The course program is addressed to various target groups: participants from all departments, students for whom (foreign) language education is curricularly anchored (e.g., students majoring in “International Business Administration”), students who want to acquire key qualifications, students for whom the acquisition of another language is obligatory, doctoral students, students from partner universities and employees of the University of Tuebingen. The Foreign Language Center offers the opportunity to acquire foreign language skills in the non-philological area or to further develop existing skills in order to gain additional qualifications. The lessons at the Foreign Language Center prepare students for study abroad or for their future career path. Participants in the foreign language training can obtain the UNIcert® foreign language certificate by the Working Group of Language Centers, Language Teaching Institutes and Foreign Language Institutes (AKS) after successful participation in the training program and after passing the corresponding examinations.

The Foreign Language Center offers a training system for the following languages: Arabic, Basque, English, French, Italian, Japanese, Catalan, Modern Greek, Romanian, Russian, Swedish, and Spanish. Please refer to our course program to find out which languages are offered at which levels and with what contextual orientation.

Courses are free of charge for students and enrolled doctoral candidates at the University of Tübingen.

Most courses take place in the House of Languages, Wilhelmstraße 22, some courses in other practice rooms within walking distance. You can find the respective room and time information for your course online in the corresponding course description in our course program.

Course concepts for individual courses can be found under ‘Language/course concepts’. All languages are accredited according to the university-specific certificate system UNIcert®, which ensures a sustainable high quality standard. The UNIcert® concept includes measurement-based placement tests as well as standardized course content and examination procedures. As a result, the courses of the Foreign Language Center are subject to constant quality control. After taking certain courses or passing a level-specific UNIcert® examination, course participants can acquire an important UNIcert® certificates that are multilingual, include a grade, and clearly demonstrate competencies with a description of the language level, thus facilitating mobility. These certificates are recognized throughout Germany, and increasingly abroad. More information on our UNIcert® page.

Registration for our courses is only possible during the registration phase on the Alma portal. The respective registration and/or sign-out period can be found in the “Periods” info field on the Alma portal. After the registration period, you are welcome to contact us by e-mail before course start in case you have discovered a free course place and would like to be registered for it. Please also ensure that you meet the course requirements if you wish to register at a later date.

After the official enrolment period has expired, you can see in your timetable on the Alma Portal whether you have been admitted to the course or are still only registered. Only if you have been admitted have you been allocated a course spot on the course. Please note that the status “registered” does not mean that you will actually be allocated a spot. In this case, the status “registered” only means that you have expressed a wish to attend. If you are not admitted, you will not be automatically canceled and/or notified, thus you will still have a chance to get a free course place. Please refrain from sending an e-mail asking about your chances of moving up. As soon as a free course place is allocated to you by Alma, you can also recognize this by the status “admitted” in your timetable - you will not be notified otherwise (e.g. by e-mail about an admission). Thank you for your understanding.

For further questions about the Alma-Portal you can also have a look at the FAQ of the ZDV of the University of Tübingen:

Information for students (FAQ) | University of Tübingen

Registration information can be found on our ‘Dates and deadlines’ page under the section "Online Registration".

You can find information on how to de-register/withdraw from a course on our ‘Course regulations’ page under the section ‘De-registering/withdrawing before the course starts’.

If you have prior knowledge of a language, a placement test (usually a C-test) – see FAQs 9-15 – is used to determine/assess your language level. The course assignment is then made based on the results from the placement test. This means that there is the possibility to start your language training on a higher language level via this lateral entry system.

You can find information on the C-test on our ‘Placement test’ page under the section ‘C-test’. Style - For information on the C-test, please visit our ‘Placement test’ page and refer to the section titled ‘C-test’.

No, placement tests can be taken without prior registration. For this purpose, please send us a short request by e-mail. Please be sure to pay attention to the dates and deadlines provided.

C-tests are offered for the following languages: English, French, Italian and Spanish. Unfortunately, for all of the other languages we are currently not offering placement tests. Therefore, please critically self-assign according to the ‘Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)’.

You have 25 minutes per language to complete the test.  Further information about the C-tests can be found on our ‘Placement Test’ page under the section ‘C-Test’. The periods when placement tests are available can be found on our ‘Dates and deadlines’ page.

You can find information on the validity of placement tests on the ‘Placement tests’ page under the section ‘Validity of results and retaking of C-tests'.

The test result is automatically stored in our database, so there is no need for you to inform us of the result after taking the test. However, please remember to note down your result for your own records, as you will be asked to provide the C-test score during the online registration process. If you require the test result in written form, please ensure you make a personal note of it. Regrettably, the Foreign Language Center cannot provide written confirmation of results.

We do not recognize placement results from other institutions at the Foreign Language Center. Instead, we offer a quick and straightforward option to take a C-test. For placement purposes, we recognize UNIcert® certificates (excluding course certificates from UNIcert® courses or those with CEFR requirements) and accept certificates from University of Tuebingen institutions with which we have a corresponding agreement. This includes certificates from Romance Language of Modern Philology propaedeutic I and II, and certificates from Slavic Studies Basic Russian 1 to 4.

No, the Foreign Language Center only issues certificates after successful completion of a course.

A follow-up course is, for example, "French II" after you have successfully taken "French I". However, the "French I" certificate is only valid here for three semesters as a preliminary certificate. If the time would be exceeded, the registration would be done via a placement test in "French II" - but then "French II" would not be a follow-up course of "French I". A course can only be booked as a follow-up course if the required course certificate is not older than three semesters. This also applies to certificates. If you want to register for a follow-up course but you do not yet have grades for the previous course, you can do so conditionally. That is, you register for the follow-up course on time and will be notified if you meet the admission requirements once you have been corrected.

You can find more information on our Conditions of Participation page under the heading Course requirements.

Yes, you can register for up to two language courses per language and a total of three language courses per course period.

However, during the semester break, you cannot register for multiple intensive courses that overlap in time, even if they are scheduled at different times of the day (e.g., morning and afternoon).

You can only retake a course you have already passed if there are available spots in the class. Priority will be given to students who need to take the course as part of their program requirements or who are taking it for the first time.

If you are still interested in taking the course, you can register online using the password provided in the email. However, if the password no longer works, it means the available spot has already been given to another candidate on the waiting list.

In the course program for the respective language, you will find information under "Textbook:" indicating whether the teacher provides the course materials or if a course book is needed. It is more likely that a course book will be required for lower-level language courses. If a course book is needed, students should purchase it themselves unless stated otherwise. Ideally, the book should be available on the first day of the course.

You can cancel a course up to 48 hours before it starts. For intensive courses and semester courses that begin on a Monday, cancellation is possible until 12 pm on the Thursday of the week before the course starts.

To cancel, you can either visit the FSZ office (Wilhelmstraße 22) in person or send an email, including your name, matriculation number, date of birth, and the exact course name.

Please note that if you cancel a course after the deadline, you will be blocked from registering for any FSZ courses in the following semester.

You can find information on this on our “Conditions of Participation” page under the section “Attendance”.

Information on absences can be found on our  “Conditions of Participation” page under the section “Attendance”. Absences due to a certified Covid-19/Quarantine infection will not be counted as regular absences.

Certificates can be collected during the official opening hours at the FSZ information desk following the end of the course. You will receive an email notification once your certificate is ready for pickup.

Details regarding ECTS credits can be found in the course description.

Are the ECTS credits from FSZ courses recognized elsewhere? Certain FSZ courses, specified in the course description, have agreements with the University of Tübingen allowing their ECTS credits to be transferred. This applies to the "Studium Oecologicum" and "Intercultural Thinking and Acting" certificates.

Information about exam dates and registration can be found on our UNIcert® page under the "Examinations" section.

Certificates of achievement are usually issued after the end of the course during our opening hours. If you would like to receive a certificate of achievement by mail because you are not in Tübingen, we require a written request together with a stamped and addressed envelope. Please note that the Foreign Language Center does not assume any liability for the postal service. Certificates of achievement are original documents.

UNIcert® certificates can be picked up against signature and upon presentation of a (student) ID during opening hours.

Yes, this is possible. A third person with a power of attorney issued by you is welcome to pick up your ticket during official opening hours.

In order to be able to view your ECTS on your Transcript of Records, you must send the certificate (ideally by scan) to your responsible examination office. The FSZ does not automatically transfer certificates/achievements to the examination office.

If your UNIcert® certificate is lost, a replacement can be issued for a fee of €30. Please provide your current address for posting to our FSZ account.

On the UNIcert® page, under the heading Exams, you will find information on how to prepare for the exams.

You will receive a letter from the Foreign Language Center notifying you of your exam results and individual grades.. This official document is typically sufficient for master's applications or similar purposes. Additionally, you will receive an email when your certificates are ready for collection the Foreign Language Center's information desk. Please bring your ID card for pickup.

Language tandems are organized by the Information Office of the "Department for German as a Foreign Language and Intercultural Programs" (also at our House of Languages).