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 of 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 prepares students for study abroad or for their future career path. Participants of 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, Catalonian, Modern Greek, Rumanian, Russian, Swedish and Spanish. Please refer to our course program to find out which languages are offered at which levels and which contextual orientation.

Courses are free of charge for students and enrolled doctoral candidates. Information on fees for students from partner universities and non-matriculated doctoral students as well as employees can be found here.

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 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 previous knowledge of a language, a placement test (usually a C-test) – see FAQ 9-15 – is used to determine 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’.

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

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. Therefore, it is not necessary four you to inform us of the result after the test. However, please remember to make a note of the result for your own information, as the score obtained in the C-Test will be requested during the online registration process. If you need the test result in written form, please make a note of it. Unfortunately, written confirmation of the results by the Foreign Language Center is not possible.

We do not recognize placement results from other institutions. At the Foreign Language Center, we offer the quick and uncomplicated possibility to take a C-test. For placement purposes, we recognize UNIcert® certificates (no course certificates from UNIcert® courses or courses with CEFR requirements) and accept certificates from institutions of the University of Tuebingen with which a corresponding agreement exists (certificates of Romance Language of Modern Philology propaedeutic I and II and certificates of Slavic Studies of 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 .

Participation (and corresponding registration) in a maximum of two language courses per language and three language courses in total is permitted per course period.
It is not possible to register for several intensive courses during the semester-free period, which overlap in time - even if they take place at staggered times (mornings/afternoons).

It is only possible to retake a course that has already been passed if there are still free course capacities. Priority is given to students who are taking the course as a required course or who have not yet taken this course.

If you are still interested in taking part in a course, you have the option of registering online in the named course by entering the password you received.
If it is no longer possible to register under this password, the free place has already been passed on to another candidate on the waiting list.

In the course program of the respective language you will find the information ("Textbook:") for each course whether the teacher provides the course materials or a course book is needed - the latter especially in courses at lower language levels. If a course book is mentioned, it should be purchased by the students themselves if no information to the contrary is given. The book should be available on the first day of the course if possible.

Cancellation of a course is possible until 48h before the course starts at the latest. For intensive courses and semester courses that start on a Monday, it is possible to cancel a course no later than: Thursday of the week before the course starts, till 12 pm. Cancellations can be made in person at the FSZ office (Wilhelmstraße 22) or by e-mail, stating name, matriculation number, date of birth and exact course name. Please note that a later course deregistration will lead to a blocking for the following semester of all the FSZ courses.

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”. In addition, absences due to a certified Covid-19/Quarantine infection will not be counted as regular absences.

Certificates can be picked up after the end of the course during the official opening hours at the information desk of the FSZ. As soon as the certificates are ready for collection, you will be notified by e-mail.

The ECTS information can be found in the course description

For two certificates of the University of Tübingen there is an agreement according to which the ECTS of certain FSZ courses (see course description) can be credited. This concerns the certificate "Studium Oecologicum" (the FSZ offers courses in three languages - English, French, Spanish) and the certificate "Intercultural Thinking and Acting" (here, too, the ECTS of several FSZ courses can be credited).
The ECTS information can be found in the course description.

You can find information about the dates on our UNIcert® page under the section “Examinations”.

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 is welcome to pick up your ticket with a power of attorney issued by you 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 a UNIcert® certificate is lost, a replacement certificate can be issued. We charge a fee of 30.00 euros for the replacement certificate. For this purpose, please send us your complete current address. After posting on our FSZ account, the replacement certificate will be issued.

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 informing you whether you have passed the exam. This result letter will also list your individual grades. This official document is usually sufficient as proof for master's applications, accounts degrees or similar. You will be informed about the completion of the certificates by e-mail from the Foreign Language Center. You can then pick them up in person at the information desk of the Foreign Language Center upon presentation of an ID card.

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