The Association to promote internationalisation at FAU (Förderverein zur Internationalisierung der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg e.V.) is responsible for the intensive courses (outside the lecture period) on offer, which are aimed specifically at the various international guests at our University. A three-week long intensive course is organised twice a year (in March and September). The German department at the Language Centre supports the initiative run by the Association by organising courses and selecting suitable teaching staff.

Classes are held on a daily basis during the intensive course (outside the lecture period), totalling 72 teaching hours (one teaching hour lasts 45 minutes). A placement test is held before the course to allocate students to a suitable course. Absolute beginners are not required to sit a placement test.

• Regular students at FAU
• International exchange students at FAU
• Doctoral candidates at FAU and affiliated institutes
• Guest researchers at FAU and affiliated institutes
• Employees and those doing a work placement at FAU and affiliated institutes
• The courses are not open to prospective students

The course is not suitable for students preparing to sit the Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang (DSH). Please refer to our website for information on relevant courses.
Please note: it is important that you arrange sufficient health insurance cover for the duration of the course.

• German language teaching aimed at various levels
• Listening comprehension
• Reading comprehension
• Phonetics
• Conversation
• Modules investigating the culture of the country

The decision on which textbooks to use is taken at short notice on the basis of experience gained during previous courses. Textbooks are provided by the teacher on the first day of the course.

A list of textbooks used during the previous intensive holiday course in German can be found here:

• Course schedule
  Courses are held at the following times on the various days of the week:
• No lessons on the last day of the course in the afternoon

 Courses are held in Erlangen or Nuremberg. You cannot choose where you would prefer to attend.
Please note: refurbishing work means that there is only a small number of rooms available for courses in Nuremberg.

• The courses cost € 370.
• Any bank fees incurred when transferring the course fees are to be paid by the student taking the language course.

Please note that you can only be given binding confirmation of a place on the course once we have received your payment. As soon as payment is received, you are sent confirmation by e-mail.

• To ensure as far as possible that learners of a similar ability are in the same course, anyone interested in taking a German course at the Language Centre has to go through the ability assessment process.
• You can only take part in a course once your language skills have been assessed.
• The courses are offered at different levels roughly equivalent to the levels of the Common European Framework of Reference (CER).
• Absolute beginners are allocated automatically to level A1 or A1.1. An absolute beginner is someone who has never taken a German course and does not have any previous knowledge of German.
• Further information on how language proficiency is assessed can be found here:
• The argument that you have already worked in other courses with the textbook chosen for the course cannot be accepted as justification for being moved to a different level.

More about registration here.

• If you withdraw from the course up to 7 days before the course is due to begin, you are refunded the course fees minus a processing fee of 60 euros. Notice of withdrawal must be given in writing. The date your letter or e-mail is received is decisive.
• If you withdraw at a later date, fail to attend or fail to complete the course you are not entitled to a refund of the course fees.
• If you are absent on the first two days of the course, this is deemed as a failure to attend. The reasons are not important. You can no longer join the course after the first two days have passed. Course fees can be refunded in justified exceptional circumstances (such as an accident or illness).

Sometimes the level best suited to you cannot be offered as not enough people have registered. In this case you will be allocated to the level which comes closest to your results in the placement test. If you decide after the first three days of classes not to continue with the course you will be refunded the course fees in full.

5 ECTS credits are allocated for successfully completing the course. In order to complete the course successfully, students have to attend at least 85 percent of classes and successfully complete any tests, presentations etc. set by the teacher. Anyone who attends 85 percent of classes but is not able to successfully complete the tests etc. can be given an ungraded certificate of attendance.

Heidi Daumer-Hirschmann E-Mail: sz-daf-fitkurs@fau.de