(e.g. Spanish I, Swedish I, etc.)

Our elementary courses are intended only for beginners without previous knowledge or placement test results of 0-34 points. Detailed information is given under Placement tests.

Note: If you register for a beginner course with previous knowledge and the instructor considers your language skills to be too high for the course level, you will unfortunately not be able to finish the course and you may also not be able to find a place on a course that is suitable for you in time. Unfortunately, you will also be blocked from registering for specific courses. By occupying a place on a course at a level below your capability, this also prevents other language learners from attending the course, as your place will remain vacant even if there is a waiting list.

(e.g. French II, Italian III, etc.)

a) Placement test result of the Foreign Language Center (please refer to the course program for the course requirements)

b) Registration for a follow-up course*

c) Registration for a follow-up course at the next UNIcert® level

*Follow-up courses build on previous courses from the Foreign Language center in the same subject, e.g. Spanish II after Spanish I, Business English II after Business English I etc., which you have passed in the previous three semesters.

The Foreign Language Center (FSZ) offers four periods for online registration during the semester and during lecture-free periods in spring and fall. This means that many language courses are offered not only once a year, but up to four times a year. Parallel courses are also offered for many language courses.

Registration dates can be found under Dead and deadlines.

Registration restrictions

• Participants may only register and attend a maximum of two language courses per language and three language courses on a language level in total per course period.
• Students may not register for several intensive courses during the semester break (regardless of whether they overlap or take place in a different time frame).
• Registration for a follow-up intensive course within the same course period is only possible if the certificate of the previous course has already been issued and there are still places available on the next course.
• Repeating previous courses that have already been passed will only be permitted if there are places available on the course. Priority is given to students whose attendance of the course is compulsory or who have not yet taken the course.
• Participants may not attend a course if they have been blocked for the relevant course period and language.

Participants may withdraw from a course no later than 48 hours before the start of the course.

For intensive courses and semester courses starting on a Monday, participants can withdraw from a course at the latest by: Thursday of the week before the course starts, 12 pm.

You can withdraw in person at the FSZ secretary’s office (Wilhelmstraße 22) or by e-mail to fszspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de, stating your name, student ID number, date of birth, and exact course name.

Please note that withdrawing from the course at a later date is not without negative consequences.

Attending the first session of the course

Participants must attend the first session of the course in person to confirm their registration. You must bring your student ID card or employee ID with you.

Attending the first session of the course is therefore mandatory. Please inform the FSZ – not your instructor – by email at fsz@uni-tuebingen.de or phone (see contact details) if you will be absent for an important reason but would still like to participate in the course. If you do not inform the FSZ of your absence, your course place will be re-assigned.

In the event of an unexcused absence in the first session, the participant’s registration will be cancelled, their place will be assigned immediately to a person on the waiting list and the participant that has failed to attend will be blocked for the following semester course period.

Participants who are absent at the first session of the course who were not excused but can present a medical certificate, will be excluded from the course, but will not be blocked from registering for the following semester.

Attendance during the course

Attendance is compulsory for FSZ courses. Only participants who have fulfilled the attendance requirement are entitled to take part in an examination.

Absences also apply in the case of illness and examinations, etc. Participants who have been absent from a course on medical grounds for at least 30% of the course without interruption and thus had to cancel the course will not be blocked from registering for the following semester if they present a medical certificate.

Authorized absences

(1 teaching hour = 45 minutes)

Course exams take place at the end of the course. Please register for the final exams via ALMA and note the course regulations. If you have fulfilled the attendance requirement, you are entitled to take the exam. If you would like to request an accommodation due to disability or (chronic) illness, please let your teacher know at least 2 weeks in advance.

Employee courses are subject to the payment of fees. Participation in a course is only possible after the fee has been paid on time. However, students, who are enrolled at the University of Tübingen, and who participate in a student course, are not subject to a fee.

The FSZ charges a course fee for employees of €45 per semester hour (SWS). This means that a course worth 2 SWS costs €90 and a course worth 4 SWS costs €180.

The course fee can only be paid by bank transfer. After the start of the course, you will receive a separate payment request including the bank account details by e-mail. Please make sure to state "FSZ" and only "language course" in the reason for payment and not the full name of the course.

For more information, please refer to the registration information:

• Information for employees

Certificates that are required for enrolling in a follow-up course are valid for three semesters. Certificates older than 3 semesters cannot be accepted for enrollment in a follow-up course. (Exception: If you have already completed a semester abroad in the country of the target language in the meantime). If this applies to you, please take the placement test again.

Based on the experience in recent years that many UNIcert® certificates issued automatically by the Foreign Language Center were not collected, we have decided to change the procedure. The following cumulative UNIcert® certificates will no longer be printed automatically and will only be issued following an individual request via email:

1. Basis (from winter semester 2018/2019)
2. Unicert I (from winter semester 2019/20)
3. Unicert II (from winter semester 2018/2019) 

Please email unicert@fsz.uni-tuebingen.de within one month from the end of the course to request a UNIcert® certificate. You will then be notified by email when the certificate can be collected at the information desk during the current opening hours or sent to you on receipt of a prepaid return envelope. In the future, your instructor will also draw your attention to this new procedure during the course.

UNIcert® certificates III and IV, which you can obtain by taking an examination, will continue to be issued automatically.

Individuals may be blocked from participation if:

• They fail to attend the first session of the course and have not been excused. (If participants are aware that they will be unable to attend the first session of a course they may inform the FSZ in advance.)
• They decide not to continue a course
• They have enrolled for an elementary course e.g. Italian I with previous language skills that are higher than the level required.
• They have withdrawn from a course too late.

The block applies only to the respective language and will last for the course period in the following semester. For example, if you cancel an Italian course in the summer semester 2020, you will be blocked from registering for all Italian courses at the FSZ in the winter semester 2020/21.

You will be informed by email if you have been blocked from participation. You can also request your participation status by contacting our information desk by email.