National Latin Examination

The National Latin Exam is a test given to Latin students. Sponsored by the U.S.-based American Classical League and the National Junior Classical League, the exam was given in 2012 to over 136,000 students in the U.S., Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe, and for the first time Taiwan. The test covers general knowledge of Latin grammar and vocabulary, mythology, Roman culture, derivatives, and translation abilities.

The office of the National Latin Exam is located in Trinkle Hall on the campus of the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

The philosophy of the National Latin Exam is predicated on providing every Latin student the opportunity to experience a sense of personal accomplishment and success in his or her study of the Latin language and culture. This opportunity exists for all students on the National Latin Exam since they are not competing with their fellow students on a comparative basis, but are evaluated solely on their own performance on the exam. The basic purposes of the NLE are to promote the study of Latin and to encourage the individual student.

The National Latin Exam is a forty question, multiple-choice test with a time limit of forty-five minutes; it is offered to students on seven levels.

On the Introduction to Latin, Latin I, Latin II, Latin III, Latin III/IV Prose, and Latin III/IV Poetry exams, there are questions on grammar, comprehension, mythology, derivatives, literature, Roman life, history, geography, oral Latin, and Latin in use in the modern world.

The Latin V-VI exam contains two Latin passages as the basis for questions on grammar, comprehension, historical background, classical literature, and literary devices.

The exam is scored based on the number of questions answered correctly, with no penalty for guessing.

While a student can take an exam for a higher level than the one in which he or she is currently enrolled, the student may not take any level below his or her completion. The student is not required to take an actual Latin class to take an exam; however, the student must have an official sponsor and must take the exam with a proctor that is not the Latin teacher.

Several awards are available to those students who excel on the NLE:

For Latin I-VI+:

For Introduction to Latin:

An NLE Certificate of Merit is also provided for each school participating in the exam.

The students who have three, four, or five years of perfect papers are sent special book awards in addition to the special certificate. The perfect papers must be for ascending levels of the exam exclusive of the Introduction to Latin exam.

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