Exchange students, regular students in English-language degree programs, doctoral candidates, researchers, employees

• Application to register for a course submitted in good time using the online form on our website
• Completion of Language Center placement test or grade from language course previously attended at Freie Universität

5 ECTS

• Regular and active participation
• Completion of coursework (grammar tests, writing different texts)
• Successful completion of an assignment (writing a text and, depending on the specific course, carrying out a presentation or participating in a discussion)

General Focus:

• Improving listening and reading comprehension skills
• Expanding vocabulary (with a focus on linking words)
• Improving writing skills through self-correction exercises
• Practicing students’ ability to express themselves orally by participating in discussions and presentations
• Expansion upon and reinforcement of grammar knowledge
• Work on cultural topics and aspects of intercultural knowledge
• Project work: Research and presentation (oral and in writing) on a specific aspect of one of the course topics

Learning Objectives:

After completing this course, students are able to

• quickly understand a wide range of long, factual texts in detail;
• identify different opinions and lines of reasoning in long, complex texts;
• follow long speeches and more complex lines of reasoning, provided the topic is familiar and the speech/conversation features explicit signals;
• actively participate in discussions and explain and justify their own views through relevant explanations, arguments, and comments;
• prepare and clearly carry out a presentation in which they present reasons in favor of or against a point of view;
• discuss a topic orally and in writing, summarizing information and lines of reasoning from various different written sources, as well as reproduce the line of thought presented by a text and explain the advantages and disadvantages of various options;
• deliberately apply a range of listening and reading strategies as well as strategies to plan and correct oral and written texts.

Course Topics:

Course A:
“Political and Societal Debates”: The rental situation and gentrification; crime in popular culture and femicide; animal welfare; stolen art; right-wing extremism

Course B:
“Berlin - City of Science": 300 years of science in Berlin; imparting knowledge in museums; Berlin inventions, discoveries, theories, and their influence past and present; working as a scientist, career opportunities, equal rights in the academic world; citizens create knowledge: science for all (citizen science)

Exchange students, regular students in English-language degree programs, doctoral candidates, researchers, employees

• Application to register for a course submitted in good time using the online form on our website
• Completion of Language Center placement test or grade from language course previously attended at Freie Universität

5 ECTS

• Regular and active participation
• Completion of coursework (grammar tests, writing texts, presentations)
• Successful completion of final exam

General Focus:

• Reinforcing understanding of grammatical structures and expanding upon existing knowledge to include more complex concepts
• Systematically expanding vocabulary
• Improving reading and listening skills
• Improving writing skills through self-correction exercises
• Practicing students’ ability to express themselves orally through presentations, mediation exercises, and discussions
• Reinforcing techniques for independent language learning and carrying out academic work (researching, structuring and refining information)
• Work on cultural topics and aspects of intercultural knowledge

Learning Objectives:

After completing this course, students are able to

• understand the main concept, detailed information, and various points of view presented across a broad range of (popular) scientific texts;
• understand long speeches and follow complex lines of reasoning;
• clearly express their thoughts and opinions, argue a point convincingly, and react to the complex arguments of others during a discussion;
• carry out a clear, well-organized presentation, highlight important points, and deal with questions asked by the audience;
• summarize in a structured manner the content of texts that deal with a range of topics, objectively and convincingly present their own point of view, and clarify their opinion using examples;
• actively put listening and reading strategies into practice and utilize appropriate resources (dictionaries, grammar knowledge).

Course Topics:

Course 1:
Current affairs (Berlin as a reflection of the times; current affairs in the media; dealing with time; protest movements)

Course 2:
Language and society (language, cognition, and culture; minority languages; inclusive language; youth language; advertising language; language used in conspiracy theories; language and AI; pop music language)