• Students enrolled in regular German-language degree programs
• Exchange students
• Students in English-language degree programs
• Doctoral candidates
• Researchers and 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 (students who have obtained the DSH qualification from Freie Universität Berlin do not need to complete a placement test)

5 credit points / ECTS

Coursework (during the semester)

• Regular and active participation
• Regular completion of homework
• Completion of an oral assignment (participation in a panel discussion)

Module assessment

• Completion of a written assignment (approx. eight pages in length), featuring both a first draft and an edited version, to be submitted by the end of the semester.

Bachelor students can complete the course as part of the “ABV” (General Professional Skills) section of their studies (foreign language skills).

General Focus:

Develop and practice the following linguistic, methodological, strategic, and knowledge-based skills required both in university contexts and in the professional world by working with a variety of texts from across culture and society:

• Critical reading/listening skills – The ability to understand complex information, the author’s intentions, and the communicative function and objective of a text
• (Rhetoric) skills for processing information, including implicit assumptions and the consequences thereof
• The ability to focus on a certain topic/intention; present information in a manner that is relevant to the target audience and that takes intercultural aspects into consideration

Learning Objectives:

After completing this course, students will fulfill the basic proficiency requirements of level C1 CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference) in German.

Students will have the following

linguistic skills:

• The ability to work with sources effectively and with a goal in mind, to link heterogeneous material to their own research questions, and to present such information in a systematic manner
• The ability to precisely summarize complex information and compose convincing oral or written explanations of abstract or complex topics 
• The ability to present information to nonspecialists in a well-structured, comprehensible manner
• The ability to critically read texts to gather detailed, precise information, as well as more implicit information (e.g., the author’s point of view)
• The ability to flexibly and precisely apply a broad spectrum of linguistic techniques

strategic skills:

• A comprehensive repertoire of strategies for interpreting texts, as well as for planning and writing their own texts, and the ability to apply these automatically in a stylistically appropriate manner
• A number of strategies for editing their own work and improving their own language skills

intercultural skills:

• The ability to recognize and account for cultural differences and influences when it comes to topics/conventions surrounding the university

Course Topics:

History of European universities – education and vocational training – scientific and academic explanations – pheromones – robotics – time – colors – heroes in sport and society – cultural aspects of thinking – Darwin’s theory of evolution – Crowds and Power