Language Certificates for Latin America

A stay in Latin America should of course also serve to improve your language skills. However, the main goal is your professional development, i.e. taking courses in your field of study and in the local language. You will therefore need a good to very good knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese by the time you start your semester abroad. In most cases, the partner university will require a level of B1 or B2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

When applying for a study place in Latin America, you must provide proof of your current language skills by means of a DAAD-language certificate. You can obtain this as follows:

• If you are currently taking a language course at Brechtbau, the Specialized Language Center or the Brazil Center, you will usually receive such a language certificate from your lecturer.
• The language certificate for Spanish is also available at the German-American Institute in Tübingen. The Test costs €55 (€50 for d.a.i. members).

Alternatively, a UNICERT certificate is also accepted. The certificate of a passed course at the Foreign Language Center is not sufficient.

Please take care of the language certificate in good time before the application deadline!

We are aware that many applicants may not yet be at the required B1/B2 level at the time of application. You can also apply for a study place in Latin America with a lower level. Although your current level will be included in the assessment of your application, a low language level is not an automatic exclusion criterion. If you receive a letter of acceptance for a study place from us despite a lower language level, this will be given subject to the proviso that you achieve the required language level by the time you apply to the host university.

Most partner universities offer language courses to accompany your studies. However, these are not always free of charge.