kit Internet Explorer 5.1+
French*	Windows Me, 2000, or XP Internet Explorer 6.0+ QuickTime or RealAudio	Mac OS X 10.2+ Safari 1.0+ or Internet Explorer 5.2.2+ QuickTime or RealAudio	Mac OS 9.2 Internet Explorer 5.1+ QuickTime or RealAudio
German*	Windows Me, 2000, or XP Internet Explorer 6.0+ QuickTime or RealAudio	Mac OS X 10.2+ Safari 1.0+ or Internet Explorer 5.2.2+ QuickTime or RealAudio	Mac OS 9.2 Internet Explorer 5.1+ QuickTime or RealAudio
Italian*	Any configuration	Any configuration	Any configuration
Japanese*	Windows Me, 2000, or XP Internet Explorer 6.0+	Mac OS X 10.2+ Internet Explorer 5.2.2+, only	Mac OS 9.1+ Japanese Language Kit Internet Explorer 5.1+, only
Korean*	Windows Me, 2000, or XP Internet Explorer 6.0+	Mac OS X 10.2+ Safari 1.0+ or Internet Explorer 5.2.2+	Mac OS 9.1+ Korean Language Kit Internet Explorer 5.1+
Latin	Any configuration	Any configuration	Any configuration
Russian*	Windows Me, 2000, or XP Internet Explorer 6.0+ Cyrillic Keyboard Extension QuickTime or RealAudio	Mac OS X 10.2+ Safari 1.0+ or Internet Explorer 5.2.2+ Cyrillic Keyboard Extension QuickTime or RealAudio	Mac OS 9.1 Cyrillic Language Kit Internet Explorer 5.1+ Cyrillic Keyboard Extension QuickTime or RealAudio
Spanish*	Windows Me, 2000, or XP Internet Explorer 6.0+ QuickTime or RealAudio	Mac OS X 10.2+ Safari 1.0+ or Internet Explorer 5.2.2+ QuickTime or RealAudio	Mac OS 9.2 Internet Explorer 5.1+ QuickTime or RealAudio
Swahili	Any configuration	Any configuration	Any configuration

For the marked ("*") languages, please be sure to read the notes on language support below. Where "Any configuration" is indicated, the technical requirements do not surpass those required to already view plainly formatted HTML pages with forms.

Language support:
If the language of the test you wish to take uses Romanized characters, e.g. French, German, Italian, Latin, Spanish, Swahili, &c., you will not probably not have to worry about whether your computer can view the test. Yet, if you are taking a French, German, Italian, or Spanish exam, you will however need to print out or keep handy an "accent sheet" that describes how to make accented characters (é, à, ñ, &c.).

Windows PC accent sheet for French, German, Italian, and Spanish
Macintosh accent sheet for French, German, Italian, and Spanish

Alternatively, if you are taking an exam in a language that does not use Romanized characters, but rather a different script, e.g. Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, &c., your computer must be able to display web pages in that language. Links to try out the language support of your browser appear below.

Before you access the sample pages, please note that if you are using a Microsoft Windows-based PC in conjunction with a very recent version of Internet Explorer (as indicated above), it is possible to have the language support you need automatically downloaded and installed as you try to view the sample page. You may wish to view how the procedure (discussed below in "Language support in Internet Explorer") works before accessing the sample pages.

If you are on a Macintosh computer with a complete installation of Mac OS X version 10.2 (Jaguar) or greater, language support for all the testing languages has usually already been installed. You should only need to use the suggested web browser in the matrix above. If the you are using a Macintosh computer and are unable to view the pages of sample text, please consult the instructions for adding any needed language support below.

Sample Arabic Text
Sample Chinese Text
Sample Japanese Text
Sample Korean Text
Sample Russian Text

Multimedia support:
The French, German, and Spanish tests incorporate audio recordings. To listen to and answer questions based on the recordings, you will need to have a working installation of either QuickTime or RealPlayer. Of the two, QuickTime is the preferred media format.

QuickTime test page
RealAudio test page

Installing language support on a Windows PC with Internet Explorer:
With the most recent versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft has made it very easy to install foreign-language web page support on your computer. In most cases, the moment you attempt to open a page with foreign-language text, Internet Explorer will ask if you would like to install any necessary software to be able to view the page. In order to install any software, you will have to have be the administrator, have administrative rights, or be the owner of the computer. A typical scenario is detailed via the link below.

Automatic installation of language support in Microsoft Internet Explorer

Installing needed language support on a Macintosh computer:
Both Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X come with support for many languages. If any needed language support has not been installed, it can be installed from the System disk. In order to install software on your Macintosh you will need to be the owner, or an administrator ("admin") of the computer.

General instructions for Mac OS 9 computers
General instructions for Mac OS X computers (as of 10.2 and 10.3)

Multimedia Learning Center
Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
Northwestern University