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It is an advantage for foreign applicants for a place of study if they are
able to attend a language course before leaving their home country. Sometimes
these are offered by the home university or the German cultural institutions
(e.g. the Goethe-Instititut) in the home country. The addresses of such
institutions can be obtained from German embassies and consulates.
In Germany there are branches of the Goethe-Institut at which intensive
language courses take place in various towns. Further information on these
can be obtained from:
Information on university vacation courses and holiday courses is available from:
You can check or train your German Grammar (structured according to the European Framework of Reference for Languages). Please use this website (Website of "Deutsch Akademie").
A good knowledge of German is essential for a successful study course in higher education at Bielefeld University. Basically, all parts of these courses (lectures, practical exercises, and seminars) are taught in German, and all applicants with foreign university entrance qualifications who wish to graduate with a degree from Bielefeld University will have to provide proof of the necessary language proficiency.
Starting in the winter semester 2007/08, Bielefeld University has introduced a new procedure for testing proficiency in German. The DSH (Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang) was discontinued and replaced by the TestDaF (Test Deutsch als Fremdsprache, see here: www.testdaf.de (in German)).
As a result, Bielefeld University has set up the TestDaF-Zentrum Bielefeld in a joint venture with the bibis language institute.
Regretfully, applicants with no basic knowledge of German will not be accepted for enrollment in German-language higher education courses at Bielefeld University. Applicants are expected to have already learned sufficient basic German (preferably beyond the level of the Zertifikat Deutsch) in their home country. If you have not gained a Zertifikat Deutsch, you must provide proof that you have attended German courses for at least 800 hours.
Important note: Bielefeld University does not offer language courses for so-called "beginners," in other words, for applicants who do not yet speak any German at all.
As a study applicant, you may be allowed to enter a higher education course directly if you have good enough grades on your TestDaF Certificate (Level 4 in all four subtests = 4 x 4 or overall 16 points and Level 4 in writing) or you have a Level-2 DSH Certificate. Exceptions to this rule are available for the following subjects: Mathematics, British and American Studies (M.A.) and Inter-American Studies (M.A.), and Art and Music. For these subjects, you will need only a Level-3 TestDaF Certificate (Level 3 in all four subtests = 4 x 3) or a Level-1 DSH Certificate. If you choose a combination of two subjects, you will have to qualify for the subject requiring the highest TestDaF or DSH grades.
If you don't have a DSH or TestDaF Certificate, you can present one of the following qualifications:
Students in some master-courses (Systems Biology of Brain and Behaviour/ Behaviour: From Neural Mechanisms to Evolution and MSc Quantitative Economics) or in "international tracks (Sociology, Intelligent Systems, Informatics in the Natural Sciences) don't need a German knowledge certificate. PhD students may gain exemption from examination in German by applying to the Dean of their faculty. Guest students visiting Bielefeld for only a short time do not need to provide proof of knowledge of German.
If you have a basic knowledge of German, but your German language qualifications are not good enough for a higher education course, you may enroll as a student in the language course at the university. To gain admission, you will need a Zertifikat Deutsch als Fremdsprache or proof of 800 hours of accomplished German class. The preparatory language courses for higher education studies are provided by the bibis language institute in cooperation with Bielefeld University . You can enroll in the language course at the beginning of any semester. For the winter semester, enrollment may be postponed until the end of October for participants arriving late or those on waiting lists. A similar ruling applies for the summer semester.
Precondition for attending the university language course assured by bibis (www.bibisnet.de) is acceptance through uni-assist (for Bachelor's study courses) or through Bielefeld University (for Master's study courses, PhD).
Depending on your individual language proficiency, courses last for 200 or 400 hours, that is, 10 or 20 weeks. The 10-week course (200 hours) costs 655 Euro; the 20-week course (400 hours) 1,310 Euro. TestDaF exam at bibis costs 175 Euro (as at November 2012).
Alongside admittance through the Bielefeld University, you will have to submit the following:
Participants will be enrolled as students at Bielefeld University only after registering for the language course. This will grant them the status of enrolled students for one semester.
If you have any questions on the language courses or on the language proficiency tests, please get in touch with the bibis language institute. If you have any further questions you can obtain information from the International Office of Bielefeld University (former Akademisches Auslandsamt) or for application and enrollment into the language course from the Studierendensekretariat.
If you want to improve your German while studying at Bielefeld University, you may be interested in PunktUm.
International students (Bachelor's, Master's, and PhD) visiting this site can click on "Sprechen und Schreiben an der Universität" where they will find courses and workshops open to students from all faculties. These courses are specially designed to help you with both the subject-related and the language demands of your study course.
Guest scientists as well as graduate students attending the English-language Graduate Schools or Graduate Colleges can also find beginners' and intermediate-level courses under the heading "Deutschkurse" .
For further information and registration, please visit the PunktUm Office in Room C3-226 at Bielefeld University.
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