The no-fail option for renewing a California driver’s license is now available in Mandarin, the Department of Motor Vehicles announced.
The online video course — “eLearning” — is also offered in English and, since June, in Spanish.
Introduced in 2022 as an alternative to the conventional renewal test, the course can be completed in about 40 minutes on a home computer or mobile device. The applicant watches seven lessons and answers several questions about each.
Multiple tries are allowed for each question, and the DMV says you cannot fail eLearning – if you complete the course, your knowledge test requirement is fulfilled.
In the new version, written material is in Traditional Chinese characters and audio in Mandarin.
The eLearning option can be selected by an applicant who has started the renewal process on the DMV’s website. Even drivers 70 and up, who must go into a DMV office for the final renewal steps, can do the video course at home.
Those who choose to take the conventional test instead can do that on a home computer, monitored by an online proctor, or at one of the computer stations in a DMV office. To do the at-home version, select “MVProctor” when filling out the renewal application online; because it is proctored, it is available limited hours (8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays) and it requires a webcam. It’s available in 35 languages.
The conventional renewal test has 25 questions, and you must get at least 20 right. You have three tries to pass it.